“It was a cracking good race for everyone else. For me it was hell. It is seriously like hitting your head once morest a brick wall. The only nice bit is when it stops.”
That’s how trainer Nicky Henderson described the 2019 Queen Mother Champion Chase, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think his horse had finished dead last. No, this was Henderson explaining his emotions as Altior won the prestigious race in close-fought fashion, putting the trainer on the illustrious list of those who have landed successive winners in the day two showpiece.
It’s a quote that sums up the excitement, anguish, agony, ecstasy, and above all, beauty, of the Cheltenham Festival. This is a sporting event that brings the most intense human experiences and emotions bubbling to the surface like boiling water. Perhaps that is why we love it so much, because few things in life can produce such thrills.
There are few occasions on the British sporting calendar that compare to the Cheltenham Festival. It stands proudly amongst the likes of the Six Nations, the FA Cup and Wimbledon as bastions of this country’s cultural patchwork.
And yet, there is something still distinctive regarding Cheltenham — the earthiness of horse racing, the fine margins between winning and losing, the marriage of raw power and finesse, along with the intangible bond between human and horse.
When you consider those unique qualities, it is no surprise that the Cheltenham Festival continues to garner so much attention, year following year. The 2022 edition of the meeting is approaching ever nearer, a showpiece event where thousands of eager fans will pack the Prestbury Park rfollowings once once more.
They will watch with the same fervour as those who witnessed the early editions of the fixture hundreds of years ago. This is the story of how the Cheltenham Festival has endured the remorseless march of time to maintain its place at the heart of British sport.
Early origins
The origins of the Festival lie not in the confines of Cheltenham itself, but rather in Market Harborough, where the first edition of the ‘Grand National Hunt Meeting’ took place in 1860, 162 years ago. The event struggled to find its forever home, being bandied around different racecourses, before the first instances of the event being held in Cheltenham took place in 1904 and 1905.
Something clicked in those editions of the meeting, held on a new course built at Prestbury Park at the turn of the century. In 1911, the event returned to the Cotswolds venue, and it has remained there ever since, providing the perfect home for what would eventually become known as the ‘Cheltenham Festival’.
Of course, much of the Festival’s lustre comes from its most prestigious races, most of which have rich histories themselves. The biggest of these is undoubtedly the Gold Cup, which traces back to 1924, and although it didn’t start out as one of the meeting’s championship races, it grew to become the most hotly anticipated race of the four days at Cheltenham.
Now, it holds pride of place as the feature race on the final day of the Festival, and it’s every jockey, trainer and owner’s dream to land a Gold Cup winner.
The move to four days
For decades, the Cheltenham Festival was held across three days, but the decision was made to introduce a fourth day of action ahead of the 2005 edition. This meant that all four championship races might be held on a different day, providing a focal point for each followingnoon of racing. Five new races were introduced to ensure there would be six every day, one of which was the Ryanair Chase, which has gone on to become one of the Festival’s most prestigious events.
The additional day meant that the Cheltenham Festival had even greater claim to be up there with the country’s great sporting events. Four successive days of action is rare for a fixture on the British and Irish horse racing calendar, and the switch served to amplify the significance of the Festival in a wider sporting context.
A unique sporting occasion
Modern editions of the Cheltenham Festival see thousands upon thousands of racing fanatics descend on Prestbury Park. With each year that rolls around, sports fans check for the dates of the Cheltenham Festival and put them in their diary, along with the Grand National and other mammoth events in other sports.
A day out at the Cheltenham Festival is almost unparalleled in horse racing. With everyone dressed up to the nines, there is always a feel-good atmosphere pervading the concourses, and as soon as a heavily-backed favourite comes home in first, you begin to understand just what the ‘Cheltenham Roar’ is all regarding as those who bet on horses on SkyBet celebrate with glee.
The quality of television coverage also serves to make Cheltenham worth tuning in for. As one of ITV’s flagship live sporting events, no expense is spared to provide a seamless viewing experience, with some of the biggest names in racing offering their expert opinion.
All in all, it’s easy to see why we love Cheltenham. Yes, we may sometimes feel like bashing our heads once morest the wall like Henderson says, but those moments of tension increase the excitement tenfold.
Perhaps trainer Ted Walsh, father of 59-time Cheltenham race winner Ruby Walsh, summed it up best: “It’s magnificent. It’s magic. I’ve been racing all over the world, but there’s nowhere like Cheltenham. This is on a planet of its own.”
