In the final Festival Pointers column, we look for some last nuggets of info to arm us for our selections at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. This week, we look at the remaining British courses not already covered.
Overview
British trainers have sent out 82 winners in the last eight seasons at the Cheltenham Festival, with those runners combining for 239 runs at British tracks (aside from Cheltenham and Kempton which have already been analysed) prior to those victories. Both numbers are substantially lower than their Irish counterparts, but are big enough to take away information which can guide us towards potential winners in 2024.
Grouping these together gives an overall perspective of British runners versus the Irish, but they can be drilled into further. Much like there were Irish tracks which provided more winners given their prestige, such as Fairyhouse and Navan, there are courses closer to home which have had more success than others.
That said, there is surprising depth when it comes to how many different courses have hosted a Festival winner earlier in the same season. 33 tracks have done so, with the likes of Ludlow, Hexham and Perth, as well as Newton Abbot, Bangor and Fontwell, have all held races producing a single winner.
Which Courses?
As with the column on Irish tracks from last week, the best of the British courses in terms of productivity of Cheltenham Festival winners in the past decade are listed below:
- Newbury – 38 winners
- Ascot – 24 winners
- Sandown – 24 winners
- Warwick – 24 winners
Newbury stands out far above the rest and this speaks to not only the quality of race, but its orientational similarities to Prestbury Park also give it an edge. This is particularly the case in longer distance races, with five winners of the Ultima Handicap Chase combining for six runs at the track before their victories, and three winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup combining for four runs at Newbury.
Among British hopefuls at the top level, it is the place to go as a prep run. Even over hurdles, it is the staying races which Newbury has excelled at producing winners at, with three victors in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle having gone to the track over the preceding ten months.
The next three courses on the list all produced the same number of races containing Festival winners: Ascot, Sandown and Warwick with 24 wins each. This perhaps speaks to the contrasting nature of each of those tracks, as Ascot and Sandown host a higher quality of race than Warwick, but are both right-handed, unlike the midlands track.
All three have done so for a similar number of races too, with horses who ran at Ascot going on to win 15 of the 28 races still run at the Festival, with Warwick on the same amount and Sandown on 14. However, both Sandown and Ascot have produced winners on the biggest stage far more regularly than Warwick, with four winners each of the Queen Mother Champion Chase having run at the South East courses earlier in their respective victory seasons.
Aintree, Doncaster, Exeter and Haydock are the other tracks with double-figure numbers in terms of races hosted with Festival winners hidden away.
Which Races?
Newbury’s six winners of the Ultima Handicap Chase is the largest provided by any British or Irish course outside of those previously covered. With so much British success in that race, this is the most obvious pointer in more detail as to where to look beforehand. This could be combined with those who have also run at either Aintree or Warwick, both courses at which three of the last ten Ultima winners had run (Corach Rambler ran at all three over the course of his two winning seasons).
Otherwise, Ascot and Sandown’s success in the Champion Chase has already been covered, but there is one other standout contest at the highest level in terms of a British course’s success. That is the Stayers’ Hurdle, from which three of the last ten winners had run at Haydock earlier that term, all of them having done so in handicap company.
A smaller pointer to finish comes from Exeter. Should there be a British winner of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap HUrdle on day one, the chances are they will have run at the Devon course, as it is the only British track at which multiple Boodles winners have raced earlier that season (Flying Tiger and Qualando twice).
Pointers
Due to fewer British winners than Irish in recent seasons, there are evidently fewer pointers towards potential victors throughout the week. However, there are still some trends worth following.
The Ultima Handicap Chase is the place to start given the record of Newbury at producing winners in the opening handicap of the Cheltenham Festival 2024. Among the favourites to have run at the track in 2023/24 are Theatre Man, Eldorado Allen and Shakem Up’Arry, the first-named having finished third in the Coral Gold Cup earlier this season.
Ascot lost its Grade 1 Clarence House Chase to Cheltenham this season, so its roots to the Champion Chase are weaker than in most seasons, though Boothill did win two handicaps there prior to the turn of the year. However, Ascot’s remains strong due to the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase, with Jonbon having won the race this season ahead of Edwardstone.
Haydock’s record in the Stayers’ Hurdle is the last worthy of significant note. Both Paisley Park and Lisnagar Oscar ran in the handicap in which Crambo was third back in November before winning the Thursday showpiece. Botox Has recently won the Grade 2 Rendlesham Hurdle at that venue, and he could also be worth considering as an outsider in the field as a result.
Cheltenham Festival Pointers – Does Punchestown Hold Up Irish Record at the Festival?
Our Festival Pointers are becoming ever more important as the big meeting at Cheltenham nears in four weeks’ time. Last week’s column on Kempton found few winners came from the King George track, but Joe Napier heads back to Ireland to delve into Punchestown‘s results, for any clues as to winners from over in County…
Thu 15 Feb 2024Looking For More Racing Info? Check Out Our Racecards & Top Tips Sections
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