The origins of the Cheltenham Festival date back to the 1860s and the main celebration of National Hunt Racing has taken place at its current location in the Cotswolds since 1911.
History and tradition play a huge part in its enduring appeal but today could see a wholesale rewriting of the Festival history books.
The Irish challenge has never been more dominant with 17 winners on the scoreboard so far from the 21 races run.
The most we have ever had was 19 and it is long odds on that a new number will be up in lights by the end of the final day of the Festival on Friday.
Between 1987 and 1989 only one horse, Galmoy, trained by Charlie Haughey’s son in law John Mulhern managed to raise the Irish flag and in the last of those years, there was not a single Irish winner.
But that is only one of a number of potential historic efforts that are on the cards today.
Rachael Blackmore is central to them. Until Tuesday no female rider had won one of the big three Championship Races at the Festival. She broke that with Honeysuckle on Tuesday and has the ride on second favourite A Plus Tard this afternoon.
No woman has ever come remotely close to being Champion Jockey at the Festival but now she has five winners to her nearest rival Jack Kennedy’s three.
If A Plus Tard wins it will also make history for Waterford trainer Henry de Bromhead. No one trainer has ever won the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase and the Gold Cup in a single year but Honeysuckle and Put the Kettle On have put him on the cusp of that historic moment.
The action gets underway at 1:20 this afternoon with six races live on Virgin Media One. The big race itself is on at 3:05.
History beckons.
Today’s selections,(We’ve been having a good run of it through the week but gravity tends to bring you down to earth in sport)
1-20 Zanahiyr
1-55 Eclair du Beaufeu
2-30 Streets of Doyen
3-05 A Plus Tard
3-40 Bob and Co
4-15 Elimay
4-50 Gabynako
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