With Champions League qualification and Europa League progression on their mind, you would be forgiven for thinking that David Moyes and his West Ham United squad were blanking other sporting events out of their mind for the foreseeable future. However, the Scot and his Hammers players need their downtime, too, and that recently led to them taking an interest in the Cheltenham Festival. It will not come as a surprise to you that many players throughout the years have taken an interest in horse racing, and it is no different with Moyes, Mark Noble, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell.
As you can discover from watching an interview with Betway, Moyes talks about his love for the sport, speaking to Betway ambassador Ross O'Sullivan about the contrasting natures of football and horse racing, and the pressure that is involved at the top end of the industry. Moyes also reveals that he has recently bought a horse, one which is aiming to make an appearance at next year's Cheltenham Festival. That will certainly be a name to keep an eye on!
As you can see from watching an interview with Betway, the trio of Noble, Bowen and Cresswell get an insight into the art of racing from former jockey Katie Walsh, who is no stranger to the Cheltenham Festival having brought home three winners in the past. Naturally, comparisons are made between the two sports, and the West Ham players discover the ruthlessness that is required to reach the upper echelons of racing, which Walsh describes as being the annual four-day festival in March.
All parties were in agreement that the return of crowds has been crucial to their sport, the Cheltenham Festival having been run in front of empty stands in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Honeysuckle was the star of the show on Tuesday, winning a second successive Champions Hurdle, and it will be Tiger Roll who takes centre stage on Wednesday with the Grand National legend attempting to win for a sixth time at Cheltenham, which would equal the all-time record. However, everything is building up to Friday's Gold Cup as Minella Indo goes for the double, attempt to follow on from Al Boum Photo's success in 2019 and 2020.
