As the Cheltenham Festival continues apace there are many people amongst the uninitiated who want to wish it away in order to get closer to the moment the biggest race of them all. The Gold Cup, gets underway on Friday. That is unquestionably something of a shame, however, with every day of one of the racing calendar’s most famous meetings throwing up some brilliant entertainment.
On this page you’ll be able to read about what sort of thing Day Two of the Festival entails. It’s commonly referred to as Ladies Day (although, lately, it has been called Festival Wednesday), so does that mean that men aren’t allowed? What will happen off the course? More importantly, perhaps, what will happen on it? Hopefully by the end of this you’ll be able to head to Cheltenham safe in the knowledge of what to expect and complete with some info about each and every race that takes place on the second day of Cheltenham.
Ladies Day Race Card
Things such as timing can change for all sorts of reasons, though the Cheltenham Festival tries to stick to a routine where possible. From the name of the race through to the winners from last year, complete with the time that things are supposed to get underway, here’s everything you need to know about Day Two:
Race 1 - Ballymore Novices' Hurdle - 13:30
- Grade: Grade 1
- Distance: 2m 5f (4225m)
- Fences: 10
- Course: Old Course
Named in honour of the man who organised the first Cheltenham Festival, Barring Bingham, the Novices’ Hurdle changes its official name each year depending on who’s sponsoring it. Run left-handed on the Old Course, as all races are on Day Two, it’s open to four-year-old novices and older. The weight of the horses is ten stone twelve points for those aged four and eleven stone seven pounds for horses of five years and older; there’s a seven pound allowance for both fillies and mares.
The Grade 1 race is run over two miles and five furlongs (2m, 5f), it features ten hurdles and has been won by an unfancied outsider on more than one occasion. The victor often goes on to compete in the Stayer's Hurdle, too, so have a look out for who wins this for that race next year. The most successful Jockey in the Novice’s Hurdle is Ruby Walsh and the most successful trainer is Willie Mullins, Walsh winning four times on Mullins horses and Mullins himself winning it six times, including in 2022 & 2023 with Paul Townend on Sir Gerhard and Impaire Et Passe.
2023 Winner
- Horse - Impaire Et Passe (5/2)
- Jockey - Paul Townend
- Trainer - Willie Mullins (IRE)
- Overall Prize Money - £132,800
- For The Winner - £75,965
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 6.84
- Average Age - 5.78 Years
- Percent Favourite - 35%
- Percent Mares - 0%
Race 2 - Brown Advisory Novices' Chase - 14:10
- Grade: Grade 1
- Distance: 3m 80y (4900m)
- Fences: 20
- Course: Old Course
Again, this one is known by different names owing to sponsorship. It’s another Grade 1 race and it’s run over three miles and eighty yards (3m, 80y). It has twenty fences that need to be overcome, with novice chasers aged five years and older welcome to compete in it. The weight is eleven stone two pounds for five-year-olds and eleven stone four pounds for those aged six and older, with mares getting a seven pound allowance.
When it comes to using the result of this race to bet on another then you’ll want to bear it in mind when it comes to the Gold Cup; several previous winners have gone on to pick up that most prestigious of trophies. Pat Taaffe is the jockey who has won it the most with five victories, whilst Fulke Walwyn and Nicky Henderson have won it four times as trainers and Willie Mullins holds the record with five wins
2023 Winner
- Horse - The Real Whacker (8/1)
- Jockey - Sam Twiston-Davies
- Trainer - Patrick Neville (GB)
- Overall Prize Money - £177,864
- For The Winner - £102,095
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 8.87
- Average Age - 7 Years
- Percent Favourite - 35%
- Percent Mares - 0%
Race 3 - Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle - 14:50
- Grade: Premier H'cap
- Distance: 2m 5f (4225m)
- Fences: 10
- Course: Old Course
The Coral Cup has the dubious distinction of having been sponsored by the same company since it was run for the first time back in 1993, hence it having the name of Coral bookmakers as its official title. It’s a Premier Handicap race and is run over two miles and five furlongs (2m, 5f), with ten hurdles to be jumped.
Open to four-year-olds and upwards, it’s a handicap race so the handicapper chooses different weights for each horse to ensure an even race. As it is such a young race there aren’t a whole heap of jockeys or trainers who have won it countless times. Instead Davy Russell and Barry Geraghty hold the record of three wins as a jockey, with Nicky Henderson having four victories as a trainer.
