HEREFORDSHIRE trainer Venetia Williams' big Cheltenham festival hope L'Homme Presse will line up in this year's Gold Cup, looking to repeat his heroics from two years ago.
In 2022 there was ecstasy as the nine-year-old stormed home on a wet Wednesday afternoon in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, but there was also a sense of longing 12 months ago when the staying star was sat on the sidelines as the Gold Cup took centre stage on the final afternoon of the meeting – a race owner Andy Edwards watched from right at the heart of the action.
“The win in the Brown Advisory was the most fantastic day you could imagine,” said Edwards.
“At the time I stood there in the rain with my palms held up and looking up to the sky with a big grin saying ‘this is liquid sunshine’.
“Our friends are Bruce and Karen who own Ahoy Senor and they very kindly invited us last year to be with them in the paddock and for lunch. It was really lovely of them and they said to us ‘you should be here, it’s not right you are not here’. It was a lovely thing of them to do.
“But at the same time it was quite a weird feeling being their for the Gold Cup cheering on someone else’s horse – which of course we were happy to do. However, the year before we had thought we would be the ones standing in that paddock with our own horse.”
Edwards will now be hoping to cheer on his own hose as he bids for Gold Cup glory. And ahead of the race, he was full of praise for trainer Williams.
“I’m in lots to see L’Homme Presse, I go two or three times a week,” continued Edwards.
“Venetia is an amazing lady and all of her staff – Jess and Beth and the vets – are all brilliant.
“When Venetia rings me, I tell her not to say hello just to say ‘all good’ before she says anything else, and luckily, she mostly does.”
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