Cheltenham Festival

Christopher McKeever, the breeder of last week's Champion Bumper hero The Mourne Rambler (Well Chosen), has spoken of his disbelief in the aftermath of the success that saw him join a select group of Cheltenham Festival-winning breeders, achieved with a horse trained by his great friend of 60 years, Noel Meade. "I was here at home with the dog, my wife and a friend of mine," McKeever told TDN Europe on Tuesday, having watched the race not at Cheltenham but in County Meath, where he lives just a stone's throw...

Rich Ricci, an owner synonymous with Cheltenham Festival success for the best part of two decades, finally has his hands on the prize that he coveted above all others after Gaelic Warrior (Maxios) produced a coming-of-age performance under Paul Townend to win Friday's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup. The race had a tragic postscript, however, when another Festival mainstay in Envoi Allen (Muhtathir), making his eighth appearance at the meeting, sadly collapsed and died after finishing ninth on what was intended to be the final start of his illustrious career before...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- On a day of high winds and even higher stakes at Cheltenham, it was Heart Wood (Choeur Du Nord) who best withstood the challenge to run out a wide-margin winner of the Ryanair Chase, Thursday's Grade 1 feature which lost much of its lustre when defending champion Fact To File (Poliglote) was withdrawn at the eleventh hour. Beaten nine lengths behind Fact To File when filling the runner-up spot 12 months ago, Heart Wood took full advantage of that rival's absence to make a deserved breakthrough at...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- Craig Kieswetter has been a top-class sportsman in his own right but the former England and Somerset cricketer was emphatic in his assessment of what mattered most to him after his family's Il Etait Temps (Jukebox Jury) won the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase.  "I'd rather win at Cheltenham than win a World Cup," said the South African-born Kieswetter, who, with his parents Wayne and Belinda and brother Ross, owns Ridgemont Stud in South Africa's Western Cape as well as Barnane Stud in Ireland.  Il Etait Temps,...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- Four times a Cheltenham Festival winner and still only seven years old. From the Triumph to two Mares' Hurdles and now the Unibet Champion Hurdle itself, Lossiemouth's love affair with Prestbury Park, the most hallowed ground in National Hunt racing, continued unbroken on Tuesday as the mare landed her 14th win in a career spanning 18 starts - and counting.  The roars of more than 57,000 racegoers carried her home, but in the end it was easy, as Lossiemouth's main danger Brighterdaysahead capitulated between the final two...

It might not be Royal Ascot, but even us die-hard Flat racing fans at TDN Europe are not immune to Cheltenham Festival fever, with four days of top-class sport lying in wait for those preparing to make the annual pilgrimage to Prestbury Park. This year, the action on the track looks as competitive and enthralling as it has been for some time, starting on Tuesday with the Supreme Novices' Hurdle where at least half of the 12-strong field can be given some sort of chance. In fact, the Supreme has...

Cheryl Burton and Julian Lefevre have made it all look so easy. Retire a filly, decide to become breeders, and head to the Cheltenham Festival for a Grade 1 with the mare's very first foal. Whatever happens with future generations, Jax Junior, the seven-year-old son of Jack Hobbs who runs in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy, has already given his owner-breeders the thrill of a lifetime. Fourteen runs, six wins, including the G2 Pendil Novices' Chase, and another four placed efforts speak to the level of consistency shown by the...

This time next week, County Waterford native Paul Cunningham will know whether he's the proud breeder of a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. If he is, then National Hunt racing's blue riband will have delivered another rags-to-riches story to rival classics of the genre given to us in years past. Okay, so The Jukebox Man isn't trained by a dairy farmer a la 1990 winner Norton's Coin, nor will bookmakers be offering odds of 100/1 when the eight-year-old faces the starter at Prestbury Park. Equally, Ben Pauling, the trainer of The...

Victorious Forever will break new ground at the Cheltenham Festival when the Declan Queally-trained Carrigmoornaspruce (Diamond Boy), no bigger than 14-1 for next Thursday's Grade 2 mares' novice hurdle, will carry the leading Bahraini-based owners' familiar red and white silks for the first time under National Hunt rules.  Shaikh Nasser bin Hamed Al Khalifa's Victorious Racing and his brother Shaikh Khalid's KHK Racing merged last August to form Victorious Forever. Together, the brothers have horses like 1,000 Guineas contender Zanthos (Sioux Nation) and 2,000 Guineas entry Saber Strike (Night Of...

Owner Michael Buckley is dreaming big regarding Flat targets for Constitution Hill (Blue Bresil), after the nine-year-old trotted up an imperious winner at Southwell on Friday. Although Buckley and trainer Nicky Henderson have yet to make a decision on the gelding's Champion Hurdle participation, several big Flat targets are being discussed at the moment. The two-mile G1 Melbourne Cup is under consideration. Buckley told Nick Luck on Racing TV's Luck On Sunday programme, "I did say to Nicky 'can we agree on one thing, whatever we decide about Cheltenham, let's...

Cheltenham hopeful Glance At Midnight sold for £245,000 to top the GoffsGo February Sale when selling to Ryan Mahon on behalf of Dan Skelton on Thursday. The son of Passing Glance (lot 3) holds entries in both the G1 Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the G1 Turners Novices' Hurdle at next month's Cheltenham Festival. A winner of a bumper and a maiden hurdle, Glance At Midnight was last seen running second in the Listed Sidney Banks Hurdle at Huntingdon. Said Mahon of his purchase, "He's a nice horse with...

Tom Cleary has said that he would be the first man to raise a glass to the connections of Oh My Word at Cheltenham after confirming that owner Seamus Ross has moved the leading fancy for the Champion Bumper to his old ally Tony Martin.  Cleary enjoyed his greatest day as a trainer when Oh My Word produced a spellbinding performance to win the Listed Future Champions Bumper at Navan under Derek O'Connor last month.  In doing so, Oh My Word landed back-to-back bumper wins at the track and joined...