Country house: A day out at Cheltenham
Country mouse has a nail-biting time at the races


To Cheltenham, for the Hunter Chase Evening, highlight of the hunt-racing calendar, where the Plantation Farm Syndicate's star, Alskamatic (‘Alfie') was running in the 5.45pm.
A bad choice of route resulted in an undignified dash through the car park, a young blade observing unchivalrously: ‘The green-tweed jacket is pulling away from the Liberty-print Barbour...' However, we made it for the race-six minutes, 46 seconds of heart-pumping thrill. Alfie ran a blinder to finish a neck second to the 6-4 favourite. The trainer was puce with excitement and frustration, his month-old baby daughter slept through it and we all repaired to the bar for much rejoicing.
Racing is wonderfully even-handed in the way it looks after those who own a few tail hairs as well as sheikhs and it's creditable that the premier National Hunt track provides such an opportunity for its amateur arm.
The meeting aids the Hunt Staff Benefit Society, a 142-year-old charity that looks after retired hunt staff-The Prince of Wales is its governor. The Prince's father, The Duke of Edinburgh, once wryly noted that horses are great levellers.
Too right. Our second runner hit the deck with a heart-stopping fall (horse and jockey were quickly up). This time, nervous silence descended, but at least we were all in it together.
* Subscribe to Country Life and save
* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Graham Norton's elegant East London home hits the market, and it's just as wonderful as you would expect
The four-bedroom home in Wapping should be studied for how well it uses two separate spaces to create a home of immense character and utility.
-
Sign of the times: In the age of the selfie, what’s happening to the humble autograph?
When Ringo Starr announced that he was no longer going to sign anything, he kickstarted a celebrity movement that coincided with the advent of the camera phone and selfie. Rob Crossan asks whether, in today’s world, the selfie holds more clout than an autograph?