WITH the 2024 Gold Cup giving us a thrilling race and terrific dual winner, you might have thought we’d relax into last Saturday and reflect on all the good points of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.

But no. The BHA are often accused of being slow off the mark but a statement from CEO Julie Harrington hit the press Saturday morning with a comment that “the Irish domination of the Grade 1 races this week has illustrated that the issue is becoming more pronounced and more damaging for the sport on both sides of the Irish Sea.”

Trainer Dr Richard Newland threw a red-hot spanner in the works mid-week suggesting Irish-trained horses should be made ineligible for races in Britain.

The final tally last week was Ireland 18, Britain 9. Given that Nicky Henderson would probably have won at least two races with a full health string, add the Cross-County to Ireland and the results would have been 17/11. That’s progress from last year!

The Times had a secondary piece under its Gold Cup report last Saturday that Cheltenham was in trouble and that the Hunter Chase was more exciting than the Gold Cup. Whatever about the former, he must have been on Planet Newland to share that opinion with anyone from either Britain or Ireland.

Another Racing Post article was headed that ‘Cheltenham hemorrhaging spectators.’

Another column noted; “the product was disintegrating before our eyes.”

Now, while it serves no good in papering over the cracks, it also must be remembered that general racing coverage will take its lead from the racing coverage so negativity only leads to wider negativity. Jump racing doesn’t need its own fans slagging it off. Racecourses need people to attend.

But the general opinion was that, in the current climate, we are at a crossroads for the Cheltenham Festival.

Yes, attendances were down, after what seemed a longer than ever lead-in, it may have lost a lot of its lustre and appeal. But there are many reasons for that, not least a recession and rising travel and accommodation prices in Britain as well as many who felt the larger attendance post-Covid in 2022 was too much for comfort and would not go again because it was too crowded!

The big issue is not solely the content of the four-day Festival racecards and Irish domination.

Cold look

Take a cold look back at our DRF cards this year. This was a very ‘successful’ meeting with a reported record attendance.

Leopardstown had Willie Mullins winning the eight Grade 1s and one Grade 2. We had the big Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup with four runners each and five of the eight trained by Willie. The two-mile Grade 1 – six runners, five Mullins.

The two novice chases numbered two and six runners each – two and then three Mullins runners respectively. And in the two novice hurdles Mullins supplied five of 10 runners in one and four of six in the other.

The big difference was that, and while it’s not considered the ‘must-see’ seasonal championships as Cheltenham is, the DRF was still considered to offer a value for money product that made people travel, very many from the UK, despite the competitive nature of the races being questionable.

Cheltenham - with its inflated ticket prices, expensive accommodation and travel costs - didn’t meet that basic criteria.

The total attendance comparison over the four days was: 2023: 240,603 to 2024: 229,370

It was down by over 11,000, with the Wednesday and Thursday faring the worst, suggesting perhaps people were going one day instead of two.

Cutting the Festival to three days will not happen so no need to waffle on there. There are obviously races that need scrutiny.

The racing on the middle days needs to be examined. Some of those races have been adversely affected by recent additions and now have small fields. Races like the Cross-Country and Bumper are not – “I must be here to see this” races.

Under scrutiny

Kevin Blake and some other respected pundits analysed the recent results and offered proposed changes.

The three novice hurdles came under scrutiny. They had expected fields of 12, eight and 15 this year (including on the day non-runners) and the Albert Bartlett had one of the biggest fields.

I’m not sure putting these horses into a two-race novice option is a good proposal. Why would slow horses go up against a Faugheen or a Ballyburn? We want more owners involved and perhaps the Albert Bartlett, with slower horses, offers that chance. Its field sizes fare out well – 15 intended this year, 20 last year, 19 in 2022, and 17 in 2021.

And with the last three bumpers having fields of 19, 21, and 22, then add in next year’s novice hurdlers that go straight from the point-to-point fields, the horses ARE there and cropping the novice hurdles should not be the most pressing port of call.

Bigger issue

It is the novice chases that create a bigger issue with now three Grade 1s and a Grade 2. The Grade 2 National Hunt Chase has not worked in this shrinking world of novice chasers and needs changing to get the Grade 1 horses like Corbetts Cross out.

Novice chase fields are going to be smaller as horses from the previous year’s crop stay hurdling, and chasers are probably more prone to injury – we were missing two Grade 1 winners in Marine Nationale and Inthepocket this season and we’d also lost Hermes Allen.

In two of the last four years, the field for the NH Chase did not even offer eight-horse each-way betting, compared to 18 runners in Tiger Roll’s win in 2017. There can be little argument against changing it. And similarly the Turners - which has had four, seven and 11 runners in the past three years - is an unattractive beginning to Thursday compared the Grade 2 Jewson, going back to Noble Prince (12 runners) in 2011 or Benefficient the following year (13 ran).

I don’t get all the slagging off of the Ryanair. In these days, the big owners want a Cheltenham winner. Why would you want your horse – like Protektorat or Bravemansgame – to have hard races in a Gold Cup they have no chance of winning, year after year, and with younger legs coming on the scene each time? Would anyone want to sacrifice Allaho’s wins to see him struggle in a Gold Cup?

What racegoers desire is familiar horses, horses you like/have an opinion on, returning year after year. These are far better in competition in the Ryanair than running fourth or fifth for the second year in the Gold Cup.

Irish dominance

Also on the Irish dominance, Luke Harvey commented in the debate on ITV that Britain needed new blood among its NH trainers. Hungrier, perhaps, to take the fight to the Irish. But when you look at the prize money stats from last week, why would anyone be attracted to the way of life. Reading from the bottom up told a story.

Note the combination of Festival prize money winnings of eight well respected British trainers:

Gary Moore £14,323

Harry Fry £8,233

Nicky Richards £6,625

Alan King £4,455

Joe Tizzard £1,580

Donald McCain £693

Olly Murphy £340

Philip Hobbs 0 (one UR runner)

Total winnings: £36,253

It’s not a great look but perhaps it needs analysis at a more grass roots level than too much tinkering with Cheltenham.