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It’s my favourite week of the year. I work shifts and therefore have a limited amount of holidays (22) to use over the year. This year I’ve booked off the Wednesday to Saturday block of 4 night shifts because I refuse to miss a single minute of it. I absolutely love it and get stupidly excited about it from new year to the tape goes up on the Tuesday.
However. I’m going down on the Wednesday this year and 4/5 of the races have an odds on fav. You wouldn’t get that on a midweek meeting at Kelso in January never mind the so called showpiece meeting of the jumps season. If the powers that he can’t see the detriment that would be done to the overall spectacle and the wider sport itself by extending to 5 days then that’s a really sad state of affairs.
tbh I used to be against the Ryanair, X-Country, 3 mile novice hurdle and Juvenile handicap hurdle. but imo they’ve proved their worth.
Ryanair has improved. Number of top class chasers has grown over the years and there’s now enough for a 2m 2m5f and 3m2f Championship chases.
X-Country still doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’d quite happily have a break while it’s running, but can see some people like it and we all don’t need to like every race for them to be valid Festival races.
Although we’ll never again get such a great 2m5f novice hurdle as Hardy Eustace’s now there are effectively two staying novice events. However, the 3 Mile novice hurdle’s roll of honour makes clear it’s such a great teacher for staying chasers.
Do get the odd Juvenile Handicap winner who’d at least have gone close in the Triumph. But before the Juvenile handicap the Triumph used to be a lottery. These days much more of a championship event with the handicap if anything helping.
However, there are now many races where the level of ability needed to win is simply not good enough for the Cheltenham Festival. It’s Cheltenham ffs. It’s still the best four days racing of the year, just not as good as it was.
Value Is EverythingI don’t mind the Ryanair – having just two Championship race distances (2m and 3m2f) is fairly ludicrous when on the Flat there are Group 1s at virtually every sequential furlong trip from 5f to 2m+ and there is a place for the intermediate trip contest.
Tbh, it’s a bit weird they don’t have the same over hurdles – there’s the Ballymore for novices but no equivalent open Championship event.
Five days, six races a day is inevitable eventually.
The commercial business case for stretching it to include Saturday will be overwhelming.
Royal Ascot converted the Heath meeting to a fifth day.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"There are enough top class flat horses to have all those Group 1 races at Royal Ascot, Ian.
…And there are enough top class chasers to have 2m, 2m5f and 3m2f events.
However, reason the Cheltenham Festival is so good (or was so good) is / was it’s both ultra-competitive and top class racing. Having an intermediate hurdle would see a massive reduction of competitiveness of both Champion and Stayers Hurdles. There’s just not enough top class hurdlers to go around. They’d be no different to any other Grade 1 hurdles throughout the season.Value Is Everythingeg If it were this season it would make sense for any horse effective at 2 miles that also stayed the intermediate trip to go for the latter race in order to avoid Honeysuckle… Making Honeysuckle a lot shorter for the Champion than she already is. The Champion Hurdle no longer a Champion Hurdle.
Value Is EverythingFair comment.
Weird, though, given the attritional nature of the sport, that there are sufficient decent chasers around to populate races at 2m, 2m5f and 3m2f, but not enough to do the same over hurdles.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The top level two mile hurdling sphere has been overall average for many years now. God knows how many potentially smart recruits to hurdling who in times gone by would have been bought by patrons of the the big jumping yards now end up in the Middle East or Australia. I am certain that nowadays Sea Pigeon would have ended up in Royal Blue at the Meydan meeting then appeared again in the likes of that that 1m 6f listed race at York in June. So too could have Comedy of Errors who was a solid handicapper on the level.
I think most of the recent Champion Hurdle winners would have been bit part players in the era beginning with Persian War, continuing with Bula, the Comedy of Errors/Lanzarote rivalry, Night Nurse, Monksfield, and ending with Sea Pigeon’s first Champion Hurdle in 1980 – despite the popularity of the 81 victory he was past his best by then.
