Luckless Lee set to miss Cheltenham Festival
Posted by Robert James on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Cheltenham Festival curse has struck the unfortunate Graham Lee for the second time in five seasons as the popular Irishman appears certain to miss the premier National Hunt meeting of the year after sustaining a painful dislocated hip as the result of a fall at Southwell on February 15, writes Elliot Slater.
Lee was riding Rich Lord for his guv’nor Ferdy Murphy in the Win Whatever The Result BetAngel Chase at the Nottinghamshire circuit and was highly fancied in the horse racing betting tips pre-race.
However, his mount blundered whilst still prominent at the fourth from home and unseated him, giving him a heavy fall from which he did not rise for some time. Racing at the Rolleston circuit was delayed for half an hour while the 36-year-old underwent treatment at the scene before being removed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where the full extent of the injury was soon determined and surgery was immediately performed to put the dislocated hip back in place.
Lee missed the 2008 Cheltenham Festival after a heavy fall at Huntingdon a couple of weeks prior to the big event and will be gutted and missing out again at the showcase event of the year. Although not having the best of seasons so far in partnering just 31 winners, Lee was looking forward to riding Divers again at the Festival, the horse on whom he won last year’s Centenary Novices Handicap Chase and who is entered in a number of high profile horse racing betting events at next month’s meeting.
Over the years Lee has enjoyed some great moments at the Prestbury track, his finest hour coming when partnering Arcalis (Supreme Novices Hurdle), No Refuge (Royal & Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle), and the brilliant World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever, all for the now disqualified Howard Johnson, at the 2005 fixture.
Lee was riding Rich Lord for his guv’nor Ferdy Murphy in the Win Whatever The Result BetAngel Chase at the Nottinghamshire circuit and was highly fancied in the horse racing betting tips pre-race.
However, his mount blundered whilst still prominent at the fourth from home and unseated him, giving him a heavy fall from which he did not rise for some time. Racing at the Rolleston circuit was delayed for half an hour while the 36-year-old underwent treatment at the scene before being removed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where the full extent of the injury was soon determined and surgery was immediately performed to put the dislocated hip back in place.
Lee missed the 2008 Cheltenham Festival after a heavy fall at Huntingdon a couple of weeks prior to the big event and will be gutted and missing out again at the showcase event of the year. Although not having the best of seasons so far in partnering just 31 winners, Lee was looking forward to riding Divers again at the Festival, the horse on whom he won last year’s Centenary Novices Handicap Chase and who is entered in a number of high profile horse racing betting events at next month’s meeting.
Over the years Lee has enjoyed some great moments at the Prestbury track, his finest hour coming when partnering Arcalis (Supreme Novices Hurdle), No Refuge (Royal & Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle), and the brilliant World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever, all for the now disqualified Howard Johnson, at the 2005 fixture.