December 2017

This Grade 3 race takes part on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival, and is open to horses older than 5 years. With 19 fences to be negotiated, and a distance of 4929 metres (about 3 miles and 110 yards) this challenging Handicap Chase takes place on the Old Course and is run left handed.

 

Previously named the National Hunt Handicap Chase, and in prior years sponsored by The Ritz Club, Astec Buzz and the Steward Family Spinal Research Handicap Chase, since 2015 the race has been sponsored by Ultima Business Solutions. Last year’s winner, Un Temps Pour Tout, with jockey Tom Scudamore and trainer David Pipe, collected £59797 winnings, also having victoriously won the race in 2016.

 

As this Festival Trophy Race is a handicap race, there are no stipulations to the actual weight of the horses, with varying weights being added as a handicap, to make sure that things are run as equal as possible.

 

Many of these horses taking part in this Handicap Chase go on to achieve a win in the Grand National. Previous horses who have achieved this accolade include Royal Tan, Rough Quest West Tip, Seagram and Team Spirit, after taking part in this most thrilling of events at the Cheltenham Festival.

 

This second race at the Festival pays homage to one of the most well-known entrants, Arkle, the Irish thoroughbred racehorse. This two mile race is run at a break-neck speed, and requires the competitors to not only have speed but also a good jumping performance over fences. The race was previously named the Cotswold Chase, but Inaugurated in 1969, the Arkle Challenge Trophy celebrated Arkle’s three Cheltenham Gold Cup wins, during 1964 to 1966.

 

Previous winners of the Arkle Challenge Trophy were 2017 Altior 7 (N De Boinville) 1/4F, 2016 Douvan 6 (R Walsh) 1/4F and 2015 Un De Sceaux 7 (R Walsh) 4/6F.

 

This year’s race will take place on Tuesday, 14^th March 2018, at 14.10 GMT. Horses must be aged five years and over to take part in this Grade 1 national Hunt novices ‘ chase, with a race prize of around £175,000. The entrants for this event tend to be smaller than for the majority of other races at Cheltenham, but that doesn’t deter from it being an exhilarating competition.

 

The hot favourite to win the 2018 Challenge Trophy is Footpad, trained by Willie Mullins, after his win at the Irish Arkle in Dublin, closely followed by second favourite, Petit Mouchoir.

 

This thrilling race on day one at the Cheltenham Festival, is guaranteed to provide a gripping day for newcomers and novices to the challenging world of horse racing.

 

This fantastic, first race on day one at Prestbury Park, signals the opening of the world famous Cheltenham Festival. Scheduled to run on March 13, on Tuesday at 1.30pm, GMT, this Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt race, taking place over the Old Course, at just over two miles and 87 yards, over eight hurdles, for horses over four years old. The 2017 winner of this race was Labaik, ridden by jockey Jack Kennedy, by trainer Gordon Elliot and came in at 25-1. 2^nd place was Melon (3-1) and 3^rd place River Wylde (8-1).

 

This first race sees the runners set off to the roar of the crowd in the grandstand – the famous “Cheltenham Roar”, with the origins of the Cheltenham Festival itself dating back to 1860, albeit in its current location at Prestbury Park since 1911.

 

The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle race has an impressive history of previous contenders, including Douvan and Vautour while one of the most memorable winners was in 2016, when Altior, trained by Nicky Henderson easily outran Rich Ricci. This year sees two horses set for an outstanding battle, with Samcro and Getabird both expected to excel at the hurdles.

 

Being one of the most prestigious events in the racing world, the Cheltenham Festival stages a number of exhilarating races that showcase both the riders and the horses.