Friday, March 12, 2004

THE 2004 FESTIVAL IS ALMOST HERE

The Centaur and two new Grandstands in the Courage Enclosure will be open to racegoers for the first time this year. The Centaur, which cost £14 million to build, offers Tattersalls racegoers 30,000 square feet of space, including seating, big screen entertainment, bars, tote and a Coral betting shop, together with the Istabraq Bar to honour Cheltenham's most recent three-time Smurfit Champion Hurdle winner. The Courage Enclosure provides racegoers with two stands that would grace many other Club Enclosures. At a cost of £3.5 million, these are built on two floors includes a Harry Ramsden's, viewing steppings and bars.

Edward Gillespie, Cheltenham's Managing Director, said: "The Centaur and new Courage Grandstands are facilities which will assist the National Hunt Festival cement its position as the main meeting of the jump season. These new facilities will allow more racegoers to be present on each of the three days of the Festival, which promises to be tremendously exciting with Best Mate attempting to become the first three-time totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup winner since Arkle and champions Rooster Booster, Baracouda and Moscow Flyer returning to defend their crowns."

GROUND LATEST

Simon Claisse, Cheltenham's Clerk of the Course, reported today: "The current going is good, good to firm in places with a going stick reading of 9 on Thursday. We were expecting a covering of snow last night, giving way to rain of which between eight to 10 millimetres is expected to fall. If that rain today materialises, we won't water. If the rain doesn't come then the probability is that we will water unless they're shifting the forecast and saying what you didn't get on Friday you'll get over the weekend. Based on the current forecast, we're not going to water again."
Watering of Cheltenham's Old and New Courses started on Wednesday, March 3, and was completed on Friday, March 5. Over a million gallons of water was put on 50 acres of ground, the equivalent of between 24 and 28 millimetres of rainfall.

The Old Course is used for the first two days of the Festival -Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16 & 17 - while racing switches to the New Course on Thursday, March 18. Racegoers will notice a change to the fences on the New Course. It looks like they have been made narrower but this is an optical illusion.These fences have been widened by between two and five yards in preparation for two days of racing on the New Course in 2005 when the Festival becomes a four-day event for the first time. The new sections of the fences are not being used this year and therefore are behind the running rail.

For further information, please contact Simon Claisse, Edward Gillespie or Peter McNeile, Commercial Manager, at Cheltenham Racecourse on 01242 513014

TWO NEW GRANDSTANDS FOR THE COURAGE ENCLOSURE

The Courage Enclosure at Cheltenham Racecourse has been entirely redeveloped at a cost of £3.5 million. There are two new Grandstands that combine to provide stepped viewing for 4,000 racegoers, two large upper-level bars overlooking the course, betting shop and Harry Ramsden's Restaurant.

Behind these two stands, landscaping has provided an extensive area for viewing the big screen and access to the Foodcourt, Guinness Bar and Courage Pavilion. Temporary facilities give 600 free viewing seats while betting options include five new bookmaker pitches behind the stands.
The two Courage Enclosure Grandstands will be named Dawn Run' and Desert Orchid' as a tribute to two of Cheltenham's most popular champions.

The mare Dawn Run is the only horse who has won both the Smurfit Champion Hurdle (1984) and totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup (1986). Desert Orchid won the 1989 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and was placed fives times at the Festival. The grey also finished ninth in Dawn Run's Champion Hurdle.

They will be opened by Paddy Mullins, trainer of Dawn Run, and Richard Burridge, owner of Desert Orchid, at 12.15pm on Wednesday, March 17.

The capacity of the Courage Enclosure has been increased back to 12,500, which was the figure before the course was widened and the capacity dropped last year.

THE CENTAUR - A NEW STATE-OF-THE ART FACILITY AT CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE

An indoor concourse for Tattersalls racegoers was part of Cheltenham Racecourse's 1993 Master Plan and this has been realised in a £14-million development that more than doubles the facilities in that enclosure.

Named after the mythical beast - half man, half horse - it incorporates the two main uses of the venue, as business centre and entertainment auditorium.

The new entrance foyer leads to a 1,250 square metre auditorium surrounded by bars, food stalls, totepool outlets and betting shop, with a giant screen for race viewing plus live entertainment before and after racing. The mix will also include 24 amusement-with-prizes machines.

On the upper level, there are 600 tiered seats and access to the Cheltenham Hall of Fame, Tattersalls Grandstand and the new Istabraq Bar, which celebrates the achievements of the three-times Smurfit Champion Hurdler. This includes a balcony over the entrance and views across the course. Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, will open The Centaur at 12.30pm on Thursday, March 18.

