Cheltenham Racecourse Explained

Cheltenham Racecourse
Website:https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/
Location:Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Owner:Jockey Club Racecourses
Channel:Racing TV, ITV (TV network)
Coursetype:National Hunt
Prev:Catterick Bridge
Next:Chepstow

Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Racing at Cheltenham took place in 1815, but comprised only minor flat races on Nottingham Hill. The first racing on Cleeve Hill was on Tuesday 25 August 1818 when the opening race was won by Miss Tidmarsh, owned by Mr E Jones. It was a year later when the results were printed in the Racing Calendar when a programme of flat racing was watched by the Duke of Gloucester who donated 100 Guineas to the prize fund. By 1831 races were being staged at Prestbury, although not on the present day course. In 1834 the Grand Annual Steeplechase was run for the first time.[1] In 1839 Lottery won the Grand Annual having previously won the first Aintree Grand National. In 1840 the meeting transferred to Andoversford for a brief period, only to return to Prestbury in 1847. 1902 was a notable year in that racing moved to the present course at Prestbury Park. The new stands were completed in 1914 and the present day Festival races, as we know them, began to take shape. The Cheltenham Gold Cup, over 3 ¼ miles, was run for the first time in 1924, with the Champion Hurdle following in 1927.

The course's most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase and the Stayers' Hurdle.

The racecourse has a scenic location in a natural amphitheatre, just below the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at Cleeve Hill, with a capacity of 67,500 spectators. Cheltenham Racecourse railway station no longer connects to the national rail network, but is the southern terminus of the preserved Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

The main racecourse has two separate courses alongside each other, the Old Course and the New Course. The New Course has a tricky downhill fence and a longer run-in for steeplechases than the Old Course. Hurdle races over two miles on the New Course also have a slight peculiarity in that most of the hurdles are jumped early on in the race with only two hurdles being jumped in the last seven furlongs. The Old Course is the racecourse used for The Showcase, The November Meeting and the first two days of the Cheltenham Festival.[2] There is also a cross-country course which is laid out inside the main racecourse and is used for cross-country steeplechases.

The racecourse is the home of The Centaur, one of the largest auditoria in the South West of England. This multiple-use complex seats over 2,000 people for conferences and around 4,000 standing for concerts. It is also home to the Steeplechasing Hall of Fame. From 1999 to 2013, the racecourse was the venue for the annual Greenbelt festival and remains the venue for the Wychwood Music Festival. The University of Gloucestershire holds its graduation ceremony and summer ball at the racecourse.

From 2008, the racecourse and The Jockey Club were in talks with Cheltenham Town F.C. about a possible move to the racecourse. This would have meant the building of a new stadium with a double-sided stand, one side in the stadium and the other for watching the races. In 2011, Cheltenham Town F.C. decided against the move for financial reasons.

In 2015, Cheltenham Racecourse opened the £45m 6,500-capacity Princess Royal Stand,[3] which completed the redevelopment of the course.[4]

Notable races

MonthMeetingDOWRace nameTypeGradeDistanceCourseAge/Sex
New Year1stFairlawne Handicap ChaseChasePremier HandicapNew5yo +
New Year1stDipper Novices' ChaseChaseGrade 2New5yo +
New Year1stRelkeel HurdleHurdleGrade 2New4yo +
TrialsSaturdayFinesse Juvenile Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 2New4yo only
TrialsSaturdayPaddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap ChaseChasePremier HcapNew5yo +
TrialsSaturdayCotswold ChaseChaseGrade 2New5yo +
TrialsSaturdayCleeve HurdleHurdleGrade 2New5yo +
TrialsSaturdayClassic Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 2New4yo +
TrialsSaturdayInternational HurdleHurdleGrade 2New4yo +
FestivalTuesdayArkle Challenge TrophyChaseGrade 1Old5yo +
FestivalTuesdayUltima Business Solutions Hcap ChaseChasePremier HandicapOld5yo +
FestivalTuesdayNational Hunt Chase Challenge CupChaseGrade 2Old5yo +
FestivalTuesdaySupreme Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 1Old4yo +
FestivalTuesdayClose Brothers Mares' HurdleHurdleGrade 1Old4yo + m
FestivalTuesdayChampion HurdleHurdleGrade 1Old4yo +
FestivalWednesdayGlenfarclas Cross Country Handicap ChaseChaseHandicapCross5yo +
FestivalWednesdayBaring Bingham Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 1Old4yo +
FestivalWednesdayCoral CupHurdlePremier HandicapOld4yo +
FestivalWednesdayBrown Advisory Novices' ChaseChaseGrade 1Old5yo +
FestivalWednesdayChampion BumperN H FlatGrade 1Old4yo-6yo
FestivalWednesdayQueen Mother Champion ChaseChaseGrade 1Old5yo +
FestivalWednesdayBoodles Juvenile Handicap HurdleHurdlePremier HandicapOld4yo only
FestivalThursdayPertemps FinalHurdlePremier HandicapNew5yo +
FestivalThursdayStayers' HurdleHurdleGrade 1New4yo +
FestivalThursdayFulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge CupChaseHandicapNew5yo +
FestivalThursdayTurners Novices' ChaseChaseGrade 1New5yo +
FestivalThursdayRyanair ChaseChaseGrade 1New5yo +
FestivalThursdayMagners Plate Handicap ChaseChasePremier HandicapNew5yo +
FestivalFridaySt James's Place Festival Hunter ChaseChaseConditionsNew5yo +
FestivalFridayTriumph HurdleHurdleGrade 1New4yo only
FestivalFridayCounty Handicap HurdleHurdlePremier HandicapNew5yo +
FestivalFridayMartin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap HurdleHurdleHandicapNew4yo +
FestivalFridayAlbert Bartlett Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 1New4yo +
FestivalFridayCheltenham Gold CupChaseGrade 1New5yo +
FestivalFridayJohnny Henderson Grand Annual ChaseChasePremier HandicapNew5yo +
AprilWednesdaySilver Trophy Handicap ChaseChaseGrade 2New5yo +
ShowcaseFridaySharp Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 2Old4yo +
NovemberFridayHyde Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 2Old4yo +
NovemberSaturdayPaddy Power Gold CupChasePremier HandicapOld4yo +
NovemberSaturdayJewson Handicap ChaseChasePremier HandicapOld4yo +
NovemberSaturdayPrestbury Juvenile HurdleHurdleGrade 2Old3yo only
NovemberSaturdayMares' Standard Open NH Flat RaceFlatListedOld4-6yo m
NovemberSundayNovember Novices' ChaseChaseGrade 2Old4yo +
NovemberSundayGreatwood HurdleHurdlePremier HandicapOld4yo +
ChristmasFridayDahlbury Handicap ChaseChasePremier HandicapNew4yo +
ChristmasSaturdayBristol Novices' HurdleHurdleGrade 2New4yo +
ChristmasSaturdayDecember Gold CupChasePremier HandicapNew4yo +

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sluser . John . Cheltenham Racecourse . 4 March 2023 . Greyhound Derby.
  2. Web site: 2020-01-27. Cheltenham Racecourse Guide. 2020-08-17. British Racecourses. en-GB.
  3. Web site: The Redevelopment of Cheltenham Racecourse . 2017-04-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170402081355/http://www.robertslimbrick.com/portfolio/cheltenham-racecourse-new-grandstand/. 2017-04-02. dead.
  4. Web site: History. Cheltenham Racecourse. 2019-07-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20190416170422/https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/about/history/. 2019-04-16. live.

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