Graham Cunningham Cheltenham File: Graham Bradley family on his dementia fight

Gradually, then suddenly

Hemingway’s famous quote about how a man ends up bankrupt rings true on multiple levels as another Festival beckons.

Some people sense that maybe they ain’t that young anymore as work options dry up, others because a kind traveller offers them a seat on the train or bus.

But my miniscule moment of clarity arrived while walking the dog in the rain and pondering a trip to see Galopin Des Champs bidding to join Cheltenham’s immortals next Friday.

The usual issues about packed trains and grandstands came to mind, along with a familiar notion that punting is a pursuit best approached from home nowadays.

And then, in that random way some restless brains function, a jarring mental prod from out of nowhere.

‘You have to go – because you probably won’t be around for the next triple Gold Cup winner.’

Such brutal logic is hard to counter given that only Arkle and Best Mate have achieved the feat since the 1960s.

And my response – with ticket booked before the furry fossil dried off – was followed by a blur of images from a packed mental album.

Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon and Monksfield, Istabraq, Hardy and Harchibald, Honeysuckle, Kauto and Denman, Dessie in deep mud, The Thinker in the snow, One Man, Master Minded, Moscow Flyer and Sprinter Sacre.

But the Festival memory that burns brightest came way back in 1983 when a 22-year-old Wetherby lad helped set a sporting record people will talk about long after most of us are forgotten.

Paul Nicholls came closer than most to matching it by saddling Denman, Kauto and Neptune Collonges to dominate the 2008 Gold Cup, closer still in ‘09 when the same trio and My Will filled four of the first five placings.

But Michael Dickinson’s Famous Five remains seared in Festival folklore and the rider who led them home on Bregawn – followed by Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House – returns to Cheltenham for one last time this week.

Home from home

Graham Bradley was diagnosed with semantic dementia – a rare brain disease that causes loss of language and ability to understand words - in 2022.

That news will shock many racing fans and Bradley’s condition last summer was such that a neurologist warned “he could be in a home within six months.”

Eight months on, Bradley is in a home.

Fortunately, it’s the renovated French barn he shares with wife Amanda and the words of the woman known as Bob will resonate with all who’ve suffered the exquisite agony of seeing a loved one suffer from the sole major disease with no treatment to slow its progression.

“It’s bad, bless him,” she says. “Moving to France in 2020 was the best thing we’ve ever done, this is our sanctuary, but we were told from the start that Graham’s dementia would progress and it has.

“Everyone we’re close to knows the situation but a lot of racing fans won’t and he gets loads of texts at this time of year with people looking for Cheltenham tips.

“It’s tough, and he gets so frustrated and depressed about forgetting things and people’s names. All he remembers is being a jockey, but his brain can’t take anything new in and he’s now at a stage where he even finds it hard to recognise close friends.”

Bradley expressed concerns about memory loss well before being diagnosed but his other half recalls an interview with Mike Cattermole for Sky Sports Racing in 2019 as a red flag moment.

“I watched that back the other day with our daughter Georgia May and the signs were there as Graham was getting lost in some answers,” she adds.

“A lot has changed since but he’s still here. His filter has gone – which means he can be inappropriate at times – but he’s on medication to keep him calm and all we can do is keep him happy as far as we can.”

On the road again

Quiz shows like Tipping Point and The Chase are on series link in the Bradley household, not for the questions but for the gambling and jackpot elements at the business end.

Music remains a happy place for the 64-year-old, with Yellow Submarine and Abba’s Voulez-Vous on rotation by the pool, but Mrs B reports her husband is “still fixed in the time when he was a jockey.”

Cue ‘Brad’s Memory Road Trip,’ which began late last year with invaluable Injured Jockeys’ Fund support and included stays in Lambourn, Newmarket and Malton and visits to Newbury, Wetherby and Elland Road to meet dozens of friends and former colleagues.

“It was an important farewell tour - as we didn’t know whether people would ever see Brad again – but the IJF did us proud letting us stay at Oaksey House and Jack Berry House and the smile on his face wherever we went was priceless,” adds Bob.

Bradley’s memories of sourcing Seebald (who chased home the mighty Moscow Flyer in the 2002 Arkle) in his agent days may have faded but the Macca & Growler Partnership haven’t forgotten their pal and Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler insisted on heading south for a catch-up at the Queen’s Arms in East Garston.

“It was heartbreaking watching the lads cuddling him, and it was lovely to see them again, but Brad couldn’t make the connection.”

“He could only see them as footballers rather than friends - and it definitely came as news to Macca that he was suddenly being welcomed as a Leeds United player!”

Marching on together

If you’re too young to remember prime Bradley then mix Ruby’s poise and confidence with Kieren’s nose for trouble and you get a fair idea of a rider who mixed it with some all-time greats during two decades at the Festival.

That golden run started with the diminutive Sabin du Loir bounding clear of a couple of handy rivals –Dawn Run and West Tip – in the Sun Alliance Hurdle on the day before Bregawn’s Gold Cup win in ’83.

