If you are looking for details of The International Meeting at Cheltenham this year and can’t find any it is because the name has been changed to The Christmas Meeting.
Why? Because as part of changes to the jump racing pattern in 2023 the International Hurdle has been moved from the meeting before Christmas to Festival Trials Day in January. In light of that move it made no sense to continue to call the meeting in December ‘The International’ and so ‘The Christmas Meeting’ was chosen instead.
To be fair the new name is a better reflection of what the meeting is about. It has always been Christmas themed and now the name matches the occasion.
What Has Changed?
With the International Hurdle having been moved the December Gold Cup on the Saturday now takes centre stage at the meeting. Races have been moved around with the Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase and December Handicap Chase moving from the Friday to the Saturday. The Novices’ Chase moves in the other direction from Saturday to Friday.
To fill the slot left by the International Hurdle organisers have added a race that tends to be a real favourite of racegoers, a Middle Distance Veterans’ Handicap Chase over two and a half miles and 16 fences. This class 2 is now on the Friday card and is much loved due to the fact it features veteran horses over nine years old. This means you get to see lots of the famous names that often run in the Grand National.
After losing the International Hurdle the Christmas Meeting now only features the one grade 2 race, that is the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on the Saturday. It does still have two Premier Handicap races though, the December Gold Cup and the December Handicap Chase. These are up one after the other on the Saturday before the Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle.
The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is still a thrill on the Friday too. The final race of the Crystal Cup was cancelled in 2022 due to frost affecting the International Meeting but will return this year. Featuring 32 fences on the cross-country course and run over 3 miles and nearly 6 furlongs it is one of the highlights of any Cheltenham meeting.
It is worth noting that the Saturday of the International Meeting was abandoned entirely in 2022 due to frozen ground. This means most of the Saturday races (and the races that have been moved from Saturday to Friday) have not been run since 2021. The cross country chase on the Friday was also cancelled last year so that also has not had a winner since 2021.