ENTRY C
The Chair
It was the smells that jogged my memory every year. Sweat, both human and animal, was well to the fore, speedily followed by fear, then the more earthy odours of blood and then, faintly, the acrid stink of dung.
We had gathered as we always had gathered on that day, the fresh breeze masked slightly by the new buildings which were edging ever closer to the boundary fences. Nervously we circled and as old friends and newer acquaintances passed us, we would nod and greet them quietly. Some of the younger ones would start to show off , and their cries and sudden movements had an unsettling effect upon us all until we felt the steadying pressure and the quiet authority of our human cargo. Then the tension mounted, and the adrenaline within our bloodstream surged. We watched as the small solitary figure over on the far side climbed to the top of a ladder, then our heads were turned towards the single white tape which stretched, fluttering and swaying, in front of us.
Silence…then the tape shot up and we were launched forward at high speed, charging in line abreast with the roar of the multitude echoing in our ears. I found myself running alongside an old acquaintance of yesteryear, still strong and fresh as we approached the first obstacle in our path. He ploughed straight on as if there was nothing there, as I rose and took this first of many such challenges, he checked and then crumpled, and I lost sight of him under the moving mass which mercifully covered his fall.
We were fewer now and more strung out, and then it was up and over, and again up and over and the memories and the cries of the crowd added to the fever pitch of excitement which engulfed me. Then up it came, as it did every year, this terrifyingly solid looking obstacle which masked the tiny stream on its far side and totally hid the vicious extra 3 feet of drop on landing. I gathered my self and heard the quiet voice behind me, calming me, then I was up and sailing free, down to a perfect landing, then onwards ever onwards. The proud yet gentle caress came as it always did and my heart seemed to rejuvenate itself within me. The next challenges were met and overcome as if they did not exist, but then on landing after the last of them, I looked up and there it was again , my nemesis, my literal down fall for so many years . This huge obstacle was well over my height and seemed to grow to two distinct levels. Once again I gathered myself and taking courage from the quiet voice in my ears leapt up and sailed onwards to land… Safely.
Sports News.. The winner of this year’s Grand National was the 33-1 outsider “Caballo Blanco. This Veteran of Aintree, running in his last race before an honourable retirement , conquered his ‘Bogey fence’ the infamous Chair. Caballo Blanco had fallen at this fence at each of his previous 10 attempts. His Owner / Rider , Mr Rodrigo St James said after the race, that he seemed to sense that this was his last chance, and was determined to prove himself a worthy winner.