The TrustATrader Festival Plate Handicap Chase was inugurated, as the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase, in 1951, in memory of Anthony Bingham Mildmay, Second Baron Mildmay of Flete, an influential amateur jockey who drowned off the Devon coast the previous May. The race has had numerous sponsors down the years, with the online trade directory taking over in 2024, and is nowadays a ‘Premier Handicap’, having been reclassified as such by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in 2023.

The TrustATrader Festival Plate Handicap Chase is run over an extended two-and-a-half miles on the New Course at Cheltenham, where it is currently scheduled as the penultimate race on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival in March. Open to horses aged five years and upwards, worth £150,000 in total prize money and with a safety limit of 24, the race is a typical Festival handicap insofar as it is almost invariably fiercely competitive. That said, at the time of writing, four of the last 10 renewals have been won by the outright favourite, but the successful market leaders have been balanced by winners at 22/1, 20/1, 16/1 and 14/1 in the same period.

Nicky Henderson, who saddled The Tsarevich (1985, 1986) to back-to-back victories, plus Liberthine (2005) and Non So (2006) is jointly the leading trainer in the history of the TrustATrader Festival Plate Handicap Chase, alongside the later Bobby Renton and Martin Pipe, who retired from the training ranks in 2006. The late Fred Winter, who rode Slender (1951), Sy Oui (1953) and Caesar’s Helm (1958), remains the leading jockey. Notable winners in recent years include Road To Respect (2017) and The Storyteller (2018) , who went on the rack up five Grade 1 wins between them.

Salisbury Racecourse  Salisbury racecourse is a flat horse racing venue located in Salisbury, Wiltshire. The race track hosts a total of 15 race meetings annually, beginning from the end of April all through to early October. It hosts almost all types of races, including handicaps. The racecourse is located only about 5km from Salisbury, making it a convenient horse racing venue. It has a great view of Salisbury Cathedral, and is engulfed with a peaceful and stunning atmosphere, thus a preferred horse racing venue for many racegoers in Britain when they’re not playing wolfwinner australia best online casino real money.

Racing in Salisbury racecourse is said to have begun in the mid-16th century, making it one of the oldest race tracks in Britain. Many famous racehorses gained their first victory in the racecourse. For example, Gimcrack won in Salisbury racecourse in the year 1768. At the age of 12, Jockey Lester Piggott ran its first race in public at the racecourse. In 1681, the Bibury Club was created, and became associated with racing in Salisbury about 218 years later after the racecourse relocated to Combe Down.

The racecourse is usually very busy in the weekends with a number of events taking place. It is open to anyone, and there is no specific dress code required for the race meetings. However, in the Bibury Enclosure, all people should dress smart, with men required to put on collared shirts. For every race meeting, advanced tickets are available for purchase starting from 7 Euros, depending on the enclosure that one chooses. The racecourse offers membership, with early subscriptions costing 190 Euros. As a member, one is entitled to attend a total of 49 meetings, as well as a parking space.

This year, Salisbury is set to host a good number of fixtures. On the 14th of July will be the Ladies’ Evening. It is the most anticipated race meeting, attracting a good number of people each year.

Steve Cauthen  When Steve Cauthen arrived in Britain as a lank 18-year-old in the spring of 1979, he had already achieved more than most jockeys can hope for in a lifetime. In his first full season, 1977, he had ridden 487 winners in America and become the first jockey to win $6 million in calendar year. The following year he won the American Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes – on Affirmed and was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

 

Cauthen made an immediate impact in Britain, winning on his very first ride, Marquee Universal, owned by Robert Sangster and trained by Barry Hills, at Salisbury in April 1979, but that was just a foretaste of things to come for the man affectionately known as “The Kid”. A month later, he won the 2,000 Guineas on Tap On Wood for Barry Hills, prevailing by half a length for the previously unbeaten Kris, trained by Henry Cecil and ridden by Joe Mercer. The man could do no wrong. If we could all replicate that level of success in the world of gambling, say when we’re taking advance of casinous best online casino bonuses, we’d all be very wealthy men!

 

In the years that followed, Cauthen continued to flourish under the auspices of Barry and Penny Hills, whom he later described as “like parents to me”, at Lambourn and became Champion Jockey for the first time in 1984, with 150 winners. Cauthen left Barry Hills to replace Lester Piggott as stable jockey to Henry Cecil in 1985 and so began a mesmerizing partnership that would last until Cauthen’s retirement seven years later.

 

In his first year at Warren Place, Cauthen won the Fillies’ Triple Crown – the 1,000 Guineas, the Oaks and the St. Leger – on Oh So Sharp and the Derby on Slip Anchor. Having won the Lingfield Derby Trial by 10 lengths on Slip Anchor, Cauthen insisted on riding him every day in the build-up to the Derby and, four days before the race, apparently told his lad, Dave Goodwin, “This is a ****ing certainty.” History records that Cauthen was right; Slip Anchor became the first horse for nearly 60 years to make all in the Derby, eventually winning by 7 lengths.

 

Cauthen was Champion Jockey again in 1985, with 195 winners, and won his third, and final, jockeys’ title in 1987, with 197 winners, edging out Pat Eddery after a titanic duel at Doncaster on the final day of the season. He was fourth in the jockeys’ championship the following year, despite being hospitalised with concussion after a fall at Goodwood in August, which ruled him out for most of the season, and second to Eddery in 1989.

 

However, by that stage of his career Cauthen, now 29, was struggling to maintain his riding weight of 8st 7lb. Nevertheless, he continued at the top of the tree until 1992 when, after a year as retained jockey for Sheikh Mohammed, the Sheikh sought to reduce his reputed retainer of £1 million per season. Cauthen retired back to Kentucky at the age of 32 with no hard feelings towards his former employer. During his career, Cauthen rode a total of 2,794 winners, including 10 British Classic winners, and had the distinction of winning the Derby, the Irish Derby, the Prix du Jockey Club and the Derby Italiano, as well as the Kentucky Derby.

L’Escargot  Introduction

 

Many horses enter the racing sphere, win a few trophies, and vanish into relative obscurity. Like many sports, horseracing will see stars shine for a brief period of time before they leave the sport for various reasons. L’Escargot was one of the horses in this manner, having gone through a six-year spell winning five major trophies. Noted for being the horse that stopped the unstoppable movement of the world-class Red Rum at the Grand National in 1975, L’Escargot is remembered more for stopping history being made than the successes it had itself! We all love a winner, that’s in part why many opt for jokacasino australia best online casino real money as their casino choice.

 

Career Summary

 

Running in four Grand Nationals, from 72-75, it eventually was the winner as it lifted the 1975 edition – the famous year where it stopped Red Rum on its path to dominance. Under the guidance of the likes of Tommy Carberry and Dan Moore, it managed to stun Red Rum with a 15-lengths victory, ensuring that it became one of the most controversial yet celebrated wins on the circuit.

 

With Cheltenham Gold Cup wins in 1970 and 1971, too, this was a horse that managed a fleeting but majorly successful period of time on the race course, before fading away to relatively obscurity.

 

Today, the horse can be found as part of the brilliant National Museum of Racing in the United States. It’s also listed as a Hall of Fame inductee, when it was voted as the American Champion Steeplechase Horse of the Year in 1969.

 

These impressive stats and feats across a 53 race career showcases that, despite being most remembered for its 1975 successes, that there is more to L’Escargot than meets the eye.

 

Achievements & Highlights

 

Wins – Meadow Brook Steeplechase (1969), Cheltenham Gold Cup (1970, 1971), Grand National (1975).

 

Associations – Raymond Guest, Dan Moore, Tommy Carberry.