Girl power took on Britpop at Cheltenham on Friday but a horse owned by Geri Horner proved no match for Wonderwall in the Hunter Chase, better known in racing as “the amateurs’ Gold Cup”.
The former Spice Girl added a touch of glamour to the final day, and in the paddock beforehand she admitted she was looking forward to seeing Lift Me Up, named after her 1999 No 1, become her first runner at the festival. “I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s amazing. I’m very excited.”
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However, while Lift Me Up could only finish 13th, for fans of Oasis, Wonderwall proved to be the one that was going to save them as it powered to victory at 28-1.
Lift Me Up’s rider Jack Andrews, who at 6ft 4in is often called the world’s tallest jockey, had warned that he was a tricky horse who travels well but doesn’t want to do too much at the front. But the lightly raced nine-year-old never had the chance to show what he could do in contention as it was always well back.
Perhaps we shouldn’t have been too surprised. For all Horner’s optimism, the Racing Post had also written that “on the balance of form a minor role looks on the cards”.
But at least it got round – something that six horses that were pulled up and another which was unseated were unable to do. And while naming a horse Lift Me Up was perhaps asking for trouble given the Hunter Chase requires the field of amateur riders to jump 22 tough fences, it never looked to be in trouble.
Wonderwall had a lot more going for it, having finished third in a Grade Two race in 2022 and having come fourth in a good novice handicap at Cheltenham late in 2023. And after a patient ride from jockey Rob Andrews it just about held off 4-1 shot Its On The Line.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Wonderwall’s jockey Rob James. “I just got there a bit too soon but it’s the one as an amateur you always want to win. This lad was top class.”
Meanwhile Horner’s husband, the Red Bull team principal Christian, was half the world away at the Australian Grand Prix. However his brother, Guy, said that he had got up in the middle of the night to watch.
“Christian and Geri decided to name the horses after her songs,” he explained. “So it’s more interesting than Formula One drivers. He’s on the text in Melbourne, yeah. He’s watching. He’s excited about it.”
“We all rode when we were younger. We rode and we got into cars and engines and obviously Christian’s racing career. It’s a good switch off from motor racing.”
That sentiment was echoed by Christian in January when Lift Me Up won at Warwick. “It is a bit of escapism away from the madness of F1,” he explained. “But there are more similarities between horse racing and motor racing than you might think, just in the way a jockey gets the most out of a horse.”
But while there was no victory, it was perhaps a welcome moment of joy and levity for the Horners after the new series of Drive to Survive raked over the allegations of controlling behaviour made against him by a female employee last season. It was a story that captured headlines and divided the paddock, with Horner ultimately being cleared.
However Netflix’s cameras captured Horner’s visible discomfort, especially in the first episode where he calls Zak Brown, his rival at McLaren, a “prick” for calling for greater transparency in the case. And there has been a lasting fallout too. Earlier this month, Horner was booed at Formula One’s glitzy pre-season launch at the O2.
However the Horners’ love of a different kind of horsepower was entirely genuine, as their jockey explained. “Christian and Geri love the horses,” said Andrews. “They love the fact that the yard is on their doorstep so they visit them all the time. They love the day out and it’s an escape for them.”
“I’m potentially showing my young age here, but I was very young when the Spice Girls were big so Geri wasn’t someone who was high up on my list of celebrities and Christian was probably more famous to me because I enjoy Formula One,” he added.
And while this defeat was a bump in the road, it is clear that Andrews believes that the Horners are in horse racing for the long haul.
“I think he sometimes struggles when the odd thing goes wrong,” he said.
“When there’s a problem with a car, you put it in the garage and fix it, but when there’s a problem with a horse it can be hard to understand and get to the bottom of. But saying that, they absolutely love it and they are simply a pleasure to ride for.”