This facility comprises the largest multi-purpose auditorium and centre in the South-West of Britain and will be used extensively for conferences, exhibitions, product launches, performances and dinners. It is able to seat 2,200 people for conferences and stage shows, as well as providing room for more than 4,000 standing for concerts, and will bring significant additional income into Cheltenham on non-racing days.

Events up to the end of April include the Pony Club's 75th Anniversary Conference, Gloucestershire Skills Festival, Dame Judi Dench talking about Shakespeare and acting as part of the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday, April 4, and Business Connections Exhibition, a new business-to-business event for the Gloucestershire region staged on Wednesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 22.

Sally Smith, Sales and Marketing Manager for The Centaur, commented: "Cheltenham Racecourse is renowned for the National Hunt Festival and now its new venue, The Centaur, will be ideal for public performances, commerce and every type of business-to-business event on non-racing days.

Between Birmingham and Bournemouth, nothing else can offer the size and scope of The Centaur."

ARKLE - 40 YEARS SINCE HIS FIRST totesport CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP VICTORY AT CHELTENHAM

The 2004 National Hunt Festival marks the 40th anniversary of Arkle's first of three magnificent successes in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup and there will be a special commemorative 1960s display in the stand near the Arkle statue.
This will include several reminiscences of where people were on that auspicious day, with the most remarkable contribution coming from the former rails bookmaker Stephen Little, who cycled to Cheltenham from Lincoln and stayed in the Youth Hostel on Cleeve Hill. There will also be an evocative tribute to Arkle at his statue throughout the three days.

Arkle is one of only three racehorses to have won the Gold Cup more than twice, a feat that Best Mate will be attempting to emulate in 2004.

He gained his thrilling hat-trick between 1964 and 1966, while Cottage Rake scored between 1948 and 1950 and Golden Miller won jump racing's top chase five times from 1932 to 1936.

Arkle, known to many simply as Himself', came into his first totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup appearance in 1964 with the British believing that the previous year's winner Mill House was unbeatable and long odds-on.

However, horses do not know their starting prices and Arkle, who was trained in Ireland by Tom Dreaper, put up an amazing performance to lead between the last two fences under Tom Taaffe, beating Mill House by five lengths in the race billed as England versus Ireland. That great display took place on a Saturday in response to public interest and was broadcast live by the BBC on Grandstand but the race was moved back to the traditional Thursday the following year. Four decades later, Arkle is still winning prizes as he was recently voted the favourite racehorse of all time, securing the backing of 21.9% of the participants, in a poll conducted by the Racing Post.

Arkle's second Gold Cup success was achieved more easily in 1965 when, as an eight-year-old, he made all to pass the winning post unchallenged by 20 lengths from Mill House. His hat-trick was completed a canter when he came home 30 lengths ahead of Dormant at odds of 1/10 in 1966.

Overall during his career, Arkle won 27 of his 35 starts, including 22 of 26 outings over fences.

He ran six times at Cheltenham, winning on five occasions including in the Broadway Chase (now known as the Royal & SunAlliance Chase) at the 1963 National Hunt Festival and finishing third in the 1964 Massey Ferguson Gold Cup (now the Tripleprint).

John Oaksey, former amateur rider, journalist and broadcaster, believes that the great horse's best performance came in that defeat at Cheltenham.
Having won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury by 10 lengths from Ferry Boat the previous weekend when carrying 12st 7lb, he had to shoulder a 3lb penalty in the Massey Ferguson bringing his weight up to 12st 10lb.

Despite this massive burden, he was only beaten a short-head and a length by Flying Wild and Buona Notte. Arkle gave the winner 32lb and the runner-up 26lb and was coming back at his rivals up the hill.

Indeed Arkle's ability to carry huge weights in handicaps is legendary. Such was his prowess that the handicapper was forced to publish two sets of weights for races that he was entered in because if he wasn't declared overnight his absence would make a nonsense of the handicap.

Perhaps broadcasting legend Sir Peter O'Sullevan summed up the horse best when he said: "I don't know if we'll ever see another Arkle. I'll certainly not."

GREYHOUND RACE & RACE TIMES

There will be the same extended gaps that there were last year between each of the six races on Tuesday, March 16, when the horseracing action will be followed at 5.45pm by the second running of the Festival Greyhound Stakes.

Heats will be run on the Saturday beforehand, with representatives from England, Wales and Scotland going forward to the £1,000 final over a straight 200 metres.

