Freddie Williams' top Cheltenham Festival pitch up for sale next week

The Cheltenham Festival betting ring next month could be missing one of its big names from the front row of the battle between punters and bookmakers.

The number two pitch in Tattersalls, bought 21 years ago by legendary layer Freddie Williams, features in an online auction, his daughter Julie putting it up for sale ten years after her father's death.

The prime pitch will not come cheap, with a £165,000 reserve for the Administration of Gambling on Tracks (AGT) auction, which closes on Monday.

The betting ring at the Cheltenham FestivalCredit: Edward Whitaker

Julie Williams said: "It's nothing to do with being scared of Mr Mullins and Elliott – last year was a good year.

"The year all the shorties were winning it was almost impossible to win, but otherwise it has been worth the journey and I think the pitches are worth quite a bit of money.

"It's ten years since my dad passed away and it's just a case that the buzz walking in each year has gone. If you never worked with my dad you wouldn't understand the buzz there was with such a formidable figure in the ring with the bets he took."

Someone will still have to stump up more than a satchel-full of readies to fill such big boots with the £165,000 reserve for the number two pitch, which covers the ability to bet only at the four festival days and the November meeting.

Williams is also selling the 'off-meetings' number two pitch in Tattersalls, which covers the other Cheltenham fixtures, with a reserve set at £85,000.

Asked what will happen if the pitches do not make their reserve, Williams replied: "I'll be buying a new hat and going to work there again.

She added: "We've still got all our pitches in Scotland – on all the tracks except Kelso, where dad never had a pitch as he said it was too far away to come back from after a losing day!"

Synopsis (Richard Johnson) flies the last to win the mares' handicap chase at Cheltenham in DecemberCredit: Mark Cranham

Williams will be at the festival whatever as her husband Kevin McMunigal has a share in the Gordon Elliott-trained Synopsis, who provided a poignant win at the December meeting.

"It was a mad dash from the betting ring to the winner's enclosure," said Williams. "It was really nice as I knew then it could be my last day standing there, and having a winner there was something my dad had always wanted to do, so it was especially poignant."

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