Horse Racing

Rupestrian Ain’t No Hobby Horse – The Select Racing Club Goes To Cheltenham

The Select Racing Club is one of the UK’s newest and most popular racing clubs, and just ten months after launching at Stratford racecourse in May 2009, Club members will be at Cheltenham on Gold Cup day to cheer home Club horse Rupestrian, who will be bidding to give them a fairytale win in the opening race of the day, the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle.

The SRC is unique amongst racing clubs, as all the key decisions that affect the Club horses are made by its members. Just a week after launching and with a total of just thirty members in the Club at the time, members voted to send Rupestrian to Stratford for the opening juvenile hurdle of the season – he won by ten lengths.

Bought for just £4,000 with the hope of winning a selling hurdle or two, Rupestrian improved from race to race, winning at Hexham and Sedgefield in June, before making it four on the bounce at Market Rasen in July.

It was the unlikely victory at Market Rasen that first opened to discussion of sending Rupestrian to compete in Cheltenham.
However, shortly after Rupestrian suffered a setback at Stratford due to very hard going and was taking off the circuit to rest. This means that his Cheltenham debut will be his first race in quite a while.

The decision to go for the Triumph was certainly the hardest SRC members have had to make so far. Well over 100 members voted to swerve the Fred Winter handicap hurdle in favour of the ‘big one’ on Gold Cup day, and the Club forum has been the source of plenty of lively debate about the race and his chances.

Members need to choose a jockey too, and with his main employer Philip Hobbs without a runner in the race, Richard Johnson is sure to be a very popular choice, especially as he has a 100% record on Rupestrian, with two wins.

Tim Vaughan plans to keep Rupestrian busy after his Cheltenham run as he is a fresh horse and hasn’t had much racing. If he comes out of Cheltenham in good shape, there’s the 4yo hurdle at Aintree next, and maybe a trip to Glorious Goodwood on the flat in the summer.

For now though, the focus is entirely on Cheltenham. It’s going to be a nervous time for all connected to the Club, until those tapes fly up and the Cheltenham roar sounds out from the stands. As we all know, anything can happen in racing, and last-minute knocks can dash the biggest of dreams. When the race starts though, it’s all out of our hands, as horse and jockey go for glory.