The Cheltenham Festival 2025

The Cheltenham Festival is scheduled to take place from Tuesday 11th March to Friday 14th March next year, and it feels a little strange to be talking about it already at the start of October before the National Hunt season has really got underway.

Of course, every year tends to be the same with premature rumblings regarding the springtime at Prestbury Park;  whether it's news about ticket, food, and drink prices, or ante-post market interest in some of the big names, there is always something for us to get ahead of ourselves with.

In fact, we've seen already reports of an undisclosed, but sizeable, bet placed on Constitution Hill for the Champion Hurdle which evaporated the then available 2/1 for a reduced 7/4.  I'm not really sure why this needed to be publicised right now but I suppose it all contributes to festival fever.

However, perhaps this year there is some morsel of justification in talking about the Cheltenham Festival this early in the season.  The Jockey Club announced some significant changes in the hope of delivering more competitive races across the four days, and given the diversity of those involved and interested in racing, some will need longer than others to digest that announcement.

For those not already aware, the key takeaways were:

1) The Grade 1 Turners Novices' Chase has been replaced with a Grade 2 limited novice handicap chase.

2) The Glenfarclas X-Country Chase is to become a limited handicap race.

3) The National Hunt Chase is to become a novice handicap where professional jockeys are permitted to ride.

4) More experience required for runners in non-novice handicap races.

5) Winners of the Pertemps series qualifiers are entered directly to the final.

6) Penalties are to be removed from the Mares' Novices' Hurdle.

Now, there have been public responses both in favour and against the changes but the thing is there are many facets to the Cheltenham Festival and changes of these kind are never going to please everyone.  It's practically impossible.  There will be people who have a greater interest in small-field Grade 1s and there will be other people who have a greater interest in the big-field handicaps, and there can be plenty of reasons for each of those differences in opinion.

For me it's about striking a balance whilst maintaining a good level of quality and competition, and I actually think The Jockey Club have made mostly positive changes to that end with these announcements.  I obviously enjoy watching the best horses compete against each other (when they do!), but I equally enjoy the challenge of trying to pick the lock of the big-field handicaps as well.  Some handicaps are more interesting than others, mind you, but the same can be said about Grade 1s, and again that's all down to personal preference.

The main thing is that racing is not standing still, and whilst it's not constantly evolving either, it's evolving nonetheless, and generally in the right direction when needed.

Safety in sport tends to drive a lot of change and we've seen that over the years with the Grand National.  It's also evident in other sports like Formula 1, Cycling, Boxing etc, but sport still needs to be captivating, exciting, and memorable. 

These characteristics aren't just relevant to modern day fans and followers, these are characteristics that have existed since the inception of the sports themselves, and a key ingredient to making them all of the above is strong and healthy competition. 

Some owners and trainers may choose to avoid the Cheltenham Festival altogether, others may swerve certain races to improve their chances of a winner on the week, but those are decisions I feel a minority will be making, and on the whole the rest of us will benefit from an enriched festival experience.  I'm happy to accept that.  I mean, let's face it, there aren't many people that reach 6pm on the Friday and come away thinking the festival has been an underwhelming or disappointing experience - not from a pure spectacle perspective at least!

Roll on March…but not before the five months of magic that leads up to it!