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There are a few races I don’t much care for but will no doubt appeal to other racegoers/fans so I couldn’t say that ‘x’ race should be dropped just because it doesn’t interest me.
I don’t think they should have gone to 4 days regardless of the obvious (and purely) commercial sense it made because if that was the main point of doing it then why not go the whole hog and do a 5, 6 or even a 7 day Festival as that would no doubt bring in more money regardless of the fact that the dilution of quality would increase several fold…..as some have mentioned there are still some notable races ‘missing’ that a section of the horse population haven’t been catered for like a Veterans race (sorry Sandown) and a hurdle equivalent of the Ryanair (sorry Aintree).
No matter what the advocates of the 4th day (and those that want more) say, the overall race quality and specialness of a Cheltenham winner has been affected and as much as I like the Ryanair as a race, it does pull horses away from rolling the dice on dropping back in trip for the QMCC or going up and trying the Gold Cup, same for the new mares race.
Had these races been in place much earlier then the likes of say a Remittance Man/One Man would never have won the QMCC and would either Dawn Run or Flakey Dove had even been entered in a Champion Hurdle let alone win it? As we have discussed previously, Quevega would have either contested the Champion Hurdle or more likely, potential a series of clash against Big Bucks in the Stayers Hurdle.
As a novice you really had either the Supreme or Sun Alliance for hurdlers and the Arkle or RSA for chasers, it ensured big fields because you simply had no other options to duck and dive and thus the races were ultra competitive……this has been sadly lost to the ‘lets create a race for everyone at the Festival’ era.
Worryingly, the confirmation that to date the Festival this year has still only really sold out Gold Cup day compared to last year when it was pretty much sold out on all four days before the end of January should be a major red flag to those in charge.
I also think having a Saturday as part of the Festival would be a massive mistake but sadly, I do think it is coming at some point with the Gold Cup most likely moving to that day….said extra day will likely only need one race moved from each of the other days to make up the rest of the card.
Progress……..ain’t it grand!
“The confirmation that to date the Festival this year has still only really sold out Gold Cup day compared to last year when it was pretty much sold out on all four days before the end of January should be a major red flag to those in charge.”
I suppose there is still time for it to sell out. But I wonder if some racegoers have had enough of the expense and the crowds? To be fair to Cheltenham, its pricing for admission and refreshments is not out of line with other sporting events. But at least at football and cricket you do have a seat and the crowd is not all going to be using the facilities at the same time. Being in a large crowd at a racecourse where there is often nowhere to sit down is tiring, especially for older people. And especially if you are going to all four days, or even three.
I also wonder if the Irish dominance may have a negative effect on casual British racegoers who make up a lot of the Cheltenham crowd. Most will not subscribe to RTV and are probably not watching Irish racing on streaming services either. If races are being won by horses they have never heard of, while the British horses they see on ITV are being blown out of the water, might they start to lose interest?
Thinking outside the box here, would a £100K win prize hurdle claiming race limited to 4-5 year olds be a good addition.
Would the top trainers enter their precious handicap good things in such a race, knowing they could be claimed for an amount……say around £75K for top weight and scaled down. Just something different to throw out there.One of my favourite races is the Hunterchase, and long may it continue to occupy its place at the festival.
David Jennings with some interesting ideas:
Can’t read all that unless you are a subscriber.
The things I want most in life are the things that I can't win.
What is the argument for running the Foxhunters in March, rather than April beyond the idea of just carrying on doing the same thing? I am all for history, but in this case the history appears to be going down the pan. We can all remember the top hunters chasers, but they now seem a distant memory. The only real interest appears to be whether the point to point yards can see off the professional yards. Not sure that’s enough of a draw.
All the promising pointers have long been sold, and the idea of owner/riders hanging on to a quality string of horses (Collins, Shand-kydd, Thorne) are long gone.
“What is the argument for running the Foxhunters in March, rather than April beyond the idea of just carrying on doing the same thing?”
One of the things I most like about Cheltenham is the variety of contests, which the hunter chase certainly adds to. I also like that those from the grassroots of the sport get their moment to shine at the Festival.
It’s still the premier hunters’ race, so I see no reason why it should be moved. It also provides a good contrast and some calmer waters immediately after the Gold Cup, and takes very few horses away from other races.
I’m not sure if you are saying you want to just remove it or replace it Stilvi. If it were replaced, it would probably end up being with yet another handicap.
I’m not resistant to change (e.g. I am happy with the four days), but I can’t see any compelling arguments for it here.
Arbitrarily moving races is never as simple as it may seem and would have unconsidered consequences.
One of the main arguments against moving the Foxhunter Chase would be disrupting the structure of the hunter chase season. Moving to the April meeting would deprive connections the chance of completing the double with the Aintree Foxhunters’ Chase, as it would be too soon after that meeting and just before the Cheltenham Hunter Chase meeting at the beginning of May.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
“Can’t read all that unless you are a subscriber.”
They’re doing a free trial via the app at the moment.
