Cheltenham Festival 0

After to a bad start to the season when a waterlogged course lead to the cancellation of New Year's Day racing, the weather was expected to be more appropriate for Cheltenham Festival this year.

As standard, Broadcast RF supply Trackers, Steadicams, roving Reporter cams and Starts cameras for Channel 4's exclusive coverage of horseracing events. For Cheltenham though, a total of 10 systems were sent, including 2 Steadicam's, 2 Reporter cams, 2 Trackers, 1 roving Reporter cam and a dedicated Betting camera.

The operating areas of these RF cameras were also greatly extended to allow coverage from the stables and the full length of the long horsewalk from the Stables to the Track.

Another system deployed was the Superloupe Ultra Slow Motion Camera, which was used to record impressive shots of the race action and celebrations at 800 frames/second. Multiple shots (blocks) can be recorded in the camera head and then played back via an RF HD video link. Broadcast RF have developed a remote control system for the Superloupe camera that allows vision engineers to paint the camera and VT operators to fully control playback remotely from the OB truck. As an option a second video link can be added to provide a live video output in addition to the playback channel.

Champion Day opened the festival, and although 7 races were scheduled to take place there were only 6 in the end due to the fact that the 5.45 Glenfarclas Handicap Chase was cancelled. The shock winner of the day was Golden Chieftan in the 3.20pm JLT Specialty Handicap Chase, storming to victory despite outside odds of 28-1.

Following Champions Day was Ladies Day, a day when not every winner is a horse or jockey, as awards are presented for The Best dressed Lady, The Lady with the Best Hat and The Lady with the Best Accessories. That was not all though as seven races took place, three of which saw an outsider run to victory, such as Medinas, winner of the Coral Cup, at 33-1.

The cancelled Glenfarclas Handicap Chase that was due to be run on Day One was rescheduled for Day Three, St Patricks Thursday. Arguably the most entertainment-filled day of the festival saw attendees include Pippa Middleton and her close friend' Tom Kingston, who would've stole the show if it wasn't for a Carrickboy, an absolutely astonishing 50-1 winner, triumphing in the 16:00 Byrne Group Plate.

Gold Cup Day annually closes the festival, and with previous winner Long Run in good form with high hopes of running to victory once again, tickets sold out in no time. As the race began to take shape though, it looked as though the win was only ever going to one horse; Bobs Worth. The 11-4 favourite came home seven lengths clear of slight outsider Sir Des Champs , who was followed closely by 2011 winner Long Run.

For Gold Cup winning jockey Nicky Henderson, this was more than just an annual triumph, as he became the 50th winning jockey of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Marking the half century of winners, Henderson also helped Bobs Worth look ahead to 2014, where odds are as low as 5-2 for a second consecutive victory.

Cheltenham Festival was a great success, and we can't wait for the first Crown Jewel event of the year which is less than a month away The Grand National.

LINK:	http://broadcastrf.com/cheltenham-festival-2013/...
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