Jockey Club Makes Changes to the Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is undergoing a series of changes designed to provide ‘more competitive racing and a better experience and value for all visitors to the Home of Jump Racing’.
 
The Jockey Club is making adjustments to several races to make them more competitive, which will be music to the ears of operators of horse racing betting sites.

Ruby Walsh, the most successful Cheltenham Festival jockey with 59 winners, was among the people consulted about the changes.

The Turners Novices' Chase has been dropped from the programme in favour of a Grade Two limited novice handicap chase over two-and-a-half miles.
 
The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle will offer a guaranteed place to every winner of the series qualifiers, provided they are within the weights bracket at the declaration stage.
 
The National Hunt Chase will become a novice handicap chase for 0-145 rated horses and professional jockeys will now be allowed to participate in the race.
 
The Cross Country Chase will revert back to its previous handicap status, while the penalty structure for the Mares' Novices Hurdle has been removed.
 
Qualifying runs for non-novice handicaps have been increased from four to five for hurdles and from three to four for chases.
 
The overall prize money has also been boosted, with the Jockey Club allocating another £115,000 to take the overall total to £4.93 million next year.

Walsh admitted that the changes may not please everyone, but believes they will help to keep the Cheltenham Festival at the pinnacle of National Hunt racing.
 
He says they have been designed to ensure all of the best horses run at the meeting and participate in the right races.
 
Top British trainer Paul Nicholls agrees with Walsh and thinks the changes will make the Festival more appealing to punters on betting apps.
 
"On the whole these changes sound very sensible,” Nicholls said. “Everybody has different opinions and you cannot please everybody at the same time.
 
“But I think we have to try and make the racing as competitive as possible as that is what the Cheltenham Festival is all about.
 
"One thing I have been impressed with is the way Cheltenham Racecourse has approached the changes by saying we will look and see what effect they have in the years ahead and then maybe review again - it is all part of an ongoing process.
 
“As I have said before, anything which makes racing more competitive can only be a good thing."