It ended with a cherished success in the fabled Magnier colours as Pat Flynn’s French Ballerina destroyed the giant His Song (Richard Hughes) and 28 others in the Supreme Novices’ of 1998.

And in between came major victories on Kildimo, Morley Street, Floyd and Suny Bay, one of Aidan’s first big wins with Hotel Minella and a Champion Hurdle on Collier Bay that fell into his lap after he was jocked off hot favourite Alderbrook.

Now with the odd grey fleck, Bradley was in his element on C4 with the Broughster after that 1996 Champion, reflecting on how he was “pretty drunk” leaving Dean Gallagher’s birthday party at 1.30am and missed girlfriend Amanda leaving for work and a key schooling session for Kim Bailey because a power cut had kyboshed his alarm.

Confusion also surrounded an unusual gesture delivered as the crowd roared the rugged Collier Bay back into the winner’s enclosure.

Reports differed as to whether Bradley’s bent arm to the chest was a cheeky wristwatch reminder to Alderbrook’s connections or a terrace ritual made famous by fellow Leeds fans.

My tissue makes it no offers the Leeds salute – also used after French Ballerina and Morley Street’s fourth consecutive Aintree Hurdle win in 1993 - but the clock keeps ticking and the alarm eventually does go off.

“We’ve only been back home for six weeks but it just feels right to give Brad a last Festival,” says Bob.

“He runs everywhere he’s not supposed to once the adrenaline kicks in but I’ve spoken to the racecourse and we have a big team, including his sister and our daughter, to make sure it all goes well.

“I’ve had a wonderful life with this man. We know what’s coming but I want everyone to know his story because this is something that affects so many people in different ways.”

And so the car will be loaded up again on a spring morning near the French city of Poitiers on Sunday as the Bradleys go marching on together again.

Gradually or suddenly, every race comes to an end.

But do say hello if you run into a wayward lad darting around Cheltenham next week. He’ll be chuffed if you do – just so long as you don’t ask for a tip.

Ah, those Festival tips…

Plenty of punters will be high rolling to the black market according to some reports, while others will have legit accounts suspended on affordability grounds if they kick off with a couple of losers.

Either way, the confetti cannons have been blasting out tipping content like never before and you start to wonder whether saturation point has been reached.

Some high-profile tipsters have endured a torrid time trying to chisel value against the bankers in recent years and bookies have grown used to getting a shellacking on Tuesday and Wednesday then starting the grind back to solvency.

But this is another year with another chance to, how shall we say, chop it off.

My own Festival tends to involve more laying than backing but let’s hope the following hints prove useful for the most frenetic four days of the year.

Tuesday

I know loads of people who feel Majborough is past the post for the Arkle but very few who are planning to lump on at 8-15. L’EAU DU SUD is an accurate jumper with high-class form and bags of experience. It’s a blend that can make this much closer than the market suggests.

There won’t be a better looker on show for the Fred Winter than STENCIL and he can turn heads in the race, too. A clear second to East India Dock on Trials Day reads well but watch the way Stencil jumped and travelled. He’s poised to give the Irish plots all the trouble they can handle in the race I like to call the Hallgarten And Novum Wines.

Wednesday

Yes, the Cross Country Chase is more open for being a handicap again. But very few old pluggers can produce a genuine turn of foot once they’ve done three and a half miles of cheese wedging. STUMPTOWN certainly can – as he showed when bolting up in December – and that could make all the difference again.

My Mate Mozzie (Grand Annual)

Gavin Cromwell could be in for a big week and, although he can flatter to deceive, the Grand Annual support for MY MATE MOZZIE looks well founded. Some key boxes – spring ground, big field, fast pace and notable recent run – are all ticked. All we need now is a bit of luck and an in-running lay at evens or shorter, just in case!

Thursday

Feels like a quiet punting day from this distance but SIXANDAHALF for that man Cromwell and JAGWAR for the G&G Greenall/Guerriero combo look worth keeping an eye on.

Sixandahalf thrived on the Flat and left a strong impression on her hurdling debut. Spring ground looks an added plus as she bids to get day three off to a flyer in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, while the giant Jagwar has been raised 7lb for his impressive Trials Day win but still looks ahead of the game for the Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase.

Friday

A lot can change by day four but it would take something rare to reduce my confidence in EAST INDIA DOCK for the Triumph. James Owen’s gelding has looked a natural since being switched to hurdling, jumping with rare speed and accuracy, and Lulamba and Hello Neighbour will have to be very sharp indeed to hold him off.

Willie leads Gordon 4-3 in Martin Pipe wins and Lord knows what price the shiny new French purchase Kopeck De Mee will go off if the Mullins team have cleaned up. But WODHOOH has persuasive runs on the board, including a snug Cheltenham success in a race that’s been polished by the placed horses, and she’s sure to be fully primed having been put on layaway since December.

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