Cheltenham Festival: Mares’ Hurdle moved as part of changes

Cheltenham has announced some tweaks to the Festival running order, with the Grade One Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle moving from Tuesday’s card to Thursday.

The contest has taken place on Champion Hurdle day since 2009 but will now feature on the third day of the fixture, sharing top billing with the Ryanair Chase and Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle and switching to the New course which means the race distance will edge up to just over two and a half miles, rather than the previous trip of just under that mark.

The mares’ contest will take place at 2.40pm, with the Stayers’ Hurdle being run at 3.20 and the Ryanair Chase starting at 4pm. The TrustATrader Plate which previously took place on Thursday will move to Tuesday’s card as the sixth race.

Jon Pullin, head of racing at the Jockey Club and Cheltenham’s clerk of the course, said: “Having previously been run on Champion Day, the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle was always somewhat in the shadow of the Unibet Champion Hurdle. This has been particularly evident in recent years since it was elevated to Grade One status and taking place as the race immediately before the Unibet Champion Hurdle on the card.

“The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle is the pinnacle of a very successful mares’ programme that has been developed by the industry over the last 20 years. In this time, we have seen the number of mares training in Great Britain increase from 18 per cent to almost 25 per cent and some of the most memorable moments at the Festival include performances by mares such as Honeysuckle and Epatante.

“By moving to St Patrick’s Thursday, we feel the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle will receive more attention and receive the coverage a race of its status merits.

“We also believe this change enhances the overall race programme across the Festival, with each of the four days now having at least three Grade One contests.”

Changes have also been announced to some approaches and start positions with the aim to reduce the number of false starts following an annual review.

Pullin explained: “The decision has been made to remove the three-mile-and-half-a-furlong chase start on the Old course due to the approach to the starting tape being on the hurdle course and adjacent to the penultimate chase fence. This meant that there was little room to activate the start and get full field back on the chase track ready to jump the first fence.

“In place of this start position, the three-mile-one-furlong start will be used for the three races historically run from the three-mile-and-half-a-furlong start. This includes one race in October, one in November and the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Festival. As a result of this change, runners in these races will face an extra fence as they will jump the second last fence as the first.

“The removal of the three-mile-two-furlong start on the New course is also due to similar reasons. This start is located on the home straight but with more space available at the three-mile-two-and-a-half-furlong start we feel using that will improve the approach to the tapes without any more fences needing to be jumped.”

Maximum field sizes have also been cut for the starts of the two-mile-five-furlong hurdle and the two-mile National Hunt Flat on the Old course, plus the two-mile-one-furlong hurdle start on the New course.

That means the Coral Cup and County Hurdle will both be limited to 24 runners while the Champion Bumper will have a maximum field of 22.