FESTIVAL TRIALS DAY
There are few standalone meetings that can rival Festival Trials Day for its excitement and quality. Nick Seddon examines why this day is the ideal appetiser before the main event in March…
T he build-up and anticipation for the Cheltenham Festival is something that seems to begin earlier each year, to the point that some would argue the excitement for next year’s Festival begins the second you exit the gates on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day. Some have more patience than others, but the majority of the waiting has been done by the time the final Saturday in January arrives, when Festival Trials Day provides an unmissable prelude to Jump racing’s most important week of year. Held this season on
Saturday 27 January, the seven-race card gives a taste of what is to come, offering a last chance for a dress rehearsal at Jump Racing HQ before one of the 28 races during Festival week. As such, each race on the card acts as a direct route to The Festival, as the Paul Nicholls-trained Stage Star showed last year, following up his win in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase with Grade One glory in the Turners Novices’ Chase. The pathway from Trials Day to Festival glory is a proven one and no race provides better clues for
28 Kalendar
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