GUINNESS AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH TO JOIN FORCES AT THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL

Two famous names - Guinness and The Daily Telegraph - have announced that they will be teaming up at the Cheltenham Festival to present awards for outstanding achievement on each of the three days.

The Guinness Festival Awards, which have become a valued and established part of the Cheltenham scene over recent years, will be re-named the "Guinness/The Daily Telegraph Festival Awards".
They will continue to honour the individual who is considered to have made the most significant contribution to each day of the Festival.

The winners will be selected by a prestigious panel that comprises representatives from the media and Cheltenham Racecourse, whose brief is "to reward a special moment caught on camera which captures the spirit and excellence of The Festival".
Presentations will be made each day in the paddock prior to racing and also after the fifth race on Thursday. Henrietta Knight, last year's overall winner after completing a totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup double with Best Mate, will receive her award on Tuesday, March 16.

Waterford Crystal again generously donates the superb trophies, producers of the world's finest crystal for two centuries.

On the Saturday after the Festival (March 20), viewers of Channel Four's 'Morning Line' programme will be asked to vote for the overall winner of the 2004 Festival Awards from the three daily winners. This trophy will be presented on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in 2005 when the meeting expands to four days.
The Daily Telegraph announced last month that it is to sponsor a new Leading Trainer Award at both the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree's Grand National Meeting.

The newspaper already sponsors the Leading Rider Award at these meetings. At Cheltenham, as well as trophies for both Awards, The Daily Telegraph will give the Leading Trainer and the Leading Rider a holiday in Spain, while Guinness will present a special golden keg of the black stuff to both winners to be enjoyed back at their respective stables.

ATTENDANCE FIGURES

Cheltenham has been an all-ticket event since 2000. Approximately 175,000 spectators attend each year, with a fixed supply of tickets sold on a daily basis. In 2004, the capacity will rise due new facilities, allowing the total paid attendance to rise to 54,000 per day. This excludes annual members, staff, owners and trainers and other complimentary admissions.

Over 300,000 spectator visits are recorded at Cheltenham during the 16-day season. Other highlights at the home of jump racing include The Open Meeting in November featuring the Paddy Power Gold Cup, which attracts 65,000 visitors over a three-day weekend.

TICKET SALES

2000 marked the first year of The Festival becoming all ticket for the entire three days whereby no admittance was given to those who had not purchased pre-paid tickets in advance. The Festival has remained like this ever since and is the only jump meeting to be able to erect the 'Sold Out' signs before the day.

RACE VALUES & SPONSORSHIP

Over £4 million in prize money is offered at Cheltenham's 16 race days. Total prize money at The Festival has risen for the 16th consecutive year to a record £2,310,000 in 2004, with the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup worth £350,000.
Sponsors contribute over 40% of annual prize money at Cheltenham and The Festival accounts for over 50% of all prize money on offer during the season.
There are 12 individual race sponsors at The Festival and Guinness sponsor the Guinness Village.

BETTING

The official estimate of total on-course betting turnover during The Festival is £40 million - an average of over £2 million per race. No returns are available from individual bookmakers operating at the meeting, although tote pool betting turnover is always a good indicator and this usually approaches £10 million. This makes a cumulative total of £30 million on course alone.

There are 226 bookmakers' pitches at The Festival. The record number of transactions for a single bookmaker for one race was 700 by fearless Scottish bookie Freddie Williams some 10 years ago. This equates to one transaction every two seconds!
Off course, the estimate for betting turnover through The Festival is £400 million, of which at least half is directly attributable to The Festival. An ordinary day would see a cash take of approximately £60 million. The Festival is second only to the Martell Cognac Grand National among the big annual betting events.
Most betting shops will open earlier than usual and bookmakers take on extra staff to deal with the extra volume of business. Without exception, The Festival provides a focus for the biggest marketing spend on betting throughout the year.
The Festival is the tote's highest turnover meeting (including Royal Ascot) with the Thursday, which features the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup, the highest turnover day in the entire racing calendar. The Festival normally accounts for around 9% of the tote's annual racecourse turnover.
The Smurfit Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup were ranked in the top 10 betting races for 2003. The 2004 Cheltenham Festival is sure to be a memorable one for everyone connected with the tote. The recently announced re-branding and the introduction of new logos and new company names means that Cheltenham will have a slightly different look this year, with the striking new totepool and totesport livery being prominent throughout the course.
Add to that the possibility of totepool turnover reaching £10 million for the three days for the first time ever and a new name for the principal race of the meeting and it has all the makings of an historic three days.
"Cheltenham is always of huge importance to us and this year, with our new brands and reduced deductions in totewin and toteplace pools at The Festival for the first time, we're expecting a turnover record.
"I'd be very hopeful that we can break through the magical £10 million barrier in on-course totepool turnover this week for the first time ever," said tote PR Director Andy Clifton. "It's also one of the weeks in which totepool value is at its greatest, with huge pools and some really big dividends."
The toteplacepot is one of the most popular bets at Cheltenham and the pool almost always exceeds £1/2 million every day, with a record £586,000 placed on Smurfit Champion Hurdle day last year. On the Wednesday of the 2002 festival, the toteplacepot dividend was an enormous £10,814.90 - and you could have won that without picking a winner! It is also a big week for the totejackpot, with big pools and potentially huge dividends throughout the week.
The toteexacta beat the bookmakers' straight forecast in 14 of the 20 races in 2003, with the totetrifecta outperforming the bookies' equivalent in 13 out of 18 races. The toteexacta dividend for the Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle paid a huge £979, compared to a CSF of £249.