I agree with espmadrid.
Moving the race to later in the spring would be like running the 2,000 Guineas after The Derby.
Hunters’ Chases have an established narrative – the March Cheltenham winner may go to Aintree and/or the big race at the Hunters’ Chase evening meeting back at Cheltenham and/or at Stratford.
The race is still very competitive, it invariably takes a chaser capable of running to OR140 plus to win it and I for one would be devastated to see it moved.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"One of my favorite races is the Festival Bumper, i mean it used to be. The quality of the race has changed completely. Just when you think you saw next years Supreme or Ballymore winner, a few months later certain people drive to France and buy loads of prospects for the above mentioned races.
The other race I also enjoyed watching was the Foxhunters Chase. Just going back to the early 90s as a starting point where you had the likes of Rushing Wild, Cool Dawn (only 2nd), Elegant Lord (only ran in chases), Kingscliff or Cappa Bleu who were all decent staying chasers. Horses capable of winning or being placed in a Gold Cup or a GN, they truly represents the one from the grassroots of the sport as Marlingford pointed out.
But maybe the quality of these two races has suffered too much with the change of the breed and more people willing to buy “ready-to-win-a-G1” four year olds from France.
Here is the David Jennings RP article:
It has been 20 years since the last three-day Cheltenham Festival. The final act of the trilogy was Sporazene being lifted home by a 24-year-old Ruby Walsh in the County Hurdle. He was 7-1 joint-favourite along with Harchibald, who cruised to the front at the top of the hill but was there about a year too soon. Paul Carberry learned his lesson; he never did that again.
The 2004 festival was almost unrecognisable from the one we know now. There were 20 races, only six of them on the opening day, and Tuesday ended with the Pertemps Final. There were three odds-on shots over the course of the three days, but only Best Mate (8-11) obliged with Moscow Flyer (5-6) and Baracouda (8-11) both beaten.
The festival wasn’t broken in 2004 but we tried to fix it anyway. More days, more races, more people, more everything. As Ireland editor Richard Forristal put it this week, more always seems to be the answer to everything. But maybe it has come to the stage where less is more.
Gold Cup day is still not sold out and plenty of tickets remain available for the first three days, despite a reduced capacity of 68,500. Jump racing fans appear to be voting with their feet so has the time come to tweak the Cheltenham constitution again?
The Jockey Club’s dabble with five days has been dropped, thank the Lord, and, while many of us would love to return to the trilogy of 2004, that will not be happening any time soon. We must make do with four, but we can do a better job with those four.
Don’t get me wrong, the Cheltenham Festival is still by far and away the best four days of the whole year and just a few weeks ago I wrote a staunch defence of the occasion, pointing out all the things that were great about it. It’s a special week in a special place.
But you can still love something and find faults with it. My wife still squeezes the tube of toothpaste from the top rather than the bottom and her wardrobe is like a crime scene after a robbery. A few tweaks here and there could really re-energise the festival and breathe new life into the occasion.
In keeping with the less is more theme, how about reducing the number of races from 28 to 24? Have six races a day rather than seven Twenty years ago the Tuesday of the festival ended with the Kim Muir and the Pertemps Final, but I would get rid of them both.
The whole qualification process for the Pertemps Final riles me. Only two of the last 22 winners have actually won a qualifier, for goodness’ sake. Kudos to the sponsors for their unwavering support at the festival but the event is not fit for purpose. The Kim Muir adds little to the carnival either, apart from giving amateurs the chance to shine on the big stage, while the Mares’ Chase isn’t working and another small field looks in store this year.
The Turners Novices’ Chase is worth shelving as well. HRI has got rid of one of the novice chases at Leopardstown’s Christmas festival and the Jockey Club should too. There are too many options for our novice chasers and the fact that Fact To File is favourite for both the Brown Advisory and the Turners at the time of typing tells you all you need to know.
I would move the Mares’ Hurdle to Thursday, along with the Martin Pipe, and have the Champion Bumper as the final race on Friday.
The Cross Country needs to revert to a handicap. Minella Indo has had his big day, the biggest of all, and this shouldn’t be the place for former greats to have their testimonial. It should be for specialised banks performers from outside the Premier League stables and a chance for the small man or woman to star on the big stage.
Do you know where Ballyburn runs, by the way? No, me neither. The not-knowing-who-goes-where nonsense has gone on for far too long and something needs to be done about it. A rule should be introduced whereby a trainer must nominate his preferred target for each of his horses three weeks before the event begins.
So, if that rule were implemented this year, the cut-off point would be February 20. That is the day Willie Mullins would have to pick between the Supreme or the Baring Bingham for Ballyburn and the Turners or Brown Advisory for Fact To File. Slade Steel and Grey Dawning are others from different stables in the same boat. If we knew exactly who was running where, it would surely enhance the build-up to the meeting.
As regards previews, shouldn’t we have one massive one, in the Centaur at Cheltenham, live on ITV, maybe on the Saturday night ten days before the banquet begins? With Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson, Gordon Elliott, Paul Nicholls, a proper punter, a proper pundit and a proper presenter?
