2018 Champion Bumper-winning jockey Katie Walsh has sat down and explained to West Ham United trio Mark Noble, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell to give some insight into this year’s upcoming 2022 Cheltenham Festival which starts today at 13:20 pm and finishes on Friday afternoon.
You can find the Betway video that this article is relating to here: https://blog.betway.com/horse-racing/cheltenham/watch-west-ham-stars-learn-what-it-takes-to-be-a-jockey-at-cheltenham/
Speaking with Betway, Walsh has described it as the Olympics of Horse Racing, as well as the pinnacle event, somewhere that every jockey and trainer aspires to win at in their careers, mentioning that it feels like getting a gold medal at the Olympics or scoring a winning goal in a football match.
The 37-year-old also told the trio that you have to have good mental strength to do well over the course of the week, as any races that have been and gone earlier in the festival you have to simply forget as it’s history and there’s nothing that you can do about it.
Something that was also mentioned in regards to mental strength is that you can’t consider your opponents if they’re in the way of your chances to win, even if they share the same dressing room as you at the festival.
Hammers captain Noble proceed to ask an interesting question to Walsh about superstitions for the festival, however, the jockey replied that she would go off the cuff with whatever she felt like on the day before flipping the question around to the Premier League stars, with Cresswell replying that some of the squad have certain foods that they have to eat prior to games, with Declan Rice’s being seabass and rice.
When asked about pressures on the day, Walsh admitted that the first roar from the crowd just before the race starts is intense, as is the atmosphere as the jockeys edge closer to the finish line.
Noble also stated that he has been to the festival itself and the atmosphere is incredible towards the end of a race, whilst Walsh jokingly said that it’s great to be a hotpot winner as everyone is backing you.
Walsh was keen to know what it is like for Bowen to be in good form, scoring plenty of goals, as the former Hull City winger has fired in 12 and created nine assists in 39 matches across all competitions, giving him a chance of an England call-up.
Bowen responded by saying “the moment it (the ball) hits the back of the net you’re buzzing, but you could score after 10 minutes and want the game to end having scored and then you win 1-0, but then you’ve got 80 or 90 minutes to hold onto the game”. The Irons winger also added towards the theme of the unbelievable feeling of “hitting the back of the net, hearing the roar and celebrating with your teammates” is what it’s all about.
Walsh said that it’s great to have crowds back at this year’s festival, whilst Noble joked that all he could hear was David Moyes shouting at him all game last season, with the Irish jockey humorously responding that you have a fair idea of what the trainers will be saying when it’s not going right at the festival.
25-year-old winger, Bowen, finished the conversation by asking about who Walsh would celebrate with when she had won a race?
The 37-year-old said that she always knew where her family would be at the festival and that they’re the people that she would go to as they’ve been part of her journey in her career. Bowen responded that he found this relatable, as he managed to find his dad in the crowd when he scored a brace for West Ham in a 2-0 win against Norwich City at the London Stadium in early January.
Here is a link towards Betway’s Horse Racing Betting Page: https://betway.com/en/sports/cat/horse-racing
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