The Festival is also a huge logistical exercise, with almost 750 totepool staff manning 650 betting terminals and 40 "roving" hand-held terminals, taking in excess of one million bets during the three days.

HORSES AND RIDERS

A total of 379 horses ran at the 2003 Festival. They were accompanied by circa 80 jockeys, 500 handlers, horsebox drivers and ancillary staff, physios, vets, doctors and occasional security guards, not to mention a goat or donkey as a lucky mascot or stable companion!
Cheltenham's 300 stables burst at the seams, particularly since many foreign runners stay several days. Horses and riders are often farmed out to nearby trainers and livery yards, and bed & breakfast accommodation. The overflow stabling capacity has been almost doubled from 56 to 96 boxes and these will all be used during The Festival.

Hunter's Lodge, which provides stable staff with accommodation and catering, looks after 450 staff who stay over with the horses or come for the day. Stable staff attending the Festival can enter the free Cheltenham prize draw for a weekend for two in Paris.

PARADE OF CHAMPIONS

There will be a Parade of Champions each day of The Festival as follows:

Tuesday
Parade of Past Smurfit Champion Hurdle Winners
Make A Stand 1997
Hors La Loi III 2002

Wednesday
Parade of Past Queen Mother Champion Chase Winners
Katabatic 1991
Edredon Bleu 2000

Thursday
Parade of Past totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner
Desert Orchid 1989
Cool Ground 1992
See More Business 1999

Each parade will take place in the Paddock at approximately 12:45pm, with Ian Carnaby and Jonathan Powell presiding, and then the horses will also parade in front of the Grandstand before the feature race each day.

FESTIVAL RADIO, TELEVISION, NOTICE BOARD & INTERNET

Cheltenham is one of a number of major sports events to boast its own radio station. Festival Radio broadcasts within a five-mile radius of the racecourse from 10am to 7pm, featuring news, previews, interviews, race reports and commentaries, traffic updates, replays, reviews and form on frequency 87.7FM. Festival Radio is also available on www.cheltenham.co.uk including commentaries of all 20 races. Spectators on the course can listen too through the unique Sound Dec earpiece, available to purchase for £7.

In addition, Festival TV transmits from 11am on the racecourse's CCTV leading into Channel 4's coverage of the meeting which commences at 1:30pm each day and reaches an audience of 1.8 million, over 26% of the daytime audience.

This year, the Festival coverage will be beamed into more overseas countries than ever before. For the first time in 2004, South African betting shops will show live pictures of all 20 races.

In 2003 Cheltenham received 16 hours of terrestrial television coverage from Channel 4, with transmissions from a further 25 television and documentary crews plus representatives from over 160 British and Irish-based radio stations. Approximately 180 photographers and over 500 members of the press are accredited to provide coverage of the meeting.

Racenews, on behalf of Cheltenham Racecourse, issues media releases and packs prior to The Festival and then act as the media information service during the meeting. The comprehensive output from Racenews is displayed at key points around the racecourse and also features on Cheltenham Racecourse's website www.cheltenham.co.uk

CHANNEL 4

The Festival is Channel Four's largest outside broadcast, using 35 cameras and 120 staff to bring The Festival into the living rooms of the UK and Ireland. Over 250 miles of cables and cutting edge technology like the Wire Cam camera, Blimp and, new for 2004, start camera jib, make the programme one of the highlights of the year.
The steadicam is Channel 4's favourite camera. Handled by Channel 4's Adrian Camm, the 80lb camera is harnessed around his waist and provides ground shots and pictures closer than any fixed position. Adrian walks around five miles a day with the camera, and loses 12lb in bodyweight over the three days.

