Ladies Day 13th March 2024 – Cheltenham Festival Day Two (Festival Wednesday)

Race 1 - Ballymore Novices' Hurdle - 13:30

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.

Race 2 - Brown Advisory Novices' Chase - 14:10

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

Race 3 - Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle - 14:50

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.

Race 4 - Queen Mother Champion Chase - 15:30

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.

Race 5 - Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase - 16:10

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.

Race 6 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase - 16:50

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.

Race 7 - Weatherbys Champion Bumper - 17:30

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.