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The Cheltenham Festival is the most prestigious meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom and has race prize money second only to the Grand National. It is an event where many of the best British and Irish trained horses race against each other, the extent of which is relatively rare during the rest of the season. National Hunt racing is the name given to the sport of horse racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland where the horses are required to jump over obstacles called hurdles or fences (except in the case of a bumper). The core of the National Hunt season is over the winter...
The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt handicap horse race in the United Kingdom. ...
It takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Because of the nation's horses and the fact it usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day, the meeting is often very popular with Irish visitors. Cheltenham Racecourse is located in Cheltenham, England. ...
For the parliamentary constituency, see Cheltenham (UK Parliament constituency). ...
Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. ...
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Huge amounts of money are bet, with hundreds of millions of pounds being gambled over the four days and so the Festival is often noted for its atmosphere, most notably the "Cheltenham roar", which refers to the enormous amount of noise that the crowd generates as the horses enter the home straight and long run in. “GBP†redirects here. ...
In 2001 the Festival was cancelled due an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), sometimes called hoof-and-mouth disease, is a highly contagious but non-fatal viral disease of cattle and pigs. ...
The Festival was traditionally run over the course of three days, but this changed in 2005 with the introduction of a fourth day. There are 24 races overall, with Grade One events including the Champion Bumper, Triumph Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle, Arkle Challenge Trophy, Royal & SunAlliance Chase, Champion Hurdle, World Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and the feature race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Champion Bumper is the championship National Hunt Flat race, run annually at the Cheltenham Festival. ...
The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade one hurdle for Juvenile (4-year-old) hurdlers, run over a distance of two miles. ...
The Supreme Novices Hurdle is a race for novice hurdlers, run at the Cheltenham Festival, over a distance of two miles. ...
The Ballymore Properties Novices Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in the United Kingdom for four-year-old and above novices run over a distance of 2 miles 5 furlongs (4,225 metres) on the Old Course at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom for five-year-old and above novices run over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 metres) on the Old Course at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The Royal & SunAlliance Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom for five-year-old and above novices run over a distance of 3 miles 110 yards (4,929 metres)on the Old Course at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The Champion Hurdle is a United Kingdom National Hunt horse race for four-year-old and above horses run over a distance of 2 miles 110 yards at Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The World Hurdle is a United Kingdom National Hunt horse race for four-year-old and above horses run over a distance of 3 miles at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a United Kingdom National Hunt horse race for five-year-old and above horses run over a distance of 2 miles at Cheltenham Racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival in March. ...
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the foremost Chase in the United Kingdom, run at Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. ...
Criticisms For several years there have been concerns about the high number of injuries and fatalities to horses. This was brought to a head in 2006 when 11 horses were killed. In response the racecourse decreased the number of runners in certain races and resited one of the more difficult fences. However, some animal rights groups do not accept that this is sufficient. A civet, or sea fox, photographed in the Zigong Peoples Zoo, Sichuan, 2001. ...
Unfortunately on the first day of the 2007 Festival, "Little Brick" - the ante-post favourite for the Grand National - was killed in an accident after jumping a fence. [1]. Two days later "Swift Thyne" was killed after unseating his rider. The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt handicap horse race in the United Kingdom. ...
Top Jockeys The top jockey for the festival is the jockey who wins the most races over the four days. The winners since 1980 with wins in brackets are: Robert Lee Thornton, Jr. ...
Ruby Walsh (real name Rupert Walsh) (born May 14, 1979 in County Kildare) is a famous Irish jumps jockey. ...
Graham Lee (born December 16, 1975 in Galway) is a successful horse jockey in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, he is the main stable jockey for Ferdy Murphy. ...
Ruby Walsh (real name Rupert Walsh) (born May 14, 1979 in County Kildare) is a famous Irish jumps jockey. ...
Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979 in County Meath, Ireland) is an Irish jockey. ...
Anthony Peter AP McCoy MBE (born 4 May 1974, Moneyglass, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish horse racing jockey, and is widely regarded as the greatest jump jockey to date. ...
Thomas Richard Dunwoody MBE (born January 18, 1964 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a jockey in National Hunt racing. ...
Charlie Swan was the top National Hunt jockey in Ireland in the 1990s. ...
Peter Scudamore (born 1958) is a former jockey and trainer in National Hunt racing. ...
Jonjo ONeill (19 April 1953) is an Irish jockey and riding trainer. ...
John Francome is a former National Hunt racing champion jockey. ...
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