Cheltenham Festival Races

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.

 

For aficionados of National Hunt racing, the Queen Mother Champion Chase probably requires little or no introduction. However, for the uninitiated, the Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 steeplechase run over 1 mile, 7 furlongs and 199 yards on the Old Course at Cheltenham in March. Open to horses aged five years and upwards, the race is considered to be the championship race of the season in the two-mile steeplechasing division and forms the highlight of day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase was inugurated, as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, in 1959, but was renamed in 1980 to celebrate the eightieth birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. As might be expected, the roll of honour features some of the highest-rated minimum-distance steeplechasers in history, including Flyingbolt, Moscow Flyer and Sprinter Sacre, to name but three.

The most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase was Badsworth Boy – trained by Michael Dickinson and subsequently by his mother, Monica – who completed an unprecedented hat-trick in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Tom Dreaper, trainer of Flyingbolt, Nicky Henderson, trainer of Sprinter Sacre, and Paul Nicholls jointly hold the record as the most successful handlers, having saddled six winners apiece.

The 2023 renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase was scheduled for 3.30pm on Ladies’ Day, Wednesday, March 15, with defending champion Energumene, unsurprisingly, at the head of affairs. Shiskin, who flopped dismally when odds-on favourite for the 2022, was on a retrieval mission, while other leading fancies included former Weatherbys Champion winner Ferny Hollow, who remained unexposed over obstacles. Energumene won becoming just the 13^th dual winner of the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. The surprise 2024 winner of the race was Captain Guinness after favourite El Fabiolo pulled up.