Horse racing can seem like a quite final save at times, a baffling international of equine jargon and flat caps. But while the Cheltenham Festival comes round, the so-called ‘Greatest Show on Turf’, lots outdoor the same old racegoing regulars sit up straight and take the word.
Here, Standard Sport explains the basics…
What’s all of the fuss approximately?
Though now not a legit ‘finals’ like one could find in lots of different sports activities, nor even the season finale, the Cheltenham Festival is broadly considered to be the largest meet of the British and Irish National Hunt season.
Many of the maximum essential races inside the jumps calendar, both in terms of prize cash and prestige, are run on the four-day event.
What is the majority of this one of a kind races?
There are currently 28 races on the Cheltenham Festival, seven according to day. The majority of those are run over certainly one of two limitations – both taller fences, or shorter hurdles, and variety in the distance from round miles to the four-mile National Hunt Chase.
The races are divided into different divisions, based on a selection of factors consisting of experience, age, sex and, in some races referred to as handicaps, where horses deliver weight to theoretically degree the gambling field, capability.
What are the most significant races?
Of the 28 races at the Festival, 14 are classed as grade ones – the best elegance of competition in the game.
Each of the four days has the main feature race, called a championship race. They are:
Tuesday – Champion Hurdle: The most prestigious hurdle race in the game, run over two miles.
Wednesday – The Queen Mother Champion Chase: The pinnacle prize on provide for horses jogging two miles over fences.
Thursday – The Stayers’ Hurdle: This 3-mile hurdle race is considered slightly less prestigious than the other championship races, and the Ryanair Chase, a two-and-a-1/2 mile run over fences at the same day, is now and then thought of as co-headliner.
Friday – The Cheltenham Gold Cup: The Festival’s blue ribbon event, a grueling take a look at of stamina run over 3-and-a-quarter miles over fences.