The much-anticipated 2004 Cheltenham Festival (March 16 18) will receive increased exposure on Channel 4 with over 16 hours of dedicated coverage. Coverage kicks off on the weekend prior to the Festival with a first-ever Sunday Morning Line (March 14) at 8.30am. The half-hour show will be broadcast live from the stable of Best Mate, the dual totesport Gold Cup winner, who is being prepared for a historic hat-trick of wins in the big race. Trainer Henrietta Knight and her husband Terry Biddlecombe will share their thoughts on Best Mate's chances and there will be the latest betting news on the Festival races.

Later that evening, Channel 4 broadcasts a Cheltenham Festival Preview, where John Francome selects his favourite Festival horses and jumps into the saddle to assess their chances. Racing's major players will also disclose their Festival fancies, while John McCririck previews the betting market.

As before, there will be MORNING LINES on every day of the Festival, but this year they will be extended to one hour. Coverage of the racing itself starts at 1pm daily and is presented by Alastair Down Together with Mike Cattermole, John Francome, Lesley Graham, Simon Holt, Lesley Graham, John McCririck, Jim McGrath, Alice Plunkett, Tanya Stevenson, Derek Thompson and Ted Walsh.

Cheltenham Festival Highlights will be screened each evening and there will be a an extra show at 7.40pm on the Thursday, looking back on Best Mate's bid to join racing's immortals and win that third consecutive Gold Cup.

Dave Kerr, Head of Sport for Channel 4, commented: "The Cheltenham Festival is an occasion that transcends racing and has become a great national event. Our expanded schedule gives it the range and scale of coverage it deserves, and we are proud to offer the most comprehensive coverage of the Festival ever seen on terrestrial television."

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL LIVE ON CHANNEL 4

Sunday, March 14
8.30 - 9.00am SUNDAY MORNING LINE
00.20 - 00.50am CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL PREVIEW

Tuesday, March 16
8.30 - 9.30am FESTIVAL MORNING LINE
1.00 - 4.30pm CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
Race Details: 2.00 Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices' Hurdle, 2.40 Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase, 3.20 Smurfit Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy, 4.00 William Hill National Hunt H'cap Chase
00.40 - 1.10am CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL EVENING HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, March 17
8.30 - 9.30am FESTIVAL MORNING LINE
1.00 - 4.30pm CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
Race Details: 2.00 Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle, 2.35 Royal & SunAlliance Chase, 3.20 Queen Mother Champion Chase, 4.00 Coral Cup
00.45 - 1.15am CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL EVENING HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, March 18
8.30 - 9.30am FESTIVAL MORNING LINE
1.00 - 4.30pm CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
Race Details: 2.00 JCB Triumph Hurdle, 2.35 Bonusprint.com Stayers' Hurdle, 3.15 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase, 4.00 Christie's Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup
7.40 - 7.55pm CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP HIGHLIGHTS
1.10 - 1.40am CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL EVENING HIGHLIGHTS

TRAVEL

The majority of racegoers travel to Cheltenham by car and the racecourse has the capacity to park 14,000 cars and 350 coaches per day. Typically 30,000 cars, 1,000 mini coaches and 1,000 coaches arrive and depart during the three days, along with 220 helicopter movements. Some 8,000 people travel by train each March to Cheltenham Racecourse. There are three specially chartered trains from mainline London stations plus a steam train - the Paddy Power Flyer - which brings racegoers in eight miles from Toddington Station, north of Winchcombe, to the old raceccourse station.

An increasingly popular means of travel is the stretch limousine. 2003 saw 30 per day and special parking has to be allocated to prevent them grounding! Another unique and extraordinary mode of transport for 2003 was the rickshaw.

New for the 2004 Festival is a travel plan that provides staff and racegoers in advance with opportunities to car share. This innovative scheme is being coordinated via the website of www.carsharegloucestershire.com
Bars will again remain open until 7pm to help ease departures from the course and there will be a live music event in The Centaur each evening from 6pm until 7pm.

