Cheltenham Festival Stats & Facts, day , Wednesday 12 March
NB* Click on the race titles for the latest betting.
The opening race is the TURNERS NOVICES’ HURDLE, WHICH IS DUE OFF AT 1:20pm
ONLY 2 WINNERS IN THE LAST 16 YEARS HAVE BEEN RETURNED AT BIGGER THAN 7/1 – WILLOUGHBY COURT (14/1, 2017) AND CITY ISLAND (8/1, 2019)
IN 2022, SIR GERHARD BECAME THE FIRST – AND ONLY – SEVEN-YEAR-OD TO WIN THE RACE
SIX- YEAR-OLDS HAVE WON 12 OF THE LAST 14 AND 9 OF THE LAST 11
IRELAND HAS WON 10 OF THE LAST 11
9 OF THE LAST 11 WINNERS WERE RETURNED AT 9/2 OR SHORTER, WITH THE FAVOURITE WINNING 5 OF THE LAST 7 AND 7 OF THE LAST 13 – LAST YEAR’S WINNER, BALLYBURN, WAS ½, AND THE 2023 WINNER, IMPAIRE ET PASSE, WAS 5/2
WILLIE MULLINS – pictured below – HAS WON 5 OF THE LAST 11 (INCLUDING THE LAST 3 – ALTHOUGH HE HAS HAD 2 FAVS BEATEN IN IT IN THE LAST 12 YEARS – NICHOLS CANYON (2015) AND PONT ALEXANDRE (2013)
2PM – THE BROWN ADVISORY NOVICES’ CHASE
THE LAST 11 WINNERS HAD RUN AT CHELTENHAM PRIOR TO THEIR FESTIVAL WINS, AND 7 OF THEM HAD WON AT CHELTENHAM – LAST YEAR’S WINNER, FACT TO FILE, FINISHED SECOND IN THE 2023 CHAMPION BUMPER AT THE FESTIVAL
NO HORSE AGED OLDER THAN 8 HAS WON THIS RACE IN THE LAST 15 YEARS – WITH 12 OF THE LAST 14 BEING AGED 7 – AS HAVE 19 OF THE LAST 24 WINNERS
IRELAND HAS WON 8 OF THE LAST 24 RENEWALS – AND 5 OF THE LAST 12
8 OF THE LAST 10 WINNERS WERE RETURNED AT 4/1 OR SHORTER – LAST YEAR’S WINNER, FACT TO FILE, WAS 8/13 AND THE 2023 WINNER, THE REAL WHACKER, WAS 8/1
IRELAND HAS WON 5 OF THE LAST 9 AND 7 OF THE LAST 19 – LANGER DAN (13/2) WON LAST YEAR AND, ALSO, IN 2023, (9/1) FOR DAN SKELTON
9 OF THE LAST 16 WINNERS WERE RETURNED AT 16/1 OR BIGGER, INCLUDING COMMANDER OF FLEET (50/1) IN 2022
NICKY HENDERSON HAS WON THIS RACE 4 TIMES IN THE LAST 15 YEARS – AND 2 OF THE LAST 6
ONLY 4 OF THE LAST 15 WINNERS CARRIED LESS THAN 11ST TO VICTORY
IRELAND HAS THE FIRST 3 HOME IN 2022 AND 4 OF THE FIRST 5 – THEY WERE 2ND, 4TH AND 6TH IN 2023 AND, LAST YEAR, THEY WERE 2ND, 3RD, 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, 9TH, 10TH AND 11TH (THEY HAD 5 OTHER RUNNERS TOO)
THERE HAS BEEN JUST ONE WINNING FAV IN THE LAST 16 YEARS
GORDON ELLIOTT – pictured below – HAS A GOOD RECORD IN THE RACE, WINNING 3 OF THE LAST 13 AND…
IN 2016, HE HAD ONE RUNNER, WHICH WON
HE WAS SECOND AND 4TH IN 2020 FROM 3 RUNNERS
HE HAD THE THIRD IN 2018 FROM 2 RUNNERS
HE FINISHED THIRD IN 2014 WITH HIS ONLY RUNNER
LAST YEAR WAS DIFFERENT – HE HAD SEVEN RUNNERS AND WON IT WITH A 50/1 CHANCE (MIND YOU THAT HORSE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN 50/1, BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY) LAST YEAR AND IN 2023, THOUGH, THE BEST HIS HORSES COULD ACHIEVE WAS NINTH
3.20PM – GLENFARCLAS CROSS-COUNTRY CHASE – RACE 4
THIS RACE DIDN’T TAKE PLACE IN 2024
GORDON ELLIOTT HAS WON 4 OF THE LAST 6 (AND DENISE FOSTER WON IT IN 2021 WHEN SHE TEMPORARILY TOOK OVER HIS LICENCE)
IRELAND HAS WON 9 OF THE LAST 11