And would agree that the buzz has gone from the modern diluted down Cheltenham – I remember a few years back seeing an interview with Willie Mullins who was calling for the introduction of a mares novice chase – Cheltenham was once about doing the utmost to shape your charge into whatever was the most suitable target as opposed to calling for a perfectly tailored race for your animal.
don’t want five days although seven races each day is one too many
It’s still the best four days. I always go for one day and have for many many years. Not the most comfortable experience and it has to be members. The tattersalls grandstand is a disgrace frankly. It’s an iconic racecourse but not my absolute favourite.
The competitiveness goes in cycles but there is a sense that the quality is certainly drifting away permanently in the hurdling division
Have the bean counters tried moving the ‘championship’ races from the middle to the end of the card each day to stop people going home early yet?
Great post Tizaaaards Cider.
I’ve only got back into racing with any real commitment in the last six years or so after falling out of touch in the 90s.
I’ve booked time off work for the Festival, to watch it on tv. I used to devour all the previews, podcasts etc before. But this year, I’m just not as interested in hearing yet someone else declaring how great some 8/13 novice shot is and that it only has to turn up to win. Yawn.
I get that they are great horses, but I’m not pumped to watch Mullins predictably win 12 races with odds-on shots all being kept apart, with Elliott his only competition as he wins 10 races himself. I hope we get some competitive races but fear they will not be in all but a small number of events.
And that’s all before the inevitable last minute non-runners due to ‘ground’ etc.
“Good post cancello”
Agreed.
IIRC, Night Nurse was moderate on the Flat, but he was the exception, not the rule.
Sea Pigeon was quality – ran in the Craven Stakes and The Derby – and nowadays he’d never have seen a flight of hurdles and would surely have been sold to race abroad.
It was an incredible era until 1980 (when they changed the Champion Hurdle route, making it a bit less of a stamina test IMO and facilitating Sea Pigeon’s dual wins as a veteran) and I doubt we will see anything like that again or the reasons Cancello outlines.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Cheltenham Festival racing – love it.
Losing its lustre? As it stands, for me, nope.
I wouldn’t like it to be extended though. As an example, for 4 days i enjoy the Royal Ascot racing but by the 5th day I lose some of my enthusiasm.
“It’s an iconic racecourse but not my absolute favourite.”
Agree. I like watching Cheltenham on television. I think it is the most exciting and dramatic track in the country. However, I have only visited twice and it is not that good for spectators. The action seems to take place a long way away.
I am planning to go to one day of the April fixture this year, which I assume will be less crowded than the festival and have fewer idiots who are pissed out of their heads after a few pints of watered down “lager”.
Agree with that,
I tend to hang around the parade ring taking photos of the horses and watch it on the big screen
I’ll probably be the only one wearing a mask so I’ll keep out the standsBlackbeard to conquer the World
“have only visited twice and it is not that good for spectators. The action seems to take place a long way away.”
100%!
It’s a beautiful scenic back-drop, the HQ of UK Jumps racing, BUT….
– The new stand is set back too far from the track
– Whereas many courses have a fence in front of the Stands, Cheltenham doesn’t
– For a 1m4f circuit they don’t half seem to get a long way away once out in the country
I’m not a fan of the place, tbh, and much prefer watching racing from Cheltenham on TV at home.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Certainly not as special in recent years. It’s spoiled by constant reference’s to Cheltenham whenever a horse wins a novice hurdle or chase. Just enjoy each race on its merits. Paisley Park winning again was as good as any Cheltenham race. Gosh en storming home was superb. We should only look at Cheltenham a couple of weeks before it. Thete isn’t this obsession on the flat with the Derby or Royal ascot and its better for it. Class cones and goes but there is definitely a dearth just now in the hurdling division and the gold Cup has no outstanding contenders.
I’ll enjoy the festival but let’s just stop going on about it for months.
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