CATERING

Letheby & Christopher, the racecourse caterer and also sponsor of the opening Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices' Hurdle, will serve 8,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 bottles of wine, 150,000 pints of draught beer or lager and over 125,000 pints of Guinness, Ireland's national drink, a further 24,000 bottles of beer, 60,000 bottles of minerals, 7,300 gallons of tea and coffee, 14,000 portions of chips, 20,000 beef burgers and hot dogs, 47,000 sandwiches and a further 10,000 packed lunches for staff. The Tented Village alone will house over 8,000 guests each day and 100 private boxes in the Grandstand will cater for a further 2,000 guests.

THE IRISH INFLUENCE

The Irish influence at Cheltenham continues to grow each season at not only The Festival but also The Open Meeting in November. The last Irish-trained winner of the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup, Imperial Call, was in 1996 and the Irish also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase that season with Klairon Davis. They sent out seven winners in 1996 equalling their previous best total in 1977. In 2003 there were six Irish-trained winners, including Back In Front in the opening Letheby & Christopher Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Moscow Flyer in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Approximately 7,000 racegoers travel over from Ireland for The Festival and it is estimated that up to 20% of the entire crowd are Irish, many already living in Britain. Ireland has long been associated with some of the most successful riders with seven of Britain's top 10 jockeys last season hailing from across the Irish Sea - Tony McCoy, Tony Dobbin, Mick FitzGerald, Graham Lee, Ruby Walsh, Barry Fenton and Leighton Aspell (Jim Culloty was 11th).

CHELTENHAM'S TOP FESTIVAL TRAINERS

The late Fulke Walwyn is still by far the most successful Festival trainer, with 40 winners gained over a 40-year period. His nearest rival is record-breaking champion trainer Martin Pipe who has saddled 30 winners since 1981, with Nicky Henderson following closely behind with 25 winners since 1985. Fred Winter trained 28 winners and Tom Dreaper sent out 26.

CHELTENHAM'S TOP RIDERS

Richard Dunwoody is the only jockey to have ridden over 100 winners at Cheltenham - 109 in total, with 18 coming at The Festival. Other prolific riders include Peter Scudamore (94 - 13 at The Festival), John Francome (71), Fred Winter (67) and Terry Biddlecombe (60). The most successful current rider is Tony McCoy who has won 76 races at Cheltenham and heads the list of current jockeys riding in terms of Festival winners with 14 victories. McCoy leads his nearest rival Mick Fitzgerald by three and jockeys' championship rival Richard Johnson by five.The Daily Telegraph Leading Rider Award will provide a perpetual trophy for the leading rider, together with a holiday for two at the luxury resort of Hyatt La Manga in Murcia, Spain, plus a keg of Guinness. This year, for the first time, The Daily Telegraph will reward the top trainer with the same prizes.

TRADE STANDS & ENTERTAINMENT

A day at The Festival is not just about the 20 races which are the most hotly contested in the entire racing calendar. There are a variety of other attractions including 70 trade stands selling everything from bags, binoculars and bronzes to wine and wicker baskets, suits and silver jewellery. This year provides the opportunity to buy or win a luxury cruise and, for those with more basic needs, a Lloyds Pharmacy sells Anadin and basics like tights for the ladies.

THE FESTIVAL IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE


The impact of the Festival is felt well beyond the racecourse gates. A huge number of businesses, large and small, benefit from the influx of spectators into the county. In fact, according to Cheltenham Borough Council Director of Tourism Ken Jennings, "The only Cheltenham business not obviously benefiting from The Festival is the undertaking profession."
The economic value of The Festival was drawn sharply into focus back in 2001, the year foot and mouth disease forced the cancellation of the Meeting. An economic impact study concluded that around £30 million is spent in the county during the week, of which 50% is spent within Cheltenham town, the remainder within the county. Taxi drivers are among the big winners of the week. An average Cheltenham cabbie will earn in three days as much as he would in a fortnight's ordinary trade!

MUSIC

Between the moment the gates open at 10.30am and the departure of the last racegoer in the evening, there is no shortage of entertainment to keep even the occasional racegoer happy. From shamrock sellers for St Patrick's Day (March 17) to the popular Murphy's Marbles, the band which plays in the Guinness Village, there is a panoply of quintessentially Irish entertainment during the meeting.
This year, Cheltenham turns into a rock promoter by producing a CD of the Marbles' performance at Cheltenham, which will be on sale during The Festival in the racecourse shops and on www.cheltenham.co.uk . The CD has 12 songs and anthems, with the title track being appropriately called The Festival. It is one of the six original songs written by Murphy's Marbles which is made up of five musicians of indeterminate size and age who are based in Staffordshire and led by "Big" Kev Sauntry, who was born on the boat over from Ireland and is the mastermind behind Shovel Records as well as the main songwriter. The other Marbles are Alan White, Alan Cotton. Keith Gunn and John Robson.

