THE F E S T I VAL™ SUPPORT I NG WE L LCH I LD 16-19 MARCH 2021 roar when the curtain rises on Tuesday 16 March, The Festival™ supporting WellChild promises to deliver the highest-quality action regardless DAY OTTWNHFEORUERE There really is no sporting arena quite like Cheltenham Racecourse. And while we might be missing the famous
F or many Jump racing fans the nally arrives, Day One kicks o with the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and never looks back, featuring four Grade One contests across the seven-race card. Each of those top-level aairs has a story in its own right, though the feature race is the Unibet Champion Hurdle, a two-mile contest which is the rst of ve ‘Championship’ races to take place over the four days. The race is the ultimate test of speed and grace and any horse with aspirations of winning must be both quick and countdown to The Festival begins the minute the gates close the year before. When this year’s event slick over their hurdles and strong in the nish up that famous Cheltenham Hill. Many components are required to become a champion hurdler and over the past four years only horses carrying the iconic yellow and green silks of owner JP McManus have managed it – Buveur D’Air in 2017 and 2018, Espoir d’Allen 12 months later and then Epatante last
Nicky Henderson has trained more winners of the race than anyone else and two of them – Epatante and Buveur D’Air – are scheduled to return this year. The pair have diering proles and, unlike his seven-year-old stablemate, the ten-year-old Buveur D’Air is in the process of returning from an extended absence o the racecourse. His fans, of which there are many, will be hoping the old adage ‘class is permanent’ rings particularly true at The Festival and an ability to handle the unique undulations of Cheltenham is not in doubt. Run over the same distance as the Champion Hurdle, the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is a race which not only sets the tone for The Festival but also regularly produces a star of the future. Last year’s winner Shishkin was no dierent and is now, 12 months later, considered one of the leading contenders for the second race on this year’s card, the Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy. Run over two miles,
March. With ve earlier wins, McManus’s total of nine Champion Hurdles makes him the most successful owner ever in the two-mile showpiece. The now-retired Barry Geraghty was on board for the most recent of those and describes “bagging a big one” on the rst day of his nal Festival – even though no one else present knew it would be – as “a huge relief”. With eight successes under his belt, THE RACE ISTHE ULTIMATETEST OF SPEEDAND GRACEANDANY HORSEWITH ASPIRATIONS OF WINNINGMUST BE BOTHQUICK AND SLICKOVER THEIRHURDLES AND STRONG INTHE FINISH
20 THE F E S T I VAL TM SUPPORT I NG WE L LCH I LD PREV I EW MAGAZ I NE
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