Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival

For four days a year during the month of March, the quiet village of Prestbury which lies on the outskirts of the English Spa town of Cheltenham is awaken by an invasion of Equine enthusiasts from around Britain and Ireland. Prestbury is home of Cheltenham Racecourse, the venue of the famous Cheltenham Festival and for those four days during March, the atmosphere more resembles a downtown metropolis area than the quintessentially English village that it is better as for the remaining 361 days of the year.

 Horse Racing is a unique sport in that it combines the skill, fitness and ability of both horses and the jockeys against each other in the attempt to a win race. However, racing goes way beyond just a number of horses lining up and stampeding around a track as fast as possible to be the first past the winning line. The process starts with the pedigree of the horse and whether its blood line lends itself to it running in sprint races, middle distance races or staying races, with each discipline demanding different attributes from a horse’s appearance, namely its size and conformation. The parentage of the horse will usually determine this, with the Sire (Father) of any thoroughbred racehorse often having raced earlier in life before heading to stud for breeding purposes and in many cases the mother of a horse (Dam) will too have raced. The combination of the Sire and Dam characteristics will frequently result in them being past on to their progeny and this will determine firstly whether the horse is deemed worthy of being trained as a racehorse and secondly, if successful in becoming a racehorse the types of races that they will be entered to run in.

The Cheltenham Festival concerns National Hunt racing or as it is frequently referred to ‘Jump Racing’. This form of racing is where horses are required to jump obstacles during races, either fences or hurdles and are run over distances of 2 miles upwards. The majority of National hunt horses are aged five or older and have been gelded as a result of limited breeding value. This is in contrast to Flat Racing which is run largely over distances of between 5 furlongs and 2 miles and features younger horses aged between two and four years old and are often retired young for a career in breeding.

One of the biggest appeals of National Hunt Racing is that many of the horses have careers spanning several years, allowing for fans of the sport to become familiar with the horse’s ability and favoured conditions. This is one such characteristic that makes the Cheltenham Festival much loved amongst racing enthusiasts as they will often see the horses reappearing year after year. This has allowed for many horses over the years to establish themselves as Cheltenham greats, winning races at the Festival in multiple years, adhering themselves to the crowds in the process.

Each racehorse that runs under National Hunt rules will have preferred conditions and criteria when running in a race. For example, Some horse’s will perform better running over two miles and jumping hurdles, whilst others may have the speed to run over this distance but prefer to jump fences, which are much bigger and more challenging than hurdles. Other horses may prefer to run over longer distances, which may include anything from three mile races to four mile races and again some horse will prefer to jump hurdles whilst other will perform better of fences whilst running over the variety of distances.

It is the job of the racehorse trainers to work out the optimum trip and the preferred obstacles that the horse will jump and train each horse accordingly so that it has the best chance of winning the race for which it is entered. Finding the right race is also a difficult task, especially when considering that such factors as Graded races, Handicap races and Novice races all must be taken in to account in addition to the distance and obstacles. Graded races are the most prestigious contests as they attract the best horses for the given disciplines and will also offer the best prize money.

Handicap races attract horses of varying abilities and each horse in the race will carry a different weight. The better horses on known form carry a heavier weight in an attempt to even the ability of all horses in the race. The challenge for the trainer therefore becomes attempting to defy the handicap mark that the horse must carry in order to win the race. A novice racehorse is one which has not won a particular type of Jumps race before the start of the current season. Therefore you will see Novice Hurdle race and Novice Chase races, which pose further considerations to the trainers as horses will undoubtedly be inexperienced in the chosen discipline.

Cheltenham Festival Races

The Cheltenham Festival’s 25 races over the four days accommodate all the different types of race disciplines and distances. Each race at the Cheltenham Festival is deemed to be the most coveted prize for that particular discipline in the sport of National Hunt Racing. The prize money on offer is also the biggest of any National Hunt meeting, currently standing at over £3 million. It is easy to understand the appeal of the Festival and why it attracts such large crowds and keen interest from the media. The best jumps horses around, owned by some of the wealthiest people in the UK and Ireland, trained by the best known trainers and ridden by the biggest named jockeys. It is often referred to as the World Cup of Horse Racing and anybody would be hard pushed to mount an argument to challenge otherwise.