This is a fantastic race for each-way betting and outsider wins with the average odds of the winner around 19/1 over the past 25 years.
2023 Winner
- Horse - Langer Dan (9/1)
- Jockey - Harry Skelton
- Trainer - Dan Skelton (GB)
- Overall Prize Money - £98,370
- For The Winner - £56,270
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 19.20
- Average Age - 6.70 Years
- Percent Favourite - 9%
- Percent Mares - 9%
Race 4 - Queen Mother Champion Chase - 15:30
- Grade: Grade 1
- Distance: 1m 7f 199y (3200m)
- Fences: 13
- Course: Old Course
Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival has the Queen Mother Champion Chase at its centre. Formerly known as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase, it was renamed in 1980 in celebration of the Queen Mum’s 80th birthday. The Grade 1 steeplechase features thirteen fences over a distance of two miles (2m).
The feature race of Day Two of the Festival was first run in 1959 and is open to horses aged five and older. Weight-wise you’re looking at eleven stone ten pounds and there’s a seven pound allowance for mares. Both Pat Taaffe and Barry Geraghty have won it five times as jockeys and Tom Dreaper, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson are the leading trainers with six victories - five of Dreaper's victories had Taaffe on the horse’s back.
Altior won it back to back in 2018 and 2019 but couldn't make it three to match Badsworth Boy's successive victories between 1983 and 1985 when he withdrew in 2020. Willie Mullins finally claimed his first Champion Chase, and completed the task of winning all the Championship races, with his win with Energumene in 2022. He then also went on to win back-to-back with Energumene in 2023, ridden on both occasions by Paul Townend.
2023 Winner
- Horse - Energumene (6/5)
- Jockey - Paul Townend
- Trainer - Willie Mullins (IRE)
- Overall Prize Money - £392,120
- For The Winner - £225,080
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 5.43
- Average Age - 8.13 Years
- Percent Favourite - 39%
- Percent Mares - 4%
Race 5 - Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase - 16:10
- Grade: Class 2 Chase
- Distance: 3m 6f 37y (6070m)
- Fences: 32
- Course: Cross Country
One of three cross country chases which are held at Cheltenham Racecourse (the others coming in November and December), this the only race of the day not run on the Old Course. As the name suggests, it takes place on the cross country course and lasts for three miles, six furlongs and thirty-seven yards (3m, 6f, 37y). Thirty-two obstacles need to be jumped by the five-year-old and over horses that take part in the race.
Originally a handicap chase, the rules changed in 2016 to make it a conditions race instead. That means that the weights placed on the horses depend on things such as their age, sex and weight. It is one of a number of races that was established when the Festival grew from a three day event to having a fourth day in 2005 and the most successful jockeys since then are Nina Carberry and Keith Donoghue, who have both won it four times. All of Carberry's four of those victories came on horses trained by Enda Bolger, who is the most joint most successful trainer of the race with five wins. She is joint with Gordon Elliott who has also won five times, four of which had Donoghue as the jockey.
The double Grand National winner Tiger Roll holds the record for the most wins in this race with three, including in 2021 when he was all but written off. The Cheltenham legend bowed out of his racing career with a second place in 2022 aged 12 only beaten by less than a length to Delta Work in the end. Delta Work went on to win it again in 2023 going off at 11/10.
2023 Winner
- Horse - Delta Work (11/10)
- Jockey - Keith Donoghue
- Trainer - Gordon Elliott (IRE)
- Overall Prize Money - £73,778
- For The Winner - £39,023
Winner Trends Since 2005
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 6.99
- Average Age - 9.47 Years
- Percent Favourite - 32%
- Percent Mares - 0%
Race 6 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase - 16:50
- Grade: Premier H'cap
- Distance: 1m 7f 199y (3200m)
- Fences: 13
- Course: Old Course
Ladies Day enters its final stint with the Grand Annual Chase, the oldest race of the Festival given that it was established in 1834. Johnny Henderson, the father of successful trainer Nicky Henderson, had the race named after him in 2005, two years after his death. This Premier Handicap race was moved to the final slot of the Festival in 2009.
Run over two miles (1m, 7f, 199y) and featuring thirteen jumps, this is a handicap race open to five-year-olds and over. Records only date back to 1946, but Graham Bradley is its most successful jockey, having won it four times, whilst Paul Nicholls has won it four times as a trainer.
