Cheltenham Festival

The National Hunt Chase staged at the Cheltenham Festival has been permanently named in honour of HRH The Princess Royal, the Jockey Club announced on Sunday. The oldest contest staged at the meeting, it will now be known as the Princess Royal National Hunt Chase. In 2025, it will take place on Tuesday, March 11, the opening day of the Festival. Guy Lavender, CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse, said, "It is a tremendous privilege for us to announce today that the National Hunt Chase will now honour HRH The Princess Royal...

Michael O'Sullivan will be honoured at this year's Cheltenham Festival with the opening Supreme Novices' Hurdle set to be run in his memory, the Jockey Club and Sky Bet announced on Thursday. The Grade 1 event, the first race of the meeting on Tuesday, March 11, will be staged as the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle, paying tribute to the National Hunt jockey who died after being seriously injured in a fall at Thurles on February 6. He was 24. It was in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle that...

LAMBOURN, UK -- Nicky Henderson has reiterated that connections of Palladium (Ger) have Melbourne Cup ambitions for last year's G1 Deutsches Derby hero, who is first set to continue his hurdling career in the G1 Triumph Hurdle at next month's Cheltenham Festival. The race that stops a nation might not have been uppermost in Henderson's thoughts on Monday morning, as he welcomed the media to his Seven Barrows base to provide the lowdown on his formidable squad for the four-day extravaganza at Prestbury Park, but it was clear that a...

Michael O'Sullivan remains in intensive care at Cork University Hospital following a fall at Thurles nine days ago with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board [IHRB] stating that there has been no change in the jockey's condition.  The 24-year-old was airlifted to hospital after falling at the last in a handicap chase. The meeting was subsequently abandoned.  The IHRB released a statement on Tuesday, stating that O'Sullivan "continues to receive the best of care in the intensive care unit at Cork University Hospital". Providing a further update to the rider's condition...

On the morning of Jonbon's ninth Grade 1 win in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot last Saturday, the recently-retired Aidan Coleman, who partnered Nicky Henderson's chaser to four of those top-level triumphs, opened up about the mental turmoil that comes with being forced out of the saddle through injury. Coleman speaks openly and honestly about coming to terms with being yesterday's man and how he is searching deep within himself to fill the void. Contextualisation alone is not enough to weather this storm but it does give Aidan Coleman...

Joseph O'Brien has provided an upbeat bulletin on Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Apples And Bananas (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Trustyourinstinct (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), all of whom are on course for targets in Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively following a key workout at Dundalk last Friday.  Dual Group 1 scorer Al Riffa, who is set to take part in the Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting next month, heads the travelling squad for the trainer who has masterminded Melbourne Cup and Breeders' Cup successes. Al Riffa...

There could be a surprise Japanese-trained runner at this year's Cheltenham Festival after All The World (Jpn) appeared among 16 entries for the feature contest on the opening day of the meeting, the £450,000 G1 Unibet Champion Hurdle. Trained by Kazuya Nakatake, the eight-year-old All The World is a three-time winner over jumps in the Far East and his most recent start resulted in a creditable third-place finish in the Tokyo High-Jump, one of the most prestigious races run over obstacles in Japan. A three-time winner on the Flat as...

The programme for next year's Cheltenham Festival has undergone some key changes in order to improve competitiveness in a number of races. From 2025, the two-and-a-half-mile Turners Novices' Chase will be replaced by a Grade 2 limited novice handicap chase over the same trip, while the National Hunt Chase, which has been contested by amateur riders, will be open to professionals and become a novice handicap chase for horses rated 0-145. Jon Pullin, head of racing and clerk of the course at Cheltenham, said, "We have had to acknowledge that...

Guy Lavender has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Cheltenham Racecourse, The Jockey Club announced on Wednesday. He will begin his new role early next year, working alongside Cheltenham managing director Ian Renton. The duo will coordinate the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, and Renton, who has served in his role since 2012, will remain involved at the racecourse in an advisory capacity at least through the event. Lavender was previously the CEO and secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 2017 and since 2022 has been a committee...

Trainers Edward O'Grady and Jessica Harrington have led the tributes to leading owner and breeder Dermot Cox following the death of the successful businessman on Tuesday.  A pillar of the community in Kildare, Cox owned many leading lights over jumps, including Cheltenham Festival hero Back In Front and Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Tranquil Sea. Father to David of Baroda Stud, Cox played an instrumental role in the development of Punchestown racecourse. He has been attributed to being the driving force behind forging and developing relationships with overseas trainers, the...

Istabraq, the legendary three-time Champion Hurdle winner, has died at the age of 32 at JP McManus's Martinstown Stud in County Limerick. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Istabraq won three Champion Hurdles between 1998 and 2000, and endeared himself to the racing public with 25 victories under his belt. He also won the Royal Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1997.  In a brief statement released on Thursday, McManus said, "Sadly, Istabraq passed away at 1.15am this morning at the ripe old age of 32. He was a...

Nicky Henderson and Henry de Bromhead have spoken out against the rumoured changes to the National Hunt programme in Britain that would see Grade 1 winners not being qualified to run in the Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.  Dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle signed off on her glittering career for de Bromhead by notching a 13th Grade 1 and a second Mares' Hurdle success in what many people describe as one of the greatest moments in Cheltenham Festival history back in 2023.  Henderson has trained a galaxy of star...