The four most famous Cheltenham Festival Races are all Grade One events and are known as the ‘Championship Races’, with a different one run on each of the four days. The Champion Hurdle is the feature race of the opening day of the festival which sees the best two mile hurdlers go head to head. On the Wednesday, the Queen Mother Champion Chase sees the best two mile chasers clash whilst the Thursday sees the World Hurdle pits the best three mile hurdlers against each other. The feature race of the entire Festival and National Hunt season is the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the Friday, where the best chasers around compete over the challenging trip of 3 miles 2 furlongs.

Each race at the Cheltenham Festival provides a fantastic sporting spectacle as well as a different challenge for the horses and jockeys involved. Listed are the races on each of the four days, providing an overview of the race discipline.

Tuesday

The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival and is famous for the Cheltenham roar when the tape goes up to signal the start of the race and festival.  It is a Grade One novices’ hurdle race run over a distance of 2 miles ½ Furlong.
The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a chase race open to novices who are required to jump twelve fences around the two mile trip. It was first run in 1946 but was renamed in 1969 in honour of the three times Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Arkle.

The Champion Hurdle is the feature race of the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and is the first of the four Championship races at the meeting. It is run over 2 miles and half a furlong and requires the runners to jump eight hurdles. The race has produced many great winners since it was introduced in 1927. Hatton’s Grace, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq (pictured right) all won the race in three consecutive years with Istabraq favourite to make it a record fourth success in 2001 before the meeting was abandoned due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the Britain.
The William Hill Trophy is the first handicap race of the Festival and always attracts a large field of runners for this trip of 3 miles ½ a furlong over 19 fences.
The Cross Country Chase is one of the most intriguing races of the Festival as it sees handicap chasers jump a total of 32 fences over the marathon trip of 3 miles and 7 furlongs. What is interesting about the Cross Country Chase is that the obstacles vary in size and the materials that they are made from.
The Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle is the final race of day one and is always a competitive affair as a large field of four year olds will line up to run the  2 mile ½ furlong trip navigating eight hurdles in the process.

Wednesday

The Ballymore Properties Novices Hurdle is a Grade One race which is open to horses running in there first season of running over hurdles. The distance of this race is 2 miles 5 furlongs and contains ten flights of hurdles.

The Royal and Sun Alliance Chase is a race open to novice chasers. It is run over a distance of 3 miles ½ furlong and includes 19 fences. The races has produced many top class horses down the years, including several who have gone on to run well in proceeding Gold Cups, including 2008 Gold Cup winner Denman, who won the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase in 2007.

 
The Coral Cup is a handicap hurdle race which attracts one of the biggest fields of any race at the Festival, which always guarantees that this 2 mile 5 furlong race over ten hurdles is run at a frantic pace.

The Kim Muir handicap chase is a race run over 3 miles ½ furlongs over 19 fences and open only amateur jockeys can ride in the race. This is a great opportunity for many young or infrequent riders to sample their first and often only taste of success at this famous meeting.

The Champion Bumper is one of the most popular races at the festival, especially amongst the Irish visitors. It is a race that is open to horses that are inexperienced and have run only a couple of times previously. The race is run over a distance of 2 miles ½ furlong but does not involve jumping any obstacles.

Thursday

The Jewson Novices Handicap Chase is the opening race of the Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival. It is a race for Novice chasers who run over a distance of 2 miles 5 furlongs and is another race that always attracts a big field of runners year after year.

The Ryan Air Chase was one of the new races introduced to the Festival when it expanded from the three day to four day format in 2005. Despite being a newcomer to the festival the race still boasts a prize of £100,000 to the winner. It is a competitive race with many top class horses having run in its 2 mile 5 furlong trip and 17 fences.

The World Hurdle is the third of the Festival’s four Championship races and is a challenging three mile hurdle race over twelve flights. It is the third Championship race of the festival and was first inaugurated at the meeting in 1972 as the Stayers Hurdle. The race has been won by some of jump racing’s most popular horses in recent years including Galmoy, who won the race twice in 1987 and 1988, Baracouda who won the race in 2002 and 2003 and most recently Inglis Drever (pictured right), who won the race for the third time in four years at the 2008 Festival.

