THIS year’s Cheltenham Festival has received a significant prize money boost, leading to a new record total of £4.3 million over the four days.

The £190,000 input to prize money will benefit 23 of the 28 festival races with the biggest increases going to the four novice chases. The purses for the Racing Post Arkle Novices’ Chase and the RSA Novices’ Chase are both increased by £25,000, with the total prize money for each rising to £175,000. There are £20,000 increases for the JLT Novices’ Chase (to £150,000) and the J.T. McNamara National Hunt Novices’ Chase (to £120,000), while £10,000 extra goes into the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle (to £110,000). Another 18 races gain £5,000 increases, with the only contests missing out being the five most valuable - the £575,000 Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup, the £400,000 Stan James Champion Hurdle, the £350,000 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, the £300,000 Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle and the £300,000 Ryanair Chase.