Irish-trained runners at the Cheltenham Festival caught up in ferry delays

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A number of horses competing at this week’s Cheltenham Festival were caught up in delays to ferries arriving from Dublin, leaving them stranded at sea for several extra hours.

Delays were reported at Holyhead on Sunday after a ferry’s ramp broke down resulting in a backlog to arrivals at the port while the problem was resolved.

Among the ferries delayed was Ulysses, operated by Irish Ferries, which contained several Cheltenham Festival-bound horses and was only able to dock at Holyhead six hours after its planned arrival time.

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Ben Skilbeck, customs agent at Bramhams of Buckingham, an international horse transport agency, said his company had been dealing with drivers stuck on the Ulysses and other ferries.

He said on Monday: “Yesterday was the busiest day of horses coming in for Cheltenham and the Ulysses had a number of horses for Cheltenham on. It is so big that it could only unload at Holyhead and couldn’t be diverted.

“The ferry left at 7.30am and should have disembarked comfortably by midday yesterday, but it was 6pm by the time those horses came off backwards as that was the only way to get the ferry in. With horses trained to be in such peak condition for Cheltenham it is certainly not ideal for them, put it that way.”

Skilbeck, who said he was unable to specify which horses were on the impacted ferries, added that a second ferry from Dublin to Holyhead was diverted to Liverpool, adding an “extra three or four hours to their journeys".

“I was liaising with drivers and there was a general acceptance that they were all literally in the same boat and it wasn’t a great situation, but there was not much anyone could do,” he said.

Cheltenham Festival: begins on TuesdayCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

With sailing times still being impacted, Skilbeck said his company and others were diverting horses travelling over to Cheltenham for the races and sales to the alternative route of Rosslare to Pembroke.

He said: “Today is the last day for horses coming across for Cheltenham, so the horses for the races and the sales should be over tonight at the latest.

“We are diverting everything that way and have block bookings for the journey. Irish Ferries have been making horses crossing the priority over the likes of freight.”

The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival is Tuesday, with the first race taking place at 1.20pm.

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