 The Racing Post Plate is the Cheltenham Festival’s most valuable handicap, which explains why year after year, fields of over 20 runners line up to tackle the 2 mile 5 furlong chase over 17 fences contest for first prize.

The National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup is marathon Novices Chase over a trip of 4 miles 1 furlong open only to amateur jockeys. As with the Kim Muir handicap chase, this race provides amateur riders with a great chance of winning at the Cheltenham Festival. It also attracts some very good horses and future leading Grand National contenders.

 The Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle is renowned for being an open race with a large field of runners always guaranteed to go to post. Run over a distance of 3 miles, over 12 flights of hurdles, this race allows some of the top handicap hurdlers around to battle it out.

Friday

The final day of the Cheltenham Festival opens with the Triumph Hurdle which is open only to horses aged four years old and run over 2 miles 1 furlong. It is a great opportunity for young horses to show their potential against horses of the same age, often laying down the claim that they have promising careers ahead of them in racing.

The Brit Insurance Novices’ Hurdle was one of the new races introduced to the Cheltenham Festival when it expanded from three to four days in 2005. In its short existence, it has come to attract the best novice hurdlers of the season that run over 3 miles.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the highlight of the entire Festival. First run in 1924, the race has provided the stage for some of the best known names in the history of horse racing to achieve some of their greatest ever triumphs. Run over a distance of 3 miles 2 ½ furlongs and 24 fences, it is the fourth championship race at the Cheltenham Festival and the most famous renewal in National Hunt racing.

Best Mate (pictured right) is the most recent horse to achieve a Gold Cup hat-trick when winning in 2002, 2003 and 2004. However, he missed the 2005 renewal of the race through injury before tragically passing away on his seasonal reappearance as he prepared for the 2006 race. Many people thought that Best Mate could have gone on to win more Gold Cup's.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a huge betting spectacle given its competitive nature and high profile status. It is second only to the Grand National in terms of popularity.

The Foxhunter Chase is referred to as the Gold Cup for amateur jockeys. It is run over the same distance and fences as the feature race; only the calibre of horses entered is not as good as the feature event. Nevertheless, the race is still a competitive affair and to the winning connections, still means as much as winning the Gold Cup.

The Grand Annual Chase is a Grade 3 handicap over 2 miles ½ furlong and has become known as one of the strongest handicaps of its types in the National Hunt calendar. A large field of talented runners guarantees that this race is run at a frantic pace and provides a great spectacle as the Festival draws to a close.

The 26^th and final race at the Cheltenham Festival is the Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle and is always a great race ton finish the meeting. Run over 2 miles 1 furlong, it is always a competitive race with a large field, often including some of the best hurdlers around trying their luck in handicap company, it is a fitting race to bring down the curtain on what is a fantastic array of top quality horse racing.

After over 100 years, the Cheltenham Festival is still the premier event of the National Hunt season. As a sporting spectacle and for fans of horse racing in particular, it ranks amongst some of the best events in any sport around the world.

The Cheltenham Festival is steeped in rich racing heritage and is a proven stage for National Hunt racing’s elite to stake a claim on some of the greatest achievements to be won in the sport, hence its appeal to the millions of fans that either attend the meeting, watch it on the TV or merely participate by having a bet on one the races. Interest in the Festival is currently at an all time high, when it expanded from three day meeting to a four day event in 2005, many critics questioned the quality of the newly introduced races would dilute the quality of the meeting thus reduce the interest and exposure that the meeting gets. However, after four years of the four day format, the Festival could not be in a healthier state. Each day of the Festival remains a sell out, the prize money is growing year on year and the calibre and numbers of horses competing in every race proves that the quality of the racing has only improved since 2005. The Festival is now also worth over £500 million to the betting industry, which is another sign of its increasing popularity.

The Cheltenham Festival is sure to provide much entertainment for racing fans for many years to come in addition to the ever expanding history books that continue to be written by the number of great winners each year.