In what seems to becoming a theme for Cheltenham racecourse of late the 2024 edition of the Cross-Country Chase on 13th March, Ladies Day, has been abandoned due to waterlogging in parts of the cross-country course. Officials had considered rescheduling the race to Gold Cup Day but with the weather forecasting more rain it has been decided it will not be run at all this year now.
The Cross-Country is the second longest race at Cheltenham and it is a gruelling race run over three miles and five furlongs featuring 31 fences. It is the only race that is run on the cross-country course with all other races run on the old course (Tuesday and Wednesday) or the new course (Thursday and Friday).
Even on good ground many horses do not finish this race. Last year only half the field finished, eight runners out of sixteen starters, with one falling, one refusing, two unseating their riders and four pulling up. You can see, therefore, why the race cannot go ahead on a waterlogged course. It is not just increased risks for the horses and jockeys it could mean no horses end up finishing the race, which wouldn’t exactly be good for the Cheltenham Festival.
Due to the unique nature of the race it cannot be moved to a different course and with the jumps season near the end it seems likely the race just won’t happen now in 2024.
In 2022 the Cross-Country race at the November meeting was moved to Festival Trails Day due to a lack of rain at the course making the ground too hard. Being earlier in the season it was possible to move the race to Festival Trails Day that year. Just one month later the Cross-Country race at the Christmas Meeting was abandoned due to frost, again due to the ground being too hard. In 2019 the cross-country at the November meeting was also called off due to waterlogging this time – the whole day being abandoned in the end.
Unfortunately the Cross-Country of all the races at Cheltenham is the most susceptible to weather and it is not possible to run when either too dry or too wet. The race will be missed for sure given it is one of the most unique races of the week. It is also the race at Cheltenham that is most like the Grand National and often offers a good preview as to what horses may do well next month at Aintree.
As mentioned at the start this is becoming a theme at Cheltenham in recent years. As we have discussed on this site climate change is having a big impact on Cheltenham racecourse and jumps racing in general. It seems without new technology to mitigate waterlogging and dry ground that we will see more cross-country races cancelled in the coming years.