The sound of the famous Cheltenham Festival roar will echo round Prestbury Park this afternoon, when National Hunt racing’s biggest spectacle gets underway.
Prize
A total of 28 races will take place over the next few days (15-19 March), with more than £4.1million prize money up for grabs.
The action begins with the Grade 1 Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 1.30pm. Irish trainer Willie Mullins has sent off the winner in this race three years running, and this year his runners include pre-race favourite Min.
Mullins also trains the favourite in the Racing Post Arkle Trophy Chase, with Douvan having won eight of his nine starts Under Rules.
Showcase
Today’s showcase race is the Stan James Champion Hurdle (3.30pm), in which Annie Power bids to become the first mare to win the race since 1994. She had been cruising round in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle12 months’ ago, when she took a shock tumble at the final hurdle when the race was all but won. Despite this mishap, the Mullins-trained eight-year-old is now favourite to take hurdle racing’s biggest prize.
Wednesday’s showcase is the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, while Thursday’s feature is the Ryanair World Hurdle. But the most prestigious race of all comes on Friday, the fourth and final day of the Festival, with the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Order of Running
|
Champion Day – Tuesday, March 15, 2016 – Old Course |
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|
1.30pm |
Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) |
2m ½f |
£120,000 |
|
2.10pm |
Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase (Grade 1) |
2m |
£150,000 |
|
2.50pm |
Ultima Handicap Chase (Grade 3) |
3m 1f |
£100,000 |
|
3.30pm |
Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (Grade 1) |
2m ½f |
£400,000 |
|
4.10pm |
OLBG Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1) |
2m 4f |
£100,000 |
|
4.50pm |
146th Year Of The National Hunt Chase (Novices’) (amateurs) (Listed) |
4m |
£100,000 |
|
5.30pm |
Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase (0-140) (Listed) |
2m 4½f |
£65,000 |
|
Ladies Day – Wednesday, March 16, 2016 – Old Course & Cross Country Course |
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|
1.30pm |
Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle Race (Grade 1) |
2m 5f |
£120,000 |
|
2.10pm |
RSA Chase (Grade 1) |
3m ½f |
£150,000 |
|
2.50pm |
Coral Cup (Grade 3) |
2m 5f |
£90,000 |
|
3.30pm |
Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) |
2m |
£350,000 |
|
4.10pm |
Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase |
3m 6f |
£60,000 |
|
4.50pm |
Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race (Grade 3) |
2m ½f |
£75,000 |
|
5.30pm |
Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1) |
2m ½f |
£70,000 |
|
St Patrick’s Thursday – Thursday, March 17, 2016 – New Course |
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|
1.30pm |
JLT Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) |
2m 4f |
£130,000 |
|
2.10pm |
Pertemps Network Final (Handicap Hurdle) (Listed) |
3m |
£90,000 |
|
2.50pm |
Ryanair Chase (Grade 1) |
2m 5f |
£300,000 |
|
3.30pm |
Ryanair World Hurdle (Grade 1) |
3m |
£300,000 |
|
4.10pm |
Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate (Handicap Chase) (Grade 3) |
2m 5f |
£100,000 |
|
4.50pm |
Trull House Stud Mares Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2) |
2m 1f |
£75,000 |
|
5.30pm |
Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Ch (amateurs)(0-145) |
3m 2f |
£65,000 |
|
Gold Cup Day – Friday, March 18, 2016 – New Course |
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|
1.30pm |
JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1) |
2m 1f |
£120,000 |
|
2.10pm |
Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) |
2m 1f |
£90,000 |
|
2.50pm |
Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) |
3m |
£120,000 |
|
3.30pm |
Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1) |
3m 2½f |
£575,000 |
|
4.10pm |
St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase (amateurs) |
3m 2½f |
£40,000 |
|
4.50pm |
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle Race (0-145) |
2m 4½f |
£60,000 |
|
5.30pm |
Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Grade 3) |
2m ½f |
£100,000 |