THERE HAVE BEEN 4 WINNING-FAVS IN THE LAST 8
EIGHT OF THE LAST 10 WINNERS HAVE BEEN RETURNED AT 9/2 OR SHORTER – REMARKABLY, ONE OF THE LONGER-PRICED HORSES (7/1) WAS TIGER ROLL IN 2018
IT WAS FIRST RUN IN 2005 AND 16 OF THE 19 RUNNINGS HAVE BEEN WON BY IRELAND
BRITAIN HAS WON IT JUST TWICE, WITH BALTHAZAR KING, BOTH TIMES FOR PHILIP HOBBS
DELTA WORK (GORDON ELLIOTT) HAS WON IN THE LAST TWO YEARS IT HAS BEEN STAGED – 2022 AND 2023 – GALVIN FINISHED 4TH IN THE 2022 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
THIS IS A RACE THAT WILLIE MULLINS WON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2022, WITH ENERGUMENE, WHO ALSO WON IN 2023 – HE DIDN’T RUN LAST YEAR – WILLIE HAD THE BEATEN FAV LAST YEAR (EL FABIOLO, 2/9, PULLED UP)
NICKY HENDERSON HAS WON IT SIX TIMES, 5 OF THOSE WINS COMING IN THE LAST 13 YEARS – HE DIDN’T HAVE A RUNNER LAST YEAR
IN 12 OF THE LAST 16 YEARS THE WINNING DISTANCE HAS BEEN 7 LENGTHS OR LESS – ENERGUMENE WON BY 10 LENGTHS IN 2023, BUT CAPTAIN GUINNESS WON BY 1.5 LENGTHS LAST YEAR
IRELAND HAS WON 10 OF THE LAST 22 CHAMPION CHASES
THE 2022 AND 2023 CHAMPION CHASE WINNER ENERGUMENE IS PICTURED BELOW
4.40PM – JOHNNY HENDERSON GRAND ANNUAL CHALLENGE CUP H’CAP CHASE – RACE 6
1M7F199Y (OLD COURSE)
PAUL NICHOLLS HAS WON 2 OF THE LAST 9
IRELAND HAS WON 5 OF THE LAST 12
9 OF THE LAST 16 WINNERS WERE RETURNED AT 16/1 OR BIGGER – MASKADA (HENRY DE BROMHEAD) WON IN 2023 AT 22/1 – LAST YEAR’S WINNER, UNEXPECTED PARTY (DAN SKELTON) WAS 12/1
THERE WAS A 22/1 WINNER IN 2023 (AS ABOVE) LAST YEAR, A 28/1 WINNER IN 2022 (GLOBAL CITIZEN FOR BEN PAULING) AND A 66/1 WINNER IN 2019 (CROCO BAY FOR BEN CASE)
THERE HAVE BEEN TWO WINNING-FAVS IN THE LAST 16 – THE WELL-BACKED ALDERWOOD (TONY MULLINS/AP MCCOY, 2013) AND CHOSEN MATE (GORDON ELLIOTT/DAVY RUSSELL, 2020) – THE HEAVILY-BACKED 7/2 FAV, DINOBLUE, FINISHED SECOND IN 2023 (IT WAS HER FIRST RUN IN A HANDICAP)
NICKY HENDERSON LAST WON IT 2012 (BELLVANO/PAUL CARBERRY)
CHAMPION BUMPER – WED 15 MARCH – 5.20PM – RACE 7
WILLIE MULLINS HAS WON FOUR OF THE LAST FIVE, FIVE OF THE LAST SEVEN, AND 13 IN TOTAL (FROM THE LAST 28) – THE THREE REFERRED TO BEING JASMINE DE VAUX (9/2), FACILE VEGA (15/8 FAV), SIR GERHARD (85/40) AND FERNY HOLLOW (11/1) – HIS WINNER IN 2018 WAS (RELEGATE (25/1, 2018) – HIS HORSES FINISHED 2ND, 4TH, 5TH, 6TH, 7TH 9TH, 10TH, 15TH, 19TH AND 21ST (LAST) IN 2023 AND, LAST YEAR, 1ST, 4TH, 5TH, 7TH. 10TH, 13TH, 14TH AND 18TH
IRELAND HAS WON 10 OF THE LAST 12, INCLUDING THE LAST 8, WHICH HAVE BEEN SPLIT BETWEEN WILLIE MULLINS (5), GORDON ELLIOTT (2) AND JOHN KIELY (IN 2023, A DREAM TO SHARE, 7/2)
APART FROM THREE 4YOS, EVERY OTHER WINNER HAS BEEN AGED 5 OR 6
IN THE LAST 22 RENEWALS, THERE HAVE BEEN 14 WINNING 5YOS, 7 6YOS AND ONE 4YO (CUE CARD)
FOLLOWING LAST YEAR’S WIN, PATRICK MULLINS HAS WON IT FOUR TIMES (NO ONE HAS WON MORE AS A JOCKEY) – RUBY WALSH WON IT THREE TIMES
7 OF THE LAST 9 WINNERS HAD LANDED A LISTED OR GRADED BUMPER PRIOR TO WINNING AT THE FESTIVAL