Plans to extend the Cheltenham Festival to five days are back under consideration, but the Jockey Club has ruled out any immediate change to the current format and the news has been met with mixed reaction from the racing community. The fixture at the Home Of Jumps Racing currently spans four days in March and is most anticipated and prestigious meeting in the National Hunt calendar, featuring a whole host of Grade 1 contests competed by the cream of the sport which culminates in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the final day.
The suggestion of a fifth day of action was first raised in January 2020, when racecourse chairman Martin St Quinton said that he “wouldn’t rule anything out” with regards to extending the meeting. The idea is now being discussed once again after The Daily Telegraph reported the Jockey Club is intending to host a five-day Festival in 2023, with each day trimmed to a six-race card and therefore only two further contests required to fill the extra day. There have been no developments on the matter and while a five-day meeting has not been expressly rejected, there are no immediate intentions to extend the fixture.
A statement from a Jockey Club spokesperson read: “It is always interesting to listen to the debate around a fifth day and the last time this was discussed in earnest in public some key stakeholders in our sport expressed their desire for a fifth day. We will always explore every option to improve the Festival and support British racing, but we have made no decision to extend the length of the Festival.”
I personally think that a fifth day would only further dilute the quality of the meeting which was originally staged over three days. Since it’s extension races have been added – such as one’s for mares’ only – which has resulted in top class performers dodging each other for easier options. This goes against what I believe is the whole idea of the meeting – to see the very best take on each other on the world’s greatest stage for jumps’ racing. My view has been echoed by Champion trainer Paul Nicholls who has stated that he would not be in favour of extending the Cheltenham Festival.
Speaking on Sky Sports Racing, the Ditcheat handler said: “My opinion is four days is enough for anyone, but if it’s going to be five it’s going to be five. It used to be three brilliant championship days, four days is good but we might get lucky and they might have two races just for UK-trained runners! Being serious I’m open-minded, but four is enough as it is.
“If Cheltenham are going to make plenty of money out of it and reinvest in the racing and prize-money then fair enough, otherwise there’s no point doing it and you don’t want to dilute what is a special four days. It is great racing, but there’s a risk you’ll dilute and then it’s not as special as it probably was. To be honest I’d like a mini-Festival at the end of January/middle of February at somewhere like Newbury as that would give us a trial and then go on to Cheltenham, an extra day there instead of Cheltenham, that would work. I think there’s lots to talk about, but I’m dead happy with four as it is.”
Other trainers have welcomed the proposal. They include Nicky Henderson, who saddled Shishkin and Chantry House to victory at this year’s Cheltenham Festival to take his tally at the meeting to 70. He told the Racing Post:
“It’s obviously quite a contentious issue. I was always pushing to go from three to four, whereas I’m comfortable and happy with how it is currently. I can see the pluses and the minuses but at the end of the day I’d say ‘yes’. There’s a lot of issues involved. As I see it you’d gain two races so it’s not as if it creates a great deal more opportunity. They need to sort out which course to use because the track can only take so much, but look at the success the royal meeting has had going to five days in the Jubilee year, it was such a success it stayed on.
“There’s a lot of thinking to be done I’m sure, but I’m on the positive side. Financially it’s got to be sensible. They’re the four biggest days in the calendar. They’re probably the four most profitable days racing of the year, so why not have another one? We need the money.”
ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell is all in favour of a fifth day, believing the extra cash generated by 60,000 spectators would be good for the sport. “Not sure why some are anti a 5th Cheltenham day. The place is unreal. I’d be at Cheltenham every day if it was possible. Showpiece event for our sport, everyone loves it, commercially makes sense. Kick on I say”, he said on Twitter.
ITV Racing’s betting pundit Matt Chapman, meanwhile, feels that trainers in favour of five days are looking at it in the wrong way. He posted on Twitter: “Whatever the meeting or festival it’s really sad that trainers are saying ‘let’s have more races so we can win one’. The whole point is it’s meant to be hard! That’s what makes it special. Special for trainers, owners and jockeys. And special for punters. Yeeehaaa!”
The idea has clearly split the racing industry, and while I can see the view from both sides, I firmly believe that the Cheltenham Festival should be left in its current four-day format.