NEW YEAR’S DAY 1 JANUARY 2023
For many fans of the sport, Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day fixture is as much a seasonal tradition as carol singing, Christmas turkey and the singing of Auld Lang Syne is to others. Graham Clark takes a look at a thrilling day of racing… NEW YEAR’S DAY
T he temperature might be close to zero, but with plenty of top-class action and free family fun on offer on New Year’s Day, the Home of Jump Racing is the place to beat the chill. Headlining the card is the Grade Two Dornan Engineering Relkeel Hurdle, which was switched to the New Year’s Day fixture in 2016 from its former slot at The International in December. The extended 2m 4f prize has been won by some smart individuals, including 2012 Champion Hurdle winner Rock On Ruby, who landed the 2014 renewal, and More Of That, who added the race to his CV in 2013 before tasting victory in the Stayers’ Hurdle at The Festival™ later in the season. This year’s winner, Stormy Ireland, showed that the race can stack up with
While much of the attention on the day will centre around two Grade Two contests, the undercard is one packed full of quality as well. For those who like to get their teeth stuck into competitive handicaps, the Grade Three Paddy Power New Year’s Day Chase offers that very opportunity, while the Paddy Power Handicap Hurdle is another regularly intriguing encounter that can take plenty of solving. Anyone interested in finding a star of the future need look no further than the two Listed events, the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle and the ‘Junior’ National Hunt Flat Race, which open and close the card, ensuring the meeting not only caters for all types of racing fan, but also blows away the New Year’s Eve cobwebs in the process.
the best of them after a mighty run on her return to Cheltenham at The Festival™, when finishing a close-up fourth back at Grade One level in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle. The Relkeel Hurdle might not have produced many future winners at The Festival™ in recent seasons, but it is always competitive, while the other Grade Two on the card, the Paddy Power Novices’ Chase, is a strong contest in its own right, while also serving as a useful stepping stone in recent seasons. This year’s race was claimed by the Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse, who followed up his victory with Grade One wins in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park and at The Festival™ in the Grade One Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
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