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Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Racing at Cheltenham took place in 1815, but comprised only minor flat races on Nottingham Hill. The first racing on Cleeve Hill was on Tuesday 25 August 1818 when the opening race was won by Miss Tidmarsh, owned by Mr E Jones. It was a year later when the results were printed in the Racing Calendar when a programme of flat racing was watched by the Duke of Gloucester who donated 100 Guineas to the prize fund. By 1831 races were being staged at Prestbury, although not on the present day course. In 1834 the Grand Annual Steeplechase was run for the first time. In 1839 Lottery won the Grand Annual having previously won the first Aintree Grand National. In 1840 the meeting transferred to Andoversford for a brief period, only to return to Prestbury in 1847. 1902 was a notable year in that racing moved to the present course at Prestbury Park. The new stands were completed in 1914 and the present day Festival races, as we know them, began to take shape. The Cheltenham Gold Cup, over 3 ¼ miles, was run for the first time in 1924, with the Champion Hurdle following in 1927.
Rupert Walsh is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Walsh is the third most prolific winner in British and Irish jump racing history behind only Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson.
The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is for juvenile novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Stayers' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain. It is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles, with twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Charlie Swan is a former top National Hunt jockey in Ireland in the 1990s. He is associated with the great Istabraq, on whom he won three Champion Hurdles. He was twice top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and was champion National Hunt jockey in Ireland for nine consecutive years. After retiring as a jockey he spent several years a trainer, based in Modreeny near Cloughjordan, County Tipperary.
Nicholas John Henderson is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times.
The Triple Crown of Hurdling is awarded to a horse that wins all three of the open, two-mile Grade 1 Hurdling races in any given English National Hunt season:
- The Fighting Fifth Hurdle, held at the Newcastle Racecourse
- The Christmas Hurdle, held at Kempton Park Racecourse
- The Champion Hurdle, held at Cheltenham Racecourse
Noel Meade is a horse trainer from Castletown, County Meath, Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Meath as a place to train his horses.
Davy Russell is an Irish retired National Hunt jockey. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.
Hurricane Fly is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle races when under the care of trainer Willie Mullins at Closutton in County Carlow in Ireland. He is a dual winner of the Champion Hurdle and previously held the world record for most Grade 1 races won by any racehorse until overtaken by Winx in 2019. Originally bred to be a flat racer, the gelding began his racing career in France where he had moderate success, winning twice in ten races. At the end of 2007 he was sold and transferred to Ireland where he began to compete in National Hunt events. On 15 March 2011, Hurricane Fly ridden by Ruby Walsh won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Quevega is a retired French-bred Irish-trained National Hunt mare, best known for winning the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival a record six times in a row, beating the previous record set by Golden Miller's five consecutive Gold Cups in the 1930s. She also won the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown over three miles four times, but was beaten in her attempt at a fifth successive win at the 2014 Festival.
Bryan Cooper is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey and is the son of trainer Tom Cooper and his mother is Geraldine Cooper née O'Brien. Cooper was born in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland and in his short career scored notable wins at the National Hunt Cheltenham Festival.
Annie Power is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A National Hunt horse specialising in hurdle racing, she won fifteen of her seventeen races including the Johnstown Novice Hurdle, Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle, Ascot Hurdle, Doncaster Mares' Hurdle and Mares Champion Hurdle. In 2016, she became the first mare for twenty two years to win the Champion Hurdle.
The New One was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career running from November 2011 to December 2018 he ran in 40 races, winning 20 times, being placed a further nine times and earning over £1,000,000 in win and place prize money. In the 2011/2012 National Hunt season he won three of his four races when competing in National Hunt Flat races including the Champion Standard Open NH Flat Race at Aintree Racecourse. In the following year, competing over hurdles, he won four of his six starts including the Leamington Novices' Hurdle and the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. In the following season he won the International Hurdle and finished third in Champion Hurdle before winning the Aintree Hurdle. In the 2014/15 season he won his first four races including a second International Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle Trial. He went on to win three more Champion Hurdle Trials, a third International Hurdle and a Welsh Champion Hurdle. The New One was retired after being pulled up in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham on 15 December 2018.
Oscar Whisky was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In his early career he showed promise, winning two National Hunt Flat races and two novice hurdles. In the 2010/2011 National Hunt season he emerged as one of the leading hurdlers in the British Isles, winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle and the Aintree Hurdle as well as finishing third behind Hurricane Fly in the Champion Hurdle. In the following season he won the Relkeel Hurdle and a second Aintree Hurdle. He won the Ascot Hurdle and a second Relkeel Hurdle in 2012/2013 before being moved up to compete in steeplechases in the following season when he won the Dipper Novices' Chase and the Scilly Isles Novices' Chase. Oscar Whisky was fatally injured in a fall at Sandown Park Racecourse on 6 December 2014.
Nicolai "Nico" W. Chastel de Boinville is an English horse racing jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. De Boinville has ridden more Grade One winners than any British jumps jockey currently active.
Paul Townend is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. Townend comes from Lisgoold in County Cork and rides primarily for the stable of Irish trainer Willie Mullins. Townend has worked for Mullins since beginning his career as an apprentice flat racing jockey. He is a six-time Irish jump racing Champion Jockey. He was champion in the 2010–11, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2022–23 seasons.
Rachael Blackmore MBE is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in the 182-year history of the race. She also became the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with six victories, including the Champion Hurdle, in 2021. The following year she became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
References
- ↑ "Extraordinary' Constitution Hill wins Champion Hurdle with ease". Guardian. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ↑ "Cheltenham Festival 2023: Constitution Hill wins Champion Hurdle, Honeysuckle triumphs". BBC Sport. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.