Cheltenham Festival 2026: Essential Guide To Jump Racing's Big Week
12 March 2018
By.
Cornelius Lysaght
BBC horse racing reporter
Cheltenham Festival
Venue: Cheltenham Racecourse Date: 13-16 March
Coverage: Full protection on BBC Radio 5 live; advanced BBC Radio 5 live sports additional; live text updates on BBC Sport site
It's upon us: the Cheltenham Festival, the most important week of the dive racing year when most of the best nationwide hunt horses do fight for champion honours.
These days, nevertheless, the Festival is no longer just a major horse racing event; it has protected its own significantly significant position in the British sporting calendar as a whole.
One illustration: I am celebrating my 35th anniversary of working there. Back in 1983 trainer Michael Dickinson pulled off what was thought about a hardly reliable 1-2-3-4-5 in the Gold Cup - the order's a great one for certain pub quizzes, so here goes: Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House - and, that year, the average participation was just about 24,000 per afternoon over 3 days.
In 2018, the 14th Festival scheduled to be staged over 4 days, that average will be more than 60,000 people. Additionally, the amount of airtime provided over by radio and TV, plus the space for editorial and promos online and in newspapers, has actually grown out of all acknowledgment.
Perhaps the biggest single modification from 1983 is the amount of success for Irish stables. Then it was five wins from 18 races, although that figure wasn't equated to for 10 years, and in 1989 the visitors sustained 'nil points'. Today, hopes of an enhancement on 2017's success in the BetBright Anglo-Irish obstacle, with a record 19 wins from 28 races, is thought about sensible.
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Here's my guide to the week ahead ...
First things initially: the weather condition
It is often said that because of its position nestling in the foothills of the Cotswold Hills, the medspa town of Cheltenham has its own micro climate.
That may often be the case, but it didn't apply when the 'Beast from the East' and Storm Emma had their recent encounter in Britain; as elsewhere, snow wanders gathered, some five-feet deep around the fences and hurdles, and temperatures at one point plunged to -17 C.
It's approximated 500 tonnes of snow had actually to be cleared from the track and public areas combined, and the effects of that rainfall, plus more rain, means the Festival is set to start on the softest racing surface seen for the first day in more than 25 years.
The storm from Ireland: Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott look more powerful than ever
Willie Mullins is the champ fitness instructor of Irish dive racing, while his arch-rival Gordon Elliott was the titleholder at the 2017 Cheltenham Festival for the very first time, with six of his home country's successes. Between them, the pair have 15 of the 19 Irish-trained likely favourites this time.
The Elliott team - many with jockeys wearing the maroon and white silks of the Gigginstown House Stud operation, owned by airline magnate Michael O'Leary - consists of Gigginstown's Samcro, who appears at arrivals with the thickest cloud of hype.
The horse was deliberately called Samcro by his breeder - after the Sons Of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original from the US tv series Sons of Anarchy - in an attempt to attract O'Leary, who is said to like names with effective undertones.
Unbeaten in 7 races, consisting of a point-to-point, Samcro is an Irish 'banker' in day 2's Ballymore Novices Hurdle as he heads the list of Elliott runners in addition to Apple's Jade - trained by Mullins prior to a high-profile fallout with O'Leary in 2016 - who chooses a repeat in the OLGB Mares Hurdle (day one).
Meanwhile, Mullins has something of a 'banker' of his own in Getabird, all the rage for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle, the opening race of the entire week, the minute when that famous 'Cheltenham roar' increases from the crowd as months of anticipation lastly concerns an end.
Like a bulk of the stable's most significant hopes, Getabird will be the mount of Ruby Walsh, the Festival's most successful jockey with 56 wins, and leading rider for 11 of the last 14 years; he's simply back from a lack of more than 3 months due to the fact that of a damaged ideal leg.
The Mullins difficulty also consists of 3 high-profile runners looking to regain their mojos: Faugheen, Yorkhill (both Unibet Champion Hurdle) and Douvan (Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase).
Faugheen, the injury-ravaged Champion Hurdler of 2015, has suffered 2 recent beats and will wear cheek pieces to aid concentration; Yorkhill, last season's JLT Chase winner, has actually rather lost his method; while Douvan, two times a Celebration winner, will be racing for the very first time since flopping in the 2017 Champion Chase, when clashing with Altior in the race this time or lining up in the Ryanair Chase.