The Grand Annual was moved from Gold Cup Day to Ladies Day for 2021 to accommodate a new Mares' Chase on the final day.
2023 Winner
- Horse - Maskada (22/1)
- Jockey - Darragh O'Keeffe
- Trainer - Henry De Bromhead (IRE)
- Overall Prize Money - £122,963
- For The Winner - £70,338
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 16.91
- Average Age - 8.04 Years
- Percent Favourite - 17%
- Percent Mares - 0%
Race 7 - Weatherbys Champion Bumper - 17:30
- Grade: Grade 1
- Distance: 2m 87y (3300m)
- Course: Old Course
The Champion Bumper is open to horses between four and six years of age. It lasts for two miles and eighty-seven yards (2m, 87y) and there are no obstacles to overcome as it is a flat race. It can still be subject to the weather, however, as was evidenced during the wet 2022 race where jockeys were asked to take an alternative route to avoid pooling water.
Four-year-olds should weigh in at ten stone eleven pounds, whilst five to six-year-olds can be eleven stone five pounds. Both fillies and mares get a seven pound allowance in this race, which was established back in 1992. As with pretty much all races at Cheltenham, the Champion Bumper has enjoyed numerous sponsorship agreements over the years.
Considered to be the National Hunt’s most prestigious flat race, horses that win this race will often go on to become prodigious winners over obstacles too. Ruby Walsh, one of the Cheltenham Festival’s best ever jockeys, has won this race more times than anyone else, picking up three wins in it since 1998. Willie Mullins, who holds the record for the most winners in one year at the Cheltenham Festival for the eight wins he picked up in 2015, has won this race no less than twelve times as a trainer.
2023 Winner
- Horse - A Dream To Share (7/2)
- Jockey - Mr J L Gleeson
- Trainer - John Kiely (IRE)
- Overall Prize Money - £78,696
- For The Winner - £45,560
Winner Trends Since 2000
- Average Odds (Decimal) - 12.67
- Average Age - 5.26 Years
- Percent Favourite - 22%
- Percent Mares - 13%
What To Expect On Ladies Day
The Cheltenham Festival is, above all else, about the horse racing. Yet if any of the days of the week are about what happens off-course as much as on it then it surely Day Two. As the years have gone by Ladies Day has become more and more about the fashion of the women watching as it has about the horses that win – or lose – the races. It doesn’t quite have the full-on glamour of Ladies Day at Ascot or the all-out dress to impress nature of the same day at Aintree during Grand National week, but make no mistake – Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival is one of the most exciting and entertaining experiences that you can have.
As the most important race of Day Two is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, many members of the Royal Family have been known to rock up for Ladies Day. Zara Phillips, who used to own a property in Cheltenham with her husband Mike Tindall, is a regular on most days of the Festival, for example. Indeed, the race is named in honour of the Queen Mother because she would regularly be in attendance, being a keen racing lover as she was. Though celebrities are occasionally seen around the place, the truth is that Ladies Day is all about the general public and the women in particular.
Though the Thursday of the Festival is normally the one most closely associated with the Irish – it is St. Patrick’s Day after all – there is a distinct feeling of competitiveness amongst the ranks of women who turn up on Ladies Day. Each year there is a Team Captain for Ireland and a Team Captain for Great Britain, both of whom are glamorous ladies such as Miss England Elizabeth Grant the Irish model Roz Purcell as it was in 2017. Why, you may ask, are there teams representing Ireland and Great Britain? Well there also happens to be a ‘Best Dressed Competition’ with a £10,000 prize for the lady that is judged to be the most fashion conscious on the day.
Obviously men are welcome on Ladies Day too, it’s just not about them. They are little more than the people making sure that their partners, wives or friends don’t get their heels stuck in the mud. When it comes to what to wear there aren’t really any rules, though it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s not exactly the middle of the summer so not flashing too much flesh is always a good place to start. Favour comfort over style where possible as you’ll be stood up for a long time and being able to walk afterwards is probably more important than being admired. More than anything else, though, remember to enjoy yourself!
Final Thoughts
The second day of the Cheltenham Festival could be a case of style over substance, but thanks to classic races such as the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle it ensures what takes place on the course is as important as what happens off it. If you’re lucky enough to be in attendance, though, look out for the dresses as much as the horses.