Category: Races

As the most prestigious event in National Hunt racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup requires little or no introduction. Established, in its modern guise – that is, as a steeplechase, run over three miles and two and a half furlongs on the New Course at Cheltenham – in 1959, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is, nowadays, the second most valuable jumps race run in Britain, behind only the Grand National.

Unlike the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a weight-for-age conditions race, in which horses aged six years and upwards carry 11st 10lb, five-year-olds carry 11st 6lb and mares receive a 7lb allowance. It is perhaps worth noting at this point that the last five-year-old to win the race was the legendary Golden Miller, who did so on his first attempt way back in 1932. Owned by the eccentric Dorothy Paget – who is worthy of an article in her own right – Golden Miller went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup again in 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936 and remains the most successful horse in the history of the ‘Blue Riband’ event.

Of course, Golden Miller raced long before Timeform ratings for jump racing were first published in the early sixties, but it is no coincidence that 12 of the top 20 highest-rated steeplechasers of the Timeform era won the Cheltenham Gold Cup at least once. The roll of honour includes such luminary names as Arkle, Kauto Star, Mill House, Desert Orchid, Burrough Hill Lad and Long Run, to name but half a dozen.

Inaugurated in 1927, the Champion Hurdle is run over an advertised distance of two miles and half a furlong on the Old Course at Prestbury Park, where it forms the feature race on the first day of the four-day Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March. A weight-for-age conditions contest, worth £450,000 in total prize money, the Champion Hurdle is, as the name suggests, the most prestigious race of its kind run in Britain and, indeed, anywhere in the world.

Unsurprisingly, the roll of honour for the Champion Hurdle reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of two-mile hurdling talent down the years and includes the likes of Hatton’s Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq, all of whom won the race three years running. Nicky Henderson, who trained See You Then, is the leading trainer in the history of the Champion Hurdle, while John Patrick ‘J.P.’ McManus, who owned Istabraq, is the leading owner; both men have nine wins to their names.

Along with the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, run at Newcastle in late November or early December, and the Christmas Hurdle, run at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, the Champion Hurdle constitutes the so-called ‘Triple Crown of Hurdling’. Consitution Hill, trained by the aforementioned Nicky Henderson, won all three races in 2023 and, having won the Christmas Hurdle again on his comeback in 2024, is a shade of odds-on to win what could be a vintage renewal of the Champion Hurdle in 2025. His potential opponents could include Lossiemouth, second at Kempton, Brighterdaysahead and defending champion State Man.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase was inaugurated, as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, in 1959, but renamed in 1980, by way of celebrating the eightieth birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, who was a staunch supporter of National Hunt racing for over half a century. Run over the official minimum distance of two miles – although, actually, slightly shorter for historical reasons – on the Old Course at Cheltenham and worth £400,000 in prize money, the Queen Mother Champion Chase is the principal steeplechase of its kind in the National Hunt calendar. Not altogether surprisingly, it is the feature race on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival, latterly dubbed ‘Style Wednesday’ by the Jockey Club, in March each year.

The most successful horse in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase was Badsworth Boy, who won three consecutive renewals in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He was trained on the first two occasions by Michael Dickinson at Poplar House in Harewood, West Yorkshire and on the third, after Dickinson switched to the Flat, by his mother, Monica. The late Tom Dreaper, Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls collectively hold the record as the leading trainers in the history of the Queen Mother Champion Chase with six wins apiece. Although best known as the trainer of the legendary Arkle, Dreaper saddled Flyingbolt, who was rated just 2lb inferior to his illustrious stablemate – and 28lb superior to any other steeplechaser since – according to Timeform, to victory in the two-mile ‘chasing championship in 1966.

Run over an advertised distance of three miles on the New Course at Cheltenham, the Stayers’ Hurdle is the least valuable and, arguably, the least prestigious of the four traditional ‘feature’ races run at the Cheltenham Festival. Indeed, since the Festival Trophy – known for sponsorship purposes as the Ryanair Chase – was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2008, the Stayers’ Hurdle has shared headline status on the third day of the Festival with that race, which, at the time of writing, offers £50,000 more in total prize money.

Nevertheless, the Stayers’ Hurdle remains a Grade 1, ‘championship’ event, worth £325,000 in prize money and, as such, is the premier long-distance hurdle race in the National Hunt calendar. The race was established, in its current guise, in 1972 and, since then, several horses have been victorious more than once.

Crimson Embers (1982, 1986), Galmoy (1987, 1988), Baracouda (2002, 2003) and Flooring Porter (2021, 2022) have two wins to their names, Inglis Drever (2005, 2007 and 2008) has three, but most prolific of all was Big Buck’s (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), who chalked up four wins during a record-breaking 18-race winning streak that stretched over five years. His trainer, Paul Nicholls, and jockey, Ruby Walsh, who also won on Nichols Canyon, trained by Willie Mullins in 2017, are respectively the leading trainer and jockey in the modern history of the Stayers’ Hurdle.

Looking ahead to the 2025 renewal of the Stayers’ Hurdle, which is scheduled for March 13, 2025, it may be worth noting that while three favourites won in the last 10 years, they were accompanied by winners at 50/1, 33/1, 12/1 (twice) and 10/1 in the same period.

Nowadays, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is a Grade 1 contest, run over two miles and half a furlong on the Old Course at Cheltenham, where it is the opening event of the Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March. As such, the runners are traditionally greeted by hullabaloo from the grandstands, popularly known as the ‘Cheltenham Roar’, as the tapes go up.

As the name suggests, the race is open to novice hurdlers – or, in other words, horses which, prior to the start of the current season, have not won a hurdle race – aged four years and upwards. It was inaugurated, as the Gloucestershire Hurdle, in 1946 and, until 1972, was run in two or more separate divisions, depending on the number of entries. The ‘Supreme Novices’ Hurdle’ title was adopted in 1978 and the race currently has a safety limit of 22 runners.

Willie Mullins, who, at the time of writing, has been leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival 11 times in the last 14 years, is also the leading trainer in the history of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Indeed, Tourist Attraction (1995) was Mullins’ first Festival winner and he has since added Ebaziyan (2007), Champagne Fever (2013), Vautour (2014), Douvan (2015), Klassical Dream (2019) and Appreciate It (2021) for a total of seven winners overall. Aside from the Mullins’ septet, other notable winners of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle down the years have included Hors La Loi III (1999), Brave Inca (2004), Altior (2016), Shiskin (2020) and Constition Hill (2022).