Every year Liam Clarke and his friends from Newbridge, Co Kildare, turn off Great Norwood Street in the town of Cheltenham and get their first glance at the white building that they lay eyes on each March.
They are greeted by the same warm faces, Rita and Alan Meaden, who own and run the Suffolk Arms pub. The Newbridge crew shuffle in through the big blue door and nestle themselves in.
They order a drop and as the bubbles settle, so do they into familiar surroundings.
“It has been the same group of lads going for that long, 45 years together. One or two have stopped over the years but most of the same group are still there,” Clarke says.
The group has ranged in size from five to nine over time – but he and a couple of others are ever-presents.
When asked the year of his first Cheltenham, Clarke is not 100 per cent certain. “Eh ... mid 1970s or so?”
However, the racing fanatic’s memory soon kicks in. “Davy Lad won the Gold Cup, so it was 1977,” he says. “Me and the lads all loved jump racing and we said we should go to Cheltenham. We loved it. We had the bug then. Within a year or two, we never missed it.”
Once the first festival was done and they went home with a little something in their pockets, the gang knew this wouldn’t be their last Cheltenham.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a favourite memory among a sea of winners, laughs and long nights. After careful consideration, Clarke lands on one horse from 2002.
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“Henrietta Knight’s horse, the first year he won. He was a seven-year-old. We saw him and we all said ‘this lad is special’. He went on to win three Gold Cups. Jim Culloty rode it – an Irish jockey – so it was truly special to witness that,” he recalls.
The legendary horse was aptly named Best Mate and hard to choose a better name for it as the Newbridge boys cheered on what would come to be a beloved winner for three consecutive festivals. The Best Mate statue has stood at Cheltenham since 2006.
The Kildare group have stayed in the same family home for decades – the big show comes to town and they head to Cornwall to get away from it.
The nearby Suffolk Arms is a key part of their trip.
“Rita [the pub landlady] would make a good Irish dinner for us. It was like home. She would put on bacon and cabbage for you, anything you wanted,” says Clarke.
Long nights spent there with visitors from Cork, Carlow and just down the road continue to live long in the memory. Clarke, as a racing purist, however, returns every year for those days on track, intent on picking out the winners using his experienced eye. “We go racing to see our horses – to see them go around to the pre-parade ring, watch them being saddled up and what way they are acting,” he says.
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The term “our horses” is not just runners on a betting slip for Liam and the lads either. It could be a horse that Liam has a personal insight into due to his work in the bloodstock industry. The whole group has ties to the horse racing world.
“Other guys might go and spend their day in the bar falling around drunk and might not see a race. They might as well go to a pub back home and watch it on TV. We had a drink but we never did that,” says the Newbridge man.
Travel is always a hazard when it comes to global events and Cheltenham has been no different over the years. The route by boat was only risked on one occasion and after some upset stomachs and complaints, it was the group’s last time going by sea.
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The Cheltenham Festival itself has changed over the decades, with days being added and altered over the years. Many patrons still say the schedule adjustments were not always for the good of the action on track.
“About four years ago we gave up Gold Cup day. It’s crazy. It’s too busy and it’s always been not as good as the other days in terms of racing,” says Clarke.
With all the changes in the 45 years that have passed since their first pilgrimage, is there anything that he has done every year?
“We would have a few drinks together beforehand to get our day started but we are a bit more sensible now. Well, we try to be,” he says, grinning. “It has been great. Me and the lads would see each other regularly at home but there are people you meet every year but only at Cheltenham. It’s quite incredible.”
