Cheltenham Festival: Harry Redknapp talks all things football and Cheltenham as he reveals a trip to the Festival saved West Ham's season
The amazing revelation was made by racing nut and King of the I’m a Celebrity Jungle Harry Redknapp, who was in charge of the Hammers between 1994 and 2001, having played for them in the late 60s.
Redknapp told me: “I turned one of West Ham’s seasons around coming to Cheltenham. We were struggling, and I feared we were going to get relegated.
“So, I arranged a day at Cheltenham races and we all came and had a day out and a laugh.
“Martin Pipe let us in his hospitality tent and we had a drink and then we went off to an Italian restaurant after racing and had a few more drinks and a sing-song on the coach home.
“After that day we took off, and we stayed up that year. I swear the team bonded that day and it made a difference. There is no doubt about it for me.”
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Unfortunately, the concept did not have the same effect on every club Redknapp managed.
“Another year I came with Tottenham,” he continued, now in full Harry flow.
“I got the lads in a box, and we organised everything and it was superb. However, many of the players were looking around.
“I had a lot of foreign players, like Pavlyuchenko, who wanted to go home after ten minutes!
“He just sat there and hated every second and never saw a horse. About five or six of them wouldn’t buy into it. Luckily a little group of us still enjoyed it!”
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Redknapp has been going to Cheltenham for as long as he can remember.
“I started coming to the Cheltenham Festival when I was lucky enough to be invited to JP McManus’s box with Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and all the lads,” he said.
“That was fantastic for me. I remember looking out across the track and thinking, what would my old nan think now with me here sitting in this box having a nice glass of wine?
“I’d think back to the old days when she would run around collecting bets where we lived. It’s just got a special feel to it.”
Redknapp witnessed some memorable Festival moments.
He recalled: “Istabraq was an amazing horse, and what about Desert Orchid? I used to go to Elsie’s yard and see Desert Orchid there as I had horses in training with David Elsworth.
“It was an amazing year when Dessie won the Gold Cup.
“I saw Jonjo O’Neill ride Dawn Run . . . what a ride. Sea Pigeon was one of my favourites, and what an effort from Johnny Francome on that horse? What a great battle it was with Pollardstown in 1981. Francome was a genius — he had to sit and sit and sit.
Then again what about McCoy? Just incredible. So special. Every horse he gave such a brilliant ride.
“Dickie Johnson has taken over, though, and does such a great job after all those years of chasing McCoy.
“I have so much respect for those jockeys. They are just so tough.
“They are up so early in the morning, riding work, schooling horses over the sticks that have never even jumped a fence. I just find it amazing.
“I have my own little yard with Nick Mitchell and to see the jockeys come in schooling in freezing conditions is staggering. They just have so much bottle.”
Betting is part of Cheltenham, and part of Rednapp’s DNA.
He said: “I’ve had some good bets. It’s always been part of my life having a bet. I’m a punter, and Cheltenham is special. I want to see every race, and when I can’t get to the track I will watch on TV.
“I never want to miss a minute. The Irish come over and the atmosphere is terrific.”
Is there one horse Redknapp can’t wait to see at Cheltenham 2019? “With the Jungle and everything I’m not up on the form as I should be,” he added.
“Being out the country for five weeks in Australia was the longest time I have ever gone without a bet in my life! I missed the racing so much.
“Altior, though, is a special horse. I’d love to see him win the Champion Chase once again for Nicky Henderson.”
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