Altior simply one star in Henderson difficulty
Just as Messrs Elliott and Mullins the Irish attack, the stable of Nicky Henderson, based at Lambourn in Berkshire, has a bulk of the foot soldiers manning the home defences.
Henderson, who's won more Festival races than any other fitness instructor - 58 - has the major gamers in three of the week's 4 primary functions, and is fancied to finish what would be an unmatched treble.
Buveur D'Air, owned by JP McManus, looks impressive as he protects his Champion Hurdle title, although Henderson and McManus are likewise represented by serial runner-up in the race My Tent Or Yours; Altior and jockey Nico de Boinville seek their third Festival successes together in the Queen Mother Champion Chase; while Might Bite and de Boinville attempt to sign up with an elite band who've won jumping's King George VI Chase and Timico-sponsored Gold Cup in the same season.
To blend metaphors, Might Bite, owned by the Knot Again Partnership headed by Kent County Cricket Club chairman Simon Philip, is a fantastic all-rounder, although is vulnerable to near run-outs.
The nine-year-old has twice almost grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory when veering off a straight line late on at Cheltenham, especially in the RSA Chase of 2017; were these shenanigans guaranteed not to be repeated, his big-race chances would be significantly shorter as he handles Native River, Our Duke and co. - although not last year's winner Sizing John, who is injured.
Broaching the Gold Cup, here's a stat for you: Willie Mullins, who is because of run in 2015's fourth Djakadam, Total Recall and the well-touted Killultagh Vic, has never won the race, and has - pretty extremely - had horses end up runner-up 6 times consisting of Djakadam two times.
Day 3: relocation over St Patrick, individuals's horses are in town
They call it St Patrick's Thursday, however, not least since it's on 15 March, day three could nearly be re-named 'old heroes' Thursday this year as Cue Card and The New One strut their stuff at their seventh Festival.
For Cue Card, a two-time Festival winner - although possibly best-known for falling at the third-last fence in the last 2 Gold Cups - his appearance in the Ryanair Chase is likely to be his swansong at the fixture.
The dive racing public has taken the 12-year-old to their hearts for his success in landing an overall of 16 races, of course, but likewise for his capability to get better in the face of hardship, like the falls.
Success for the veteran, trained by Colin Tizzard for octogenarian owner Jean Bishop, and the mount of jockey Paddy Brennan, against safeguarding champ Un Des Sceaux and the rest would, as they say, raise the roofing system.
Unlike Cue Card, who missed a number of years, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained The New One, who lines up with the fitness instructor's jockey boy Sam in the Sunbets Stayers Hurdle, has actually not missed out on a Celebration since taking in his first in 2012; his CV includes a novices' hurdle success and kind figures of 3-5-4-5 in succeeding Champion Hurdles.
Any other company
Britain's youngest fitness instructor Amy Murphy, 26, doesn't have ammunition to equate to some of her competitors, but she does have up-and-coming hurdler Kalashnikov, among the favourites for the Supreme Novices Hurdle (the first day).
Rising-star jockey Bryony Frost is because of restore her prolific collaboration with Black Corton in the RSA Chase (day 2).
Some bookmakers' estimates of just how much will be bet throughout the Festival seem a bit wild, and ₤ 350m is probably a reasonable call: the bookmakers seem to many fear Footpad, well-backed for the Racing Post Arkle Trophy (the first day).
Champion racehorse-turned-stallion Frankel has his first runner at the Cheltenham Festival when the Dan Skelton-trained Solo Saxophone lines up in the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle (day 2).
In a year dominated by the bigger names, owners Caron and Paul Chapman, trainer Jedd O'Keeffe and jockey Joe Colliver fly the flag for those with a lower-profile, with Sam Spinner in the Stayers Hurdle (day 3).
Sam Spinner and Gold Cup hope Definitly Red (named by a bad speller, obviously), both Yorkshire-trained, look for to continue the recent resurgence of jump racing's northern circuit.
And finally...109-year-old racing fan Ralph Hoare finally gets the possibility to tick the Cheltenham Festival off his pail list of things to do when he attends Gold Cup day.
Coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio live sports extra and the BBC Sport website all week.
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