Turner's Novices' Chase and Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase demoted to handicaps
Changes follow fan poll by Jockey Club to improve competitiveness
Further adjustments, including minimum seasonal appearances, to be announced
Harry Skelton riding Grey Dawning clear the last to win The Turners Novices' Chase in 2024. (Getty)
Two changes have been announced to the Cheltenham Festival schedule, and more are set to be unveiled ahead of the 2025 meeting.
Once billed as "the greatest show on turf", the Cheltenham Festival has seen a dwindling in popularity and attendance figures in recent years. Small fields for several Grade One contests have resulted in uncompetitive races, which have largely been dominated by Ireland and Britain's Champion Trainer, Willie Mullins.
The opening race on day three of the meeting, the Turners' Novices' Chase has been under scrutiny for some time. In the last five years, we've seen fields of four, six and seven take part in this two-and-a-half mile chase, drawing high-quality horses away from the Arkle and the Brown Advisory Novice Chases, which has also seen their fields depleted.
On Monday, it was announced that the Turner's Novices' Chase has been stripped of its Group One status and turned into a limited handicap for novice chasers. Whether this will be a 0-145 handicap - like the Centenary Novices' Handicap Chase that was removed from Cheltenham's schedule in 2021 - or a higher-quality contest, is yet to be confirmed.
This change came after the Jockey Club conducted a poll following Cheltenham last year, asking racing fans for their opinion on possible changes to the Festival schedule. It seems like the fan's clamours are finally being answered.
“It has been in the public domain for some time that we are looking at a number of aspects of the Cheltenham Festival following this year’s fixture." said a spokesman for Cheltenham racecourse.
“Alterations to the race programme form one element of changes to the event from 2025 and we have been seeking the views of a variety of stakeholders, from racegoers to participants to sponsors.
"Our priority has been to listen to the wide range of views before making decisions we believe are in the best overall interests of the festival and jump racing as a whole. We look forward to making an announcement about changes to the 2025 Cheltenham Festival in due course.”
Delta Work (right) ridden by Keith Donoghue jump the last and go on to beat Galvin ridden by Davy Russell in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase. (Getty)
Since it was turned into a conditions contest in 2016, the top Irish trainers have used the Cross Country as a prep race for their Grand National contenders. Horses who had competed in the Cross Country handicaps staged regularly at Cheltenham during the regular season were badly outclassed at the Festival, as superstars like Tiger Roll and Delta Work brushed their rivals aside off level weights.
More changes are set to be announced in the coming weeks, including a minimum number of appearances needed to enter any of the handicaps.
After novice hurdlers dominated races like the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe, Cheltenham decided that entrants needed a minimum of four runs over hurdles to qualify for a run in one of the handicap hurdles. Similar changes will be introduced for the handicap chases, once all of the alterations have been finalised.
