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The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day and is particularly popular with Irish visitors.
The Supreme Novices' 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 for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Baring Bingham Novices' 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 5 furlongs, and during its running there are ten hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Spa Novices' Hurdle, known for sponsorship purposes as the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles, and during its running there are twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
William Peter Mullins is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a seventeen-time Irish National Hunt Champion trainer. Mullins is the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, having saddled more than 100 winners.
The David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle, is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to mares aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs, and during its running there are ten hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs, and during its running there are twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May.
The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle is a National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain for conditional jockeys which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 4½ furlongs, and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
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.
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.
Champagne Fever is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is noted for his front-running style and has won seven of his thirteen races. After beginning his racing career on the amateur point-to-point circuit he became the dominant National Hunt Flat performer in Britain and Ireland in 2012, winning the Champion Bumper and the Champion INH Flat Race. In the following season he was campaigned in novice hurdle races and won two more Grade I races, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle in Ireland and Supreme Novices' Hurdle in England. In his first season over steeplechase fences he won one minor race and finished second in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and in the following year he added win in the Clonmel Oil Chase and Red Mills Chase.
The 2013 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 10 March 2013. It was the 83rd running of the Champion Hurdle.
Faugheen is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle and back-to-back Christmas Hurdles in 2014 and 2015. His best performance on a racecourse came in the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle for which he was rated the best two-mile hurdler of the 21st century. His career started over Point-to-point fences as a four-year-old and was sent racing under National Hunt rules in the 2013/2014 season where he emerged as a leading Novice hurdler, winning all of his races including the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle, Cheltenham Novices Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle acquiring the nickname "The Machine" in the process.
Vautour was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and won three times at the Cheltenham Festival. After beginning his racing career in France he moved to Ireland and made an immediate impact over hurdles in the spring of 2014 winning the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Tattersalls Champion Novice Hurdle.
The 2015 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 10 March 2015. It was the 85th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The 2016 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 15 March 2016. It was the 86th running of the Champion Hurdle.
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.
Al Boum Photo is a French-bred, Irish-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020.
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
- ↑ "State Man battles to gruelling Champion Hurdle victory for Willie Mullins". Guardian. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
- ↑ "Cheltenham Festival 2024: State Man wins Champion Hurdle for Willie Mullins". BBC Sport. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.