WHILE the thoughts of many are still fixed firmly on the flat season, the Cheltenham Festival was among the focal points this week with the news regarding the adjustments to the National Hunt Chase and the introduction of a mares’ chase from 2021 onwards

The mares’ chase will replace an existing race at the festival and, no doubt, there will be some disquiet when the identity of the discarded race becomes known as each and every race at the meeting has its own narrative and notable history.