Cheltenham Festival History
Cheltenham Festival Profile
The Cheltenham Festival is the Olympics of jump racing; the Holy Grail for owners, trainers, jockeys and fans, where meticulous planning and the wildest of dreams come together in the search of glory. For four days in the middle of March, Prestbury Park in Cheltenham becomes a sporting amphitheatre, playing host to over 200,000 people, with nearly 500 horses competing for 25 prizes, including the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle.
The festival acts as a battleground for more than just the racing. Legions of Irish fans make the pilgrimage to see their equine heroes take on the best of British; a rivalry that verges back and forth with every race, yet the real battle comes as punters from all over find common ground in their quest to bash the bookies. Every favourite that storms up the hill in front is met with a roar that echoes through the crisp Cotswold air.
Despite this, the festival is first and foremost a celebration of the racehorse. It is the highest stage of the sport, where animals can forge themselves into immortality and we merely tag along for the ride. The exploits of past Champions remain fresh in the memory, their successors blissfully unaware of the history they are creating. As ever when so much is on the line, tragedy can sit next to triumph, but this is part and parcel of the human condition, and the famous cheer as the first race begins ushers in the greatest show on turf; dramatic, heroic and euphoric.
Background
Horse racing has taken place in Prestbury and the surrounding area since 1815, with the mare Miss Tidmarsh successful in the first official race meeting three