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| Cheltenham 2012 |
Cheltenham 3u3g2z
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Richard Lee Chasing Further Festival Success
17/02/12
Richard Lee has twice tasted Cheltenham Festival success in his accomplished training career with victories in the 1993 Grand Annual Handicap Chase and the 1998 renewal of what is now the Byrne Group Plate courtesy of Space Fair and Super Coin respectively.
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“A winner at Cheltenham is as good as it gets - it’s what you dream of,” Lee said. “It’s fantastic, a Cheltenham winner is a Cheltenham winner and you have to make the most of it because they don’t come along all that often.
“Space Fair and Super Coin were class horses. Even so, you can never be confident going into any race at Cheltenham because the racing is so competitive but you can go there hoping.
“When Super Coin won the Byrne Group Plate there was a stewards’ enquiry because we had tightened up the eventual third. Obviously, they couldn’t give that horse the race as he finished third, but it was a nerve-racking quarter of an hour I can tell you.”
This year the handler, who is based at Byton in Herefordshire close to the Welsh border, will be sending a small but select team to Jump racing’s premier meeting including his exciting novice hurdler Knock A Hand. The seven-year-old maintained his unbeaten record over hurdles with a stylish front-running display at Haydock under a double-penalty on December 30, and is declared to run in a handicap hurdle at Newbury on February 17.
Lee continued: “I don’t know if Knock A Hand will go to Cheltenham, but I will know a lot more after this weekend. He is in the RSA Chase horse next year. I think he’s a bit special and although he is not flashy, he does everything so easily and is a real workman.”
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