There was a lot of talk about the Cheltenham Festival when organisers decided to move three races into handicaps. Whether it adds to the quality of the festival is still up in the air, but what we’ve seen so far it’s certainly going to add to the competitive nature of the meeting.
While we’d love a meeting full of Grade One races, the simple fact is that not every runner is Grade One standard. The Turners Novice Chase, National Hunt Chase and Cross Country Chase have all reverted to handicaps this season for the very first time, and with early entries now out, the signs are positive.
All three have a larger number of entries when compared to this time last year, and we’re not talking about a handful more horses, we are talking a considerable amount.
National Hunt Chase Receives Bumper Entries
The National Hunt Chase became a very specialist event, one that has seen much change in recent years, including the distance and now, of course, the move to allow professional jockeys the chance to ride in the race.
But the switch to a handicap looks to hold the key, with 45 entries in the contest this year, compared to just 26 at the same time last year.
We’ve seen horses go well in this race and be touted as Gold Cup or Grand National hopes of the future. While that kind of talk may quieten over the years, it’s a handicap, in terms of the festival, we’re surely going to see more runners going to post and hopefully a better spectacle.
The winner of this contest last year was Corbett’s Cross, who is currently entered in the Gold Cup and the Ryanair this season, showing the quality that he possesses. We’re essentially trading the chances of seeing a horse like that dominate for the hope of having a bigger field, better betting heat, and a close finish, let’s see if the gamble pays off.
Golden Miller and Cross Country Also see Strong Entry Numbers
Known as the Turners Novice Chase last season when a Grade One event, that’s now registered as the Golden Miller Novices’ Handicap Chase and is another race to see an improved entry figure.
Won by Grey Dawning in 2024, this is another race that has previously given us top-quality horses and may no longer be able to do that. But what it should do, away from this, is force runners to head to the two mile or three miles events, enhancing the competitiveness of those Grade One races while also leaving a gap to have a competitive novice handicap at the festival once again.
Entries in the Golden Miller are 61 currently, up from 42 at the same stage last season, a rise of around 50%.
Finally, the Cross Country Chase, a race that continues to divide opinion, is also part of the changes, moving to a traditional handicap, bringing it in line with many of the other cross-country contests in the race calendar.
There are currently 31 runners entered in the Cross Country Chase, which is up from a figure of 21 at this time last season. We don’t often see top-quality runners in this race, Tiger Roll being the obvious exception, and it’s usually horses on the decline rather than on the up.
How this race pans out is going to be interesting, as if the top quality horses remain in the race, they’ll push most others outside of the handicap, as we see at some of the other races of this type during the season.
But being out of the handicap is going to be better than being off-level weights, and should attract more interest, as well as helping punters follow the form of the Cross Country schedule a little better.