David Ashdown's Cheltenham Diary

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the pinnacle of the National Hunt season, but from a photographers point of view it's about trying to cover as much ground a possible.

It's just about the only event where I will use three cameras - two Nikon D3s and one Nikon D2x.

I put one of the D3s on the ground by the corner of the last fence with a 14mm F2.8 lens, ready to be set off with a radio transmitter.

I positioned myself half way between the last fence and the finishing post. From this position I was able to photograph the last fence but also keep in range to set off the camera by the jump. This allows me in effect to be in two places at once.

After the horses have gone past it's a mad dash to the winners enclosure for the lead in. You feel like a bit of a headless chicken but it's worth it because it can make great pictures.