Go west
Later this month, racegoers
will flock to Cheltenham
for the Gold Cup. Rebecca
Younger visited the course,
basing her stay at a serviced
apartment in the city centre,
to find out what to expect
The spa town of Cheltenham is known for
a number of things, namely its prestigious
ladies’ college, spa waters and elegant
Regency architecture. These days however,
it is probably most famous for its racecourse
and the Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival, which
takes place each year in March.
Like three of Surrey’s four racecourses
(Epsom Downs, Kempton Park in Sunbury
on Thames and Sandown Park in Esher),
the course is owned and managed by The
Jockey Club (the fourth, Lingfield Park, is
run by Arena Racing) and, while the festival
is one of the last big fixtures in the winter
jump season (or hurdle as it is also called),
chronologically it kick starts the calendar of
big race events, which take place across the
country throughout the year.
The festival was first staged in 1911 but
the first Cheltenham Gold Cup wasn’t held
until 13 years later when Red Splash won
first place, with prize money of £685. By
comparison, last year’s winner, Sizing John,
took home prize money of £327,000!
My partner and I visited Cheltenham the
weekend of the Festival Trials, which are held
at the end of January. Last year, the trials hit
a somber note when former Grand National
winner, Many Clouds, collapsed and died after
achieving a heroic victory over Thistlecrack,
the horse previously unbeaten over fences.
In tribute, a special Q&A session with Many
Clouds’ trainer, Oliver Sherwood, was held
between races at this year’s trials and a film,
The People’s Horse, showcasing the famous
The festival in n umbers
• £4,305,000 – record • £575,000 – prize
amount of prize money available
money on offer at The for the Timico
Festival 2017 – the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
most of any jump
festival in the world.
120
Photo: PA/Press Association Images
Nick Maslen / Alamy Stock Photo
horse’s spectacular career, was projected
across the screens following the final race.
It was a sober addition to the day, which
was filled with jubilation at the wins and
disappointment at the losses and near misses
(tip: never throw away your tote tickets until
you’re sure the final results are in or better,
hold onto it until the end of the day – we
Top: Runners go past the
chucked away one thinking our horse hadn’t grandstands at Cheltenham
come in, only to have the results called in and Racecourse
our horse later placed). Above: L’Artisan French
While winning is never a sure bet, one thing restaurant in Cheltenham’s
Clarence Street
you can count on if you’re looking to head to
Cheltenham for the festival itself, is that the
city’s hotels will be choc-a-block. It’s worth
then, as we did, taking a look at other options
in the town, such as a serviced apartment.
Mansley has recently added Strozzi Palace,
a collection of six boutique, luxury apartments
in the centre of Cheltenham, to its portfolio.
The ‘suites’ – each named after Italian cities or
regions – are situated just yards from the city’s
art gallery, library and High Street.
One of the great things about staying in
an apartment, rather than a busy city-centre
hotel, is that no official check-in procedure
is required, which means no queuing at
• 70,000 – maximum • 21,120 – distance, in • 22 – fences jumped • 7 – most wins by a
capacity at feet, run during the during the jockey – Ruby Walsh
Cheltenham on National Hunt Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup. – in a single year.
Cheltenham Gold Cup The Festival’s longest
Day (when all race.
temporary facilities
are open).
surreylife.co.uk
 Travel

Closer
to home
If you miss the festival or
just want to experience a
day at the races closer to
home, then check out one
or more of the big race
events in Surrey this year.

March 9 - 10: Grand

Military Gold Cup Day and
Imperial Cup Day –
Sandown Park
March 17: Silver Cups Day
– Kempton Park
April 25: Spring Meeting
– Epsom Downs
May 12: The Derby Trial -
Lingfield Park
June 1 -2: Derby Festival
– Epsom Downs
July 6 – 7: The Summer
Festival – Sandown Park
December 7-8: Tingle
Creek Christmas Festival
The Napoli Suite at Strozzi Palace – Sandown Park
December 26-27: Winter

Nick Maslen / Alamy Stock Photo

reception along with all the other guests who Festival - Kempton Park
have arrived promptly at check-in time. A
Visit: epsomderby.co.uk,
pin number individually programmed for the kempton.co.uk,
main entrance and your apartment is simply lingfieldpark.co.uk or
sent to your phone 24 hours before you arrive. sandown.co.uk, for more
information and tickets.
Home from home
We were staying in the Napoli Suite, on
the first floor of Strozzi Palace (named so Need to
because its Grade II Listed façade is based k n ow
on Florence’s 15th century Palazzo Strozzi), A row of Regency houses in Montpellier Spa Road,
which was one of two apartments with its Cheltenham, opposite Montpellier Gardens
The Cheltenham Festival
own enclosed outdoor terrace (not that it was runs from Tuesday March
much use on a wet weekend in January). Cheltenham’s dining culture and were 13 to Friday March 16 2018.
Inside, the apartment was like a home- recommended L’Artisan, just a five-minute Ladies’ Day is on the
from-home – another good reason to choose walk away. Run by husband and wife team Wednesday and Gold Cup
an apartment over a hotel room. An entrance Yves and Elisabeth Ogrodzki, who moved Day on Friday. Gates open
hallway led into a large open-plan living, to England from France 10 years ago, the each day at 10.30am with
dining and kitchen area with contemporary restaurant is truly authentic. Dishes of the first race at 1.30pm
and the last race at
yet tasteful furnishings and accessories. The escargot and confit duck sit alongside pan-
5.30pm. Tickets start from
bathroom was also a decent size and the fried veal and beef tartare and, while head £55 and are available from
bedroom, discreetly hidden behind Japanese- chef Yves spends time ensuring food looks Web: cheltenham.co.uk
style concertina doors, housed an enormous as exceptional as it tastes, each course is
bed (it was a super king). wonderfully hearty. Prices at Strozzi Palace
Little extras, such as a continental breakfast We went for ‘A Walk in the Forest’ (a trio start from £115 per suite
basket with bread, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, of wild boar, smoked pheasant and pigeon) per night and include use
cheese and juice, on top of the usual tea, and poached duck egg with duck confit and of a nearby gym and
swimming pool.
coffee and biscuit offering added to the cassoulet beans, followed by ‘Trio d’Agneau’
Tel: 0800 304 7160
attention to detail. There’s even an ice bucket (lamb) and seabass with passion fruit beurre Email: reservations@
and plenty of ice in the freezer so you can blanc, accompanied by a bottle of Le Bois bymansley.com Web:
chill that bottle of fizz bought to celebrate Malinge 2015 Gamay. Pudding was tough bymansley.com/location/
your win/s at the races. There’s also a ‘handy’ to squeeze in but I couldn’t not sample the strozzi-palace-suites
smart phone programmed with things to do crème brulee, while Sam had a brandy coffee
and places to see in Cheltenham, which guests – apparently the best he’d tasted. L’Artisan can be found at
30 Clarence Street,
can take out and about with them so there’s After a stroll to the famous Montpellier
Cheltenham GL50 3NX.
no need to drain your own mobile phone data district, it was back to the apartment to pop Tel: 01242 571257
when navigating the city. open the bottle of fizz we’d left chilling. Email: lartisan.restaurant@
While you can easily self cater at the So we didn’t win big but sometimes life’s just gmail.com Web:
apartment, we were keen to experience worth celebrating. w lartisan-restaurant.com

surrey Life March 2018 121