I’ve been enjoying the harmless but helpful bickering between Mullins and Henderson about State Man versus Constitution Hill. We need more of these sorts of tiffs. Mullins saying State Man would be “race-fit”, a dig at Henderson’s cotton wool approach with Constitution Hill, while the master of Seven Barrows rebounded with this gem: “It’s not called the Dublin Racing Festival, it’s called the Willie Mullins Racing Festival! We’ve beaten State Man once so I think we can beat him again. He only beat First Street a length and a quarter in the County Hurdle and we were giving him weight. We know where he is.” Glorious. That’s the kind of stuff we’re after. More please.
It’s cheap talk from me arguing about the cost of the festival, given I will be working over there, but it is too expensive for too many. How about a four-day ticket, incorporating all four days for either the Club or Tattersalls enclosure at a reduced rate? There must be other cost-cutting initiatives that could be brought in as well, ensuring we don’t price proper fans out of the market.
Anyway, those are my musings. I’ve rabbited on for long enough. What’s your banker? Mine is Corbetts Cross in the National Hunt Chase. Native Emperor won that 20 years ago, but guess who was fourth? Silver Birch, would you believe, ridden by a certain Mr Derek O’Connor, who will be on my great white hope two decades later.
How my slimmed-down Cheltenham Festival would look
Tuesday: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Arkle Chase, Ultima Handicap Chase, Champion Hurdle, Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, National Hunt Chase
Wednesday: Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, Coral Cup, Champion Chase, Cross Country Chase, Grand Annual
Thursday: Mares’ Hurdle, Ryanair Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle, Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, Festival Plate, Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle
Friday: Triumph Hurdle, County Hurdle, Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, Gold Cup, Hunters’ Chase, Champion Bumper
Jennings makes some good points and I agree with his sentiment: “The Cheltenham Festival is still by far and away the best four days of the whole year…But you can still love something and find faults with it.”
We will all be watching and having our bets but there is a nagging feeling that the meeting could and should be better.
I like Jennings’s idea of trainers having to nominate a race but I am not sure if it would work. I doubt the BHA would ever insist on it and risk upsetting powerful trainers and owners.
I don’t particularly object to making all 4 days into 6 race cards but if I was a spectator I would expect a reduction in the admission price. I doubt that is going to happen.
I agree with him about the Kim Muir and the Mares Chase. However, I don’t share his dislike of the Pertemps. It is one of the most competitive handicaps of the week and I believe it would be a mistake to get rid of it.
I don’t like his idea of concluding the festival with the Hunter Chase and then the bumper. If I was on track I would leave after the Gold Cup if that was on offer. Ideally I would go back to ending with either the County or the Grand Annual but I suppose the bookmakers want those races on ITV. If he is keeping the Martin Pipe, I would retain that as the last race.
‘It’s cheap talk from me arguing about the cost of the festival, given I will be working over there, but it is too expensive for too many. How about a four-day ticket, incorporating all four days for either the Club or Tattersalls enclosure at a reduced rate? There must be other cost-cutting initiatives that could be brought in as well, ensuring we don’t price proper fans out of the market.’
If you’re staying anywhere near Cheltenham in Festival week then admission prices are the least of your worries, although there’s no harm in trying as it wouldn’t presumably cost much to implement. I’d suggest a percentage discount if you buy tickets for two days, increasing in percentage for three and then four.
I would rather they just named a price and stuck to it though. The price for Club has gone up about £25 (around 30%!) since I bought mine last year.
Probably the only time I’ll beat SP all week
“The price for Club has gone up about £25 (around 30%!) since I bought mine last year.”
Probably explains the sluggish sales this year.
Things can and will always change.
This year is the first Cheltenham festival I won’t be going to out of personnel choice rather than circumstance since 1994. I’m not that old but I get tired being on my feet all day at the festival. According to my fit bit it’s a 22 thousand step day, that’s a lot.
The crowds can be fun and add to the spectacle. But not the increasing groups who have zero interest in the racing and just want a party.
You can go to Dublin racing festival, pay less than Cheltenham entry, get a seat, enjoy a nice nice bar where you get to talk with people like you who want to chat about the racing, options, predictions and stories of past glories.you can also sit where the top trainers watch the racing (and are happy to chat with you).
In the main public enclosures they struggled this year with lack of trained bar staff and not enough toilet capacity.
Majority of folks I spoke to there aren’t going to the Cheltenham festival anymore due to crowds, access to facilities, prices etc
I don’t have the answers, but I reckon a focus on attracting racing enthusiasts and having a capacity that matches your facilities is a good recipie.
Found exact figures now, £86 in May 2023, now £112 (for Tuesday).
You get a discount of £5 each for buying 15 or more and that option is still letting you buy 50 which suggests there are quite a few unsold despite their claims of ‘high demand’ and ‘selling fast’.
From a personal point of view if there’s a bit more room then that’s fine by me.
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