They play guitars, violin, whistle, bass, mandolin, bodhran and harmonica, and have performed across Britain, Ireland and Europe. Their name has nothing directly to do with a former sponsor at Cheltenham Racecourse, instead reflecting the Celtic character of their marvellous music which is broadly based on the best of traditional Irish sounds. The Marbles started performing at Cheltenham Racecourse on racedays last season and they will be found in the Guinness Village next week. The 12 tracks on the CD are:
THE FESTIVAL (original) - The song will keep fine times at the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup fresh - if you have not been, it will make you want to visit. The chorus is
"Cheltenham, Cheltenham, that's the place to be.

"Where the Guinness flows like blackwater,
"And the craic is rare and free.

"Where the cream of the Emerald Isle
"And the pride of the world's stock,
"Put it on the line to claim the prize the finest of time
"Put it on the line to claim the prize the finest of time."
WHISKEY IN THE JAR - A great favourite wherever Irish music is loved
BLACK VELVET BAND - Is there anyone who does not like singing along to this?
OUT IN THE OCEAN / STAR OF COUNTY DOWN - The Marbles link a fine jig and a wonderful traditional song in a way that cannot fail to impress.

CELTIC KINGS (original) - Featuring Sean Cannon (The Dubliners). From time to time, this great traditional singer and the Marbles team up. Here is a tribute to Ireland's fine effort in the soccer World Cup. Many voted this song the finest of the bunch.

TATER LAND (original) - A foot tapping commentary on how some survived Ireland's potato famine.

PEGGY GORDON - Usually a ballad, done Marbles' style, it is song and dance
HOPE (original) - A beautiful thought-provoking challenge about the ignored
DUBLIN TOWN (original)- A tale of a long weekend in Dublin, full of mystery with a twist in the end.
JUST FRIENDS (original)- Love is never a one-way street
WILD COLONIAL BOY - The Robin Hood of Australia, done to a tune befitting of the tale
A MAN YOU DON'T MEET - A song about a maker of pipes who knew how to have a good time.

RACING AT CHELTENHAM

There has been racing at Cheltenham since 1815, when, 27 years after George III transformed Cheltenham from sleepy country town into fashionable Spa resort, the first meeting was held on Nottingham Hill, above Bishops Cleeve.
It was an inauspicious affair and three years passed before the first official meeting on nearby Cleeve Hill took place on August 25, 1818. Cheltenham's first recorded winner was Mr E Jones' five-year-old bay mare, Miss Tidmarsh.

Such was the popularity of that meeting that the Cheltenham Gold Cup was inaugurated the following year. The three-mile weight-for-age Flat race for three-year-olds and upwards had a prize of 100 guineas and was won by Mr Bodenham's Spectre. By the mid 1820s, Cheltenham races were as prestigious as Ascot, Epsom and Goodwood. But as always at Cheltenham, drama was never far away.
A puritan streak began to appear in Cheltenham, led by a young and dynamic preacher called Francis Close. Some forceful oratory against the evils of betting and merrymaking began to affect attendances and, when in 1827, the Reverend Close was promoted to St Mary's Parish Church, his influence spread to the entire district.
There were demonstrations on the course in 1829, and the grandstand was burnt to the ground a year later. By 1855, Flat racing had died out entirely. A local benefactor, Lord Ellenborough, came to the rescue, offering to stage the races at Prestbury Park, to the north of the town.
Not all of the meetings were held there, however, and the oldest race in the Calendar, the Grand Annual Steeplechase, was first run at Andoversford in April, 1834 and has since been run annually.

The latter half of the 19th century was an unremarkable time for racing at Cheltenham and indeed for steeplechasing nationwide. Aside from the Grand National, there were precious few meetings at all. Francis Close, having done his work, had died and, despite the town harbouring many racing figures like Tom Oliver, William Archer, father of Fred, and George Stevens, racing was not resuscitated.

In 1902, the meeting that now dominates the jumping calendar was inaugurated on the current site. Lord Ellenborough's Prestbury Park had been sold several times in the intervening period, but was finally offered for racing by Mr W Baring Bingham. The people of Cheltenham gave the re-opening an enormous vote of confidence, and a huge crowd watched the racing.

