March is always a turning point in the year for me. I joke every year that there are really only three seasons… the build up to Cheltenham (September to February), the Cheltenham Festival (March), and summer (April to August). To be honest, I do think I have a point. Temperatures soared to 21 degrees for two days the week after Cheltenham, and there was certainly a premature BBQ or two fired up.
I usually take one holiday a year, and that is the week of the Cheltenham Festival. Attending all four days is no mean feat, but experience has taught me that you cannot go too hard. It was a brilliant week, catching up with friends, losing money, and watching a world class sporting event on our doorstep.
Some personal highlights for us included Brooke’s partner, Richie McLernon, winning the Ultima on Johnnywho for Jonjo and AJ O’Neill. Richie had waited a while for another Cheltenham Festival winner, with Holywell being the last one he rode. Nobody deserved it more in my opinion. Richie is a proper horseman and has been a legend of the weighing room for many years, and you could really see what it meant to him. It was a big day for Brooke too, who was there to welcome him back into the parade ring. Smiles all round.
It was also fantastic to see our friends at Thorndale Farm enjoy a winner. Kim Bailey and Matt Nicholls have supported us since we first started, and quite frankly we probably would not be working in racing without them. Kim has trained many Festival winners over the years, including the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, but when White Noise won the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, she became the first winner under Matt’s licence. Matt has been a huge part of the operation for a long time, and the two have built a very successful partnership. Another first on the day too, as Tom Bellamy rode his first Festival winner. A great result for the local yards.
Anyway, I digress… What have we been up to this month at CFC?
Rappor
Pete has been busy filming for Rappor, one of our corporate clients. The first project, titled Give to Gain, was produced to promote International Women’s Day. Pete and Danny headed to Bristol to film a series of smart interviews. They really did look the part, and sometimes thinking outside the box with compositions can lead to a far more engaging interview. The project was also shot on our Sigma Cine Prime lenses, which, in my opinion, are unmatched.
I decided to give that job a miss, as I have been deep in the edit on a documentary about Lucinda Russell… more on that later.
Kingsclere – Andrew Balding
While I had one eye on Cheltenham, we switched codes for a day and headed to Kingsclere to visit Andrew Balding’s yard. We filmed a yard tour alongside some sales content for Old Gold Racing.
What a place. The scale is incredible. The number of horses, the quality of the pedigrees, and the setting itself all make it very special. Anna Lisa gave us a full tour of the yard, and Francesca Cumani joined us to present the feature. It was a fascinating day, and I will certainly be keeping an eye on how some of the two year olds progress this summer.
Rappor – Centre Parcs
Pete did make it to Cheltenham on the Wednesday, but then had to head straight to Centre Parcs in Woburn for another Rappor shoot. This time it was a corporate event, filming staff taking part in team building activities and various challenges throughout the day.
When asked for a comment, Pete simply said they “always put on a lovely spread”. He reported a BBQ buffet for dinner, followed by a meal at Las Iguanas, so I think it is safe to say morale was high.
BASC Membership Video
Pete and I headed to Herefordshire to capture footage for a BASC membership video. We filmed a wide range of elements to showcase the diversity of what BASC do.
I actually stepped in as sound recordist for this one, and to be honest, I really enjoyed it. It was a welcome change of pace and made me focus on listening rather than looking. Sound is such an important part of any film, and it was good to give it the attention it deserves. The estate we filmed on was beautiful, and we came away with some fantastic material. An immersive production is on the way.
Ditcheat - Paul Nicholls
It was then down to Ditcheat for us to do some more filming for Old Gold Racing ahead of their latest sales horse release which they purchased at the Cheltenham January Sale. We seem to be making a monthly appearance at this yard at the moment and as much as it feels like déjà vu writing this out, it really is a pleasure for us when we get to film here. Paul runs such a slick operation and we always feel incredibly welcome and well looked after by him and his team. We’re very excited for you all to get a real insight into this renowned yard in the upcoming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!... Our visit was of course finished off with yet another meal at The Manor alongside Old Gold Racing’s Pete where we all tucked into some very generous portions of good food!
Great British Racing - Carpool
To round off our week, Brooke and myself joined by Ben Pankhurst on the camera and Alice Drew assisting, headed to Chepstow Racecourse to film GBR’s third feature of their carpool with crowd favourite, Alan Johns, this time joined by Champion Jockey, Sean Bowen. In true CFC style, we had another slight vehicle saga on our way home from the shoot the day before so Brooke’s car got rigged up for this one and led the way with all four of us fuelled up on some very questionable service station flapjacks. Alan declined to sport Beau’s choice of chauffeur accessories so I thought I’d try them on for size… Not too shabby eh? Alan and Sean were a really great combo and we’re very much looking forward to editing this one together.
The Jockey Club, Ben Pauling Racing - Twig feature
Our month ended at Ben Pauling's Naunton base, to film a feature for TJC ahead of the Aintree Grand National. Twig hopefully runs again in the big race, after finishing 10th in it last year. It would be a lovely story if he was to win. What a loyal servant he’s been to the Morgan family who own him.
Looking ahead to the Grand National, we'll be cheering on our friends at K&M Racing, as Marble Sands takes his chance in the big one. Best of luck to them!
Looking Ahead
As a business, we have been looking ahead to expansion this year. We are growing the team and exploring the move to a larger, purpose built office with a dedicated studio space.
It is still early days, but it is very exciting. We will be able to offer even more to our clients, introduce new services, and hopefully reduce turnaround times. We have viewed a couple of promising spaces so far, with more to come soon.
I headed to London to see Morrissey, Moz has always been my icon really (can you tell by the quiff and glasses?) He’s unapologetically himself, honest and opinionated. It was a fantastic show, sold out 02 Arena and many Smiths songs played.
Pete went on two holidays this month, extended birthday celebrations? He headed to Tenerife, a pleasant surprise after turning up in the airport without a plan. He reported that the island was a ‘beautiful gem’ but the food wasn’t the most desirable, hard to please? He then headed off to Snowdonia at the crack of dawn on his birthday to climb Snowdon, a far cry from previous birthday adventures. Pete is a changed man, a healthy man with a passion for hiking!
Brooke’s March unsurprisingly involved a lot of celebrating after Richie’s winner with Cheltenham week being a bit of a blur! A trip down to sunny London was also thrown in for a friend’s Birthday, kicking off with take out beers on Tooting Common followed by a very fun night led by Tacos and Tequila in the market.
A new addition to the CFC team, Billie has a gorgeous new puppy, a Jack Russell terrier called Mani. They are the best dogs…
In big CFC news, our latest documentary for Old Gold Racing has been released this month; Beyond The Border with Russell and Scudamore - a piece which we are incredibly proud of and thoroughly enjoyed making. If you’re looking for something to stick on, absolutely give this a watch!
Other even bigger news to end on… It’s been a year since we released ‘A Racing Mind’ and last week we found out that it has been shortlisted for the New York Festivals, TV & Film Awards. An honour to be recognised next to some major global production houses and networks.
Thanks all, be careful out there!
Louis, Pete, Billie & Brooke
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