FEATURE XXXXXXXXX CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 12 - 15 MARCH 2024
FEATURE XXXXXXX XX CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 12 - 15 MARCH 2024
S T Y L E WE D N E S D A Y
If Champion Day is about setting the scene for four exhilarating days of racing, Style Wednesday focuses on speed, style and exhilaration. And few races on the Jump racing calendar capture fans’ imagination quite like the feature, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
R un over a distance of two miles, the Grade One contest requires a blend of speed and an ability to be inch-perfect when meeting each of the 13 fences at rapid pace on Cheltenham’s Old Course. This demanding checklist means that winning this race on multiple occasions is not uncommon and famous multiple winners of the trophy include legends of the sport like Flyingbolt, Altior, Sprinter Sacre, Master Minded, Moscow Flyer, Viking Flagship and, most recently, Energumene. Further Group One action comes in the shape of the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle and the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. Both races are renowned for producing stars of the future - a theme which continues to the finale, the Grade One Weatherbys Champion Bumper. Winners of the Champion Bumper regularly go on to become household names and no less than 12 of trainer Willie Mullins’ record 94 Festival winners have come in this race including in 2022 with Facile Vega. Style Wednesday also offers something unique
in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. It’s usually all about the winners at the Cheltenham Festival but the 2022 runner-up in this race came home to a reception never seen before for an also ran. That is because the runner-up was the horse that has truly transcended racing in recent years – Tiger Roll. Making his eighth Festival appearance and chasing his sixth Festival win, owner Michael O’Leary had already said that this race would be his swansong. It looked as if the script had been written perfectly as he led turning for home. With the rain softened ground not in his favour the final half-furlong was just a fraction too much for the old warrior and he had to give way by three-quarters of a length – ironically to his stablemate Delta Work. Delta Work won the contest again in 2023. One thing is for certain – as Style Wednesday draws to a close and we reach the half-way stage of the Cheltenham Festival, it’s as much about looking forward to two more days of exceptional racing as it is looking back at the 14 thrilling races we have already enjoyed.
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