Four-Day Cheltenham Festival Stays the Same

After a comprehensive half-year discussion involving owners, trainers, jockeys, broadcasters, passionate racing fans, staff, business partners, and the local community, the Cheltenham Racecourse decided to ditch plans for extending the racing schedule to a fifth day. This means the 2023 Festival will keep its tradition of four grand days from March 14 to 17, featuring 14 Grade One events spread across four exciting seven-race cards, including: Cheltenham Festival Day 2 : The Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase

• Day 1 The Unibet Champion Hurdle

• Day 3 : The Ryanair Chase and Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle

• Day 4 : Gold Cup Day headlined by the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup

• Ian Renton, in charge of the West Region for the Jockey Club, laid out the reasoning behind sticking with the current format. He explained that although there were potential financial gains and a chance to draw in new spectators, there were significant reasons against it. For instance, maintaining the turf would be challenging without improving the track, and, overall, hosting 28 races over four days still feels like the right setup.

Many horse racing enthusiasts will appreciate keeping things as they are, as proposing an extension to Saturday would have diluted the weekday racing experience, reducing each day’s events to six instead of seven. Potential monetary increase goals also came into question, as sponsors might lose interest if racing extended to a day facing competition from other sports, along with increased operational costs for weekend staffing.

Top trainer Nicky Henderson supported the decision to maintain the Cheltenham Festival at four days, calling it a 'logical' choice. He admitted to initially favoring five days but recognized the wisdom in the final resolution. Winning trainer Willie Mullins echoed this view, expressing satisfaction with the compact and tight schedule.

This March saw the Cheltenham Festival setting a new attendance record with 280,627 visitors, surpassing Royal Ascot to become the UK’s third-largest sporting occasion. The Jockey Club intends to maintain a crowd cap of 68,500 daily attendees in 2023 to enhance the experience for racegoers.

With this extensive consultation by the Jockey Club, the Cheltenham Festival and its stakeholders can now look forward to a settled future. Transitioning from three to four days in 2005, it is set to remain a four-day affair for many years ahead.

As the 2022/23 National Hunt season kicks off this weekend, our knowledgeable experts Will Smith and Andrew Blair White will be on the lookout for valuable insights.

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