Today is the start of the Cheltenham Festival. It is an annual gathering of the best horses, the bravest jockeys and the racing fans with the greatest constitutions.
Today we bring you eight key facts about the Cheltenham Festival 2017 with which you might impress those in your circle of friends…
TV
If you set your TV box to record today’s action or if you are frantically searching for RTE’s coverage, you are looking in the wrong place. For the first time in 26 years we will not have the company of Tracey Piggott, Robert Hall and Ted Walsh to talk us through the action as this year’s coverage has switched to TV3.
It’s all related to the change in contracts in the UK where ITV has taken over all the terrestrial coverage of British racing since January 1st. This will be their new team’s highest profile test to date but we have no doubt that anchor Ed Chamberlin will bring them through to a victory.
Attendance
Tickets for Gold Cup Day on Friday are long since sold out and the average attendance at each day of the Festival will top 60,000.
Prize Money
In total there will be prize money in excess of £4 million on offer over the four days with the biggest prizes for the biggest races, today’s Stan James Champion Hurdle and Friday’s Timico Gold Cup.
Getting There
Ryanair are sponsors of one of the big races of the Festival on Thursday. CEO Michael O’Leary will be bidding once again to be among the most successful owners through his Gigginstown Stud operation and the airline is putting on 30 additional flights to ferry passengers over and back.
Irish Invasion
Horseracing fans from Ireland spent €22.3million (stg£19.23 million) at The Cheltenham Festival in 2016 spread across travel, accommodation, tickets and entertainment.
They bought 57,375 tickets, or the equivalent of 30% of tickets sold at last year’s meeting.
Irish Winners
Since returning with a mere five winners in 2012 Irish trained horses have been on fire. In 2013 the number was a record 14. in the following twor years the number stayed high at 12 and 13 and last year the record was smashed again with Ireland bringing no fewer than 15 of the prizes back over the Irish Sea.
History Makers
Wexford trainer Jessica Harrington needs one winner to become the most successful ever woman trainer at the Festival, and the joint third most successful current Irish trainers.
Today’s Big Race Tip
The Champion Hurdle is as much about those who have not made it to the start as those who have with one time favourites Faugheen and Annie power both injured.
Yanworth will start the likely favourite but the Sport for Business cents will be split between Brain Power who we believe has doe enough on the track to justify shorter odds than 6/1 and Moon Racer who we hear on the grapevine has a great chance of stepping straight from novice races to the very top.
