What Makes The Cheltenham Festival So Popular
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most popular race meetings in the world, with horses from Britain and Ireland coming together to fight for some of the biggest prize pots you'll see in the horse racing world. Here's my guide to the Cheltenham Festival, and its history...
Held in March, the meeting is very popular with the Irish, in part because Saint Patrick's Day is often in the same week. The amount of money gambled on Cheltenham comes second only to the Grand National, making it one of the country's biggest gambles.
Racing has taken place at Cheltenham for nearly 200 years. In fact, it was in 1858 when the first recorded flat racing meeting was held on Nottingham Hill. Racing then moved along to Cleeve Hill which overlooks the current racecourse, and became so popular that crowds of up to 50,000 gathered for a two-day meeting in July.
Officially called the National Hunt meeting (and not the Cheltenham Festival, note), it actually took place at a number of locations before finally finding Cheltenham in 1904. The first meeting had just one race, with a few steeplechases, while today it has grown to four full days' racing. The Cheltenham Gold Cup first took place in 1924, while the Champion Hurdle was brought in in 1927. The Queen Mother Champion Chase was introduced in 1959, and they are three of the most keenly contested races today.
It was in 2005 that the decision was taken to extend the festival to four days instead of three. This meant that each day has a Championship race, and another five races were added to the festival.
Critics of the festival have said that horse safety is hardly paramount in the organisers' minds. At one festival, eleven horses died, and in 2001, the festival was cancelled due to Foot and Mouth disease - rescheduled in April - and then cancelled again.
What truly separates Cheltenham from other racing meetings is its atmosphere. Unlike the Ascot Festival, this is a working class event, and the atmosphere is renowned - with the famous "Cheltenham roar" spurring horses on down the finish.
This year, all eyes will be on the Gold Cup race, which sees Denman, Kauto Star and Imperial Commander race once more against each other. This makes the result all the more unpredictable, which makes the bookmakers believe that once more, they will be the true winners at Cheltenham!
About the Author
Barry writes for FBB, where you can get a Cheltenham Free Bet before the festival starts: http://freebetbookmaker.com/free-bets/content/free_bets/cheltenham_free_bets/
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