Which is the longest race run at the Cheltenham Festival?

Until fairly recently, the answer to that question would have been the traditional “four miler”, the National Hunt Challenge Cup, which until 2020 was run over 3 miles, 7 furlongs and 147 yards on the Old Course. However, following a contentious renewal in 2019, when only four of the 18 runners finished on the prevailing soft ground and three jockeys were suspended for riding “contrary to the horse’s welfare”, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) reviewed the distance and eligibility criteria of the race. The suspensions were subsequently quashed, but the distance of the National Hunt Challenge Cup was shortened to 3 miles 5 furlongs and 201 yards from 2020 onwards.

Thus, the oldest race run at the Festival is the longest no more, with that distinction belonging to the Cross Country Chase, which was inaugurated in 2005 and has been sponsored since 2009 by Speyside whisky distillery Glenfarclas. As the title suggests, the race is the only one run on the Cross Country Course at Cheltenham during the Festival and is currently scheduled as the fourth race on the second day, dubbed ‘Style Wednesday’. The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is run over 3 miles, 6 furlongs and 37 yards – or, in other words, 56 yards further than the revised National Hunt Challenge Cup – and a total of 32 distinctive obstacles akin to those found in open countryside. Runners must negotiate banks, ditches, hedges and even a Grand National-style fence.