In 1924, the first Gold Cup Steeplechase was run, won by Red Splash. This was swiftly followed by the Champion Hurdle, three years later. Now, 80 years on, the first buildings at Cheltenham have almost (but not entirely) given way to bigger and better grandstands, and the world's greatest racing Festival now attracts a capacity crowd of over 160,000 spectators and a worldwide television audience.

THE HALL OF FAME

Until 10 years ago, jump racing had no means of portraying its heroes and history to the public. Cheltenham Racecourse's Hall of Fame set out to rectify that fault and provides a short but entertaining insight into the evolution of the sport and its heroes past and present, both equine and human.
The Hall of Fame is open during weekdays from 10am-4.30pm and admission is free and it will be open throughout The Festival for racegoers.

THE FESTIVAL

The National Hunt Festival is the first major sporting event of the year, followed in the coming months by the Grand National, the Guineas, the FA Cup Final, Lord's Test, Henley, Wimbledon et al. Since its inception in 1902, it has continued to grow in stature to be the single most important meeting in British jump racing.

The architect behind the dream was Frederick Cathcart, then Chairman of Cheltenham, who laid out the course and planned the first National Hunt meeting with Alfred Holman. Both are immortalised at Cheltenham in races held during the season. Indeed, the Cathcart is one of the 20 races in Festival week.

During the early years, the most significant race was the Grand Annual Steeplechase, which took place at a variety of different venues before finally settling at Cheltenham. The principal races in the early years of this century were all handicaps, unlike in Flat racing, where level-weights contests were commonplace. It was in this light that the first Gold Cup was inaugurated in 1924. The winning prize money was £685, against £1,285 for the Grand Annual. The 2004 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup has a total value of £350,000.
Since Red Splash won the first Gold Cup on Wednesday, March 12, 1924, the winner of the "Blue Riband" has been recognised as the foremost steeplechaser of the year. It has proved itself as a championship race as results show. Since its inception, only two horses have won both the Gold Cup and the Grand National, and only one of those achieved the feat in the same season. That horse was Dorothy Paget's Golden Miller in 1934. L'Escargot won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970 and 1971 and landed the Grand National in 1975.

The Champion Hurdle followed quickly on the heels of the premiership for chasers. A race over two miles was started in 1927 and statistics indicate that this is a race in which sequences of victories can mount up. Since its inception, no less than five horses have run up hat-tricks of wins, and 12 horses have won the race twice. Only six horses have won the Gold Cup twice, and only three have run up trebles, with Best Mate attempting the feat this year.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a relative newcomer, having first started in 1959. First run as just the Champion Chase, it was named in honour of the Queen Mother in 1980 - the year of her 80th birthday.

RACECOURSE HOLDINGS TRUST

Cheltenham is the flagship course owned by Racecourse Holdings Trust, a direct subsidiary of the Jockey Club. The group controls 13 of the country's 59 courses, and 50% of all gate receipts. The other courses within the group are Aintree, Sandown Park, Epsom Downs, Kempton Park, Haydock Park, Newmarket, Wincanton, Warwick, Huntingdon, Nottingham and Market Rasen. Carlisle is the group's most recent acquisition.

POSSIBLE LANDMARKS AT THE 2004 FESTIVAL

Several trainers and jockeys could reach notable landmarks during this year's National Hunt Festival. There is strong competition between Martin Pipe and Nicky Henderson as to the honour of being the current leading trainer at the National Hunt Festival. Pipe goes into the 2004 Festival on 30 winners while Henderson has 25 winners. Pipe is in second place on the all-time list and Henderson in joint-fifth. However, Fulke Walwyn's record of 40 winners looks unassailable at present.

Current jockeys who have yet to ride a winner at the National Hunt Festival include: Alan Dempsey, Noel Fehily, Jimmy McCarthy, Dominic Elsworth, Davy Russell, Graham Lee, Ben Hitchcott, Jacques Ricou, Vinnie Keane, Brian Crowley, Marcus Foley, Liam Cooper, Tom Scudamore, Christian Williams, Sam Thomas and Jamie Moore.

Current trainers who have yet to train a winner at the National Hunt Festival include: Alan King, Charlie Mann, Sue Smith, Peter Bowen, Richard Guest, Paul Webber, Emma Lavelle, Andrew Balding, Albert Ennis, Guillaume Macaire, Christian Von Der Recke, Brian Ellison, Jamie Osborne, James Bowe, Thomas Tate, Victor Dartnall, Denis Caro, Ben de Haan, Ian Williams, Seamus Mullins, Nicky Richards, Mary Reveley, Heather Dalton and Michael Halford.

For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink Archive

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