Woods bids for more Cheltenham glory with Croco Bay

Almost all sporting fixtures are in shutdown mode due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the show goes on at Cheltenham - with Athlone jockey Kielan Woods among those bidding for success today (Friday). 

Woods steered Croco Bay to a famous victory at last year's Cheltenham Festival. With Woods on board, Croco Bay, trained by Ben Case and priced at odds of 66/1, won the Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase.

Speaking in the aftermath of the win, Woods described it as "the best moment" of his career "by a long way." Originally from Beechpark in Athlone, Kielan has been based in England for several years and he lives in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.

Now Woods is set to team up with Croco Bay again in the renewal of the same race (listed for a 4.50pm start) on the last day of this year's festival.

In previewing the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase race, the attheraces.com website describes Croco Bay as a "veteran who belied odds of 66/1 when winning this race 12 months ago off 5 lbs lower (also third in 2015)". It went on to say that Croco Bay was "back to that level when runner-up at Doncaster seven weeks ago and has to be respected".

Woods was in action at Cheltenham on Wednesday when on board Fagan and Gerolamo Cardano, but he had no joy with either of those mounts. Now he'll be hoping for history to repeat itself with Croco Bay. 

In addition, racing fans will be looking forward to the renowned Cheltenham Gold Cup race which takes place at 3.30 today. 

But the fact that the Cheltenham festival went ahead this year has been the source of considerable controversy and criticism, particularly as the town of Cheltenham had a confirmed case of the coronavirus in the days leading up to the event. 

It's estimated that in the region of 15,000 people from Ireland make the trip to Cheltenham every year for the four-day festival. Although crowds were somewhat down this year, there were still approximately 60,000 punters in attendance on day one last Tuesday. 

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