About
Held each year in mid March the best national hunt horses in training head to Prestbury Park for the Cheltenham Festival as they try and etch their names in the racing history books by landing one of jumping’s big races. Known as the ‘Olympics of Racing’ each day sees crowds of over 50,000 descending to the Gloucestershire course as the Cheltenham Festival betting is one of the betting industry’s annual highlights.
With millions changing hands on course, in the high street shops and over the internet these four days will play a huge part in whether all bookmakers have a good or bad year.
The meeting used to be held over three days, but due to demand and the need to accommodate extra races officials extended the festival fun an extra day back in 2005
Always starting on a Tuesday and going through to Friday each day sees a whole host of top-notch contests, but there is always a main championship race each day that takes centre stage.
The highlight of the opening day, Tuesday, is the Champion Hurdle run over 2m ½f (8 hurdles), a true speed test for experienced hurdlers. The novice equivalent of this event is the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, 2m ½f (8 hurdles), run on the same day and is the curtain raiser to the meeting.
On Wednesday, the fastest chasers and slickest jumpers in training contest the Queen Mother Championship Chase, 2m (12 fences), while the novice division fight out the Grade 1 Arkle Chase, run the previous day. Wednesday’s action draws to a close with the Champion Bumper, a flat race run under National Hunt rules, while the Grade 1 RSA Chase, (3m ½f – 19 fences) is the novice equivalent and can often provide a stepping stone to the Gold Cup itself in future years.
Thursday’s feature affair is the Ladbroke World Hurdle (formerly known as Stayers’ hurdle), run over 3m (12 hurdles) provides the ultimate stamina test for experienced hurdlers on Day 3, while the Ryanair Chase, run over 2m5f often attracts those horses that don’t stay the 3m2f Gold Cup trip, or are just shy of that class.
Friday, the final day, gets started with the Triumph Hurdle, and continues with the main race of the meeting, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Run over 3m 2½f (22 fences) and the ultimate test of speed and endurance for the best chasers around, while the meeting now draws to a close each year with the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual, a race named in honour of trainer Nicky Henderson’s father.
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