Carnival Sunday 15th November 2026 – November Meeting Day Three

Race 1 - Maiden Hurdle (GBB Race) - 13:15

There are several races on Day Three that are for those of you that have as much interest in the future as the present, with the first being the Maiden Hurdle.  It is a Novices' Championship Hurdle Series Qualifier.

This is open to horses aged four and over that haven’t won a race before and fancy their chances of making it over the eight hurdles in place around the two miles, eighty-seven yards (2m, 87y) of course that the race takes place on.

The race was moved in 2023 from Showcase Friday to November Meeting Sunday with the Supreme Trial Novices' Hurdle moving in the other direction.  Expect a variable field for this, only four ran in 2024 but then 14 ran in 2025. It is a good race to look at the Skelton brothers in.  They have won it together the past two years. The race will take around four minutes to run.

Race 2 - Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (GBB Race) - 13:45

Another race that’s open to four-year-olds or older, the Cheltenham Novices' Chase runs over two miles, four furlongs and forty-four yards (2m 4f 44y) with 16 fences to be jumped taking around five minutes to run.  It is effectively the same race as the Gold Cup yesterday but for novices'.

It’s a Class 2 race that normally features quite a small field.  In 2021 only two horses ran in it and one of them fell (the favourite), so don’t be expecting particularly big odds from the bookies.  Last year 6 ran and five finished.

In 2022 it was converted from a Class 2 chase to a Class 3 handicap.

Race 3 - Talking Sense Handicap Chase (GBB Race) - 14:20

This Class 3 race, formerly class 2 until 2025, takes place over one mile, seven furlongs and one hundred and ninety nine yards (1m 7f 199y). Open to four-year-olds and older rated 0-140, it’s the third handicap race of the day.

This is another race that sees different sized fields year to year with just four running in 2024 and then 11 running in 2025, for example.

There are 13 fences to be jumped on the old course.  In 2024 it was moved from Friday to Sunday.

Race 4 - Oddschecker Handicap Chase (GBB Race) - 14:55

As with the feature race of the day, this is a Premier Handicap race. It’s run over three miles, three furlongs and seventy-one yards (3m 3f 71y) and will feature around 10-15 runners with 22 fences to be negotiated. It is common to see some fences omitted in wet years on heavy ground, such as in 2025 when the race took place over 19 fences following storm Claudia a couple of days earlier that made the ground very heavy.

The purse for this race is always quite tasty, perhaps a reflection of the fact that it’s been running since 1987. There’s normally a slightly bigger field than in the previous races of the day, often creeping up to the ten horses mark.

The race was first run under the name Flowers Original Handicap Chase, it has been through various sponsors since and is currently sponsored by Oddschecker the betting company.  The race was converted from Grade 3 to Premier Handicap in 2022 as part of BHA name changes.

Only one horse has won the race more than once, that was Stormez in 2002 and 2004.  As with so many Cheltenham races Tony McCoy is the leading jockey with 4 wins between 1996 and 2011.  Martin Pipe has the leading trainer title with 4 wins, including the two with Stormez.

In the early years this race was frequently won by 10+ year old horses, although, since 2000 only two horses aged 10 or higher have won the race. The race in 2024 was very distressing with the winner, Abuffalosoldier, collapsing shortly after the race before later being put down - he was only 7 and ran really well too.  Bangers And Cash, 8 years old, was also put down after sustaining a fatal injury and pulling up in the race 😔.

Race 5 - Greatwood Handicap Hurdle (GBB Race) - 15:30

The Greatwood Hurdle, which has been sponsored by Unibet since 2017, is the feature race of Day Three of Carnival Sunday. It’s a Premier Handicap race that’s run under handicap rules, open to nags aged three and up. Bettors who love an ante-post wager often keep an eye on the outcome of this race to give them some hints ahead of the Champion Hurdle for the Festival.

It’s run over two miles and eighty-seven yards (2m 87y), which is the same as the Champion Hurdle with the same number of hurdles, eight. The field normally welcomes in excess of ten horses, sometimes up to 20, so expect a bit of a battle to the finishing line.

The Greatwood name comes from the time it was sponsored on behalf of a welfare charity of the same name for retired horses from 2003-11.  The Racing Post sponsored in 2012 and dropped the name but it was brought by by Stan James when they sponsored from 2013 to 2017.  Unibet, being the owners of Stan James, also kept the name when they took over in 2017.

The race has never actually been won by the same horse twice but several jockeys have won the race three times, including Tony McCoy, of course.  Philip Hobbs and Martin Pipe lead the way in terms of trainers with 4 wins each.  One surprising fact is it took until 2023 for Nicky Henderson to train his first winner in this race with Iberico Lord.

Race 6 - Open National Hunt Flat Race (GBB Race) - 16:00

The day, and indeed the weekend, comes to a close with this National Hunt flat race for junior jumpers - that means horses that have not run competitively over jumps yet.

It’s a Listed event that’s run over the same distance as the previous two races: two miles and eighty-seven yards (2m 87y). The big difference is the lack of any jumps, which is what makes it a flat race.

Open to horses aged four and five, the field has varied a lot over the years with anywhere from 5-15 entries before now - 13 ran last time.  Being a flat race it offers a nice fast final spectacle where contenders rock the ground as they pound on it towards the finishing line to end the November meeting.  It will only take around 4 minutes to run so worth hanging around for.