THE F E S T I VAL™ 15-18 MARCH 2022
DAYONE
D ay One of The Festival is when the meeting’s now famous hashtag #Illbethere becomes ‘I was there’. A chance to reunite with old friends, to savour the unique atmosphere and to celebrate the best of a day at the races, on and o the track. Tuesday is ‘Champion Day’, which features no fewer than four Grade One contests across the seven-race card. Each of those top level races will produce a fairytale outcome for someone, though the feature race is the Unibet Champion Hurdle, a two-mile contest and 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
and 2000, he has enjoyed plenty of recent success with Buveur D’Air in 2017 and 2018, Espoir d’Allen 12 months later and Epatante in 2020. However, last year saw new names on the trophy and the beginning of one of the most remarkable stories in sport when Honeysuckle emerged victorious. Owned by Kenny Alexander, the incredible mare has won every one of her 12 career starts and took the 2021 Unibet Champion Hurdle under Rachael Blackmore, who created history of her own by becoming the rst female jockey to win the race. Honeysuckle is also trained by Henry de Bromhead, who would go on to make history by landing the Betway Queen
of winning must be both quick and slick over their obstacles and strong in the nish up the iconic ‘Cheltenham Hill’. To scan down the Champion Hurdle’s roll of honour is to familiarise yourself with a who’s who of some of the greatest racehorses to have graced the hallowed Cheltenham turf. Hardy Eustace, Hurricane Fly, See You Then, Sea Pigeon, Hatton’s Grace, Night Nurse, Monks eld – the list is exhaustive. No one in history has owned more Champion Hurdle winners than JP McManus, whose famous yellow and green silks have been carried to victory nine times. And while the legendary Istabraq set the ball rolling with consecutive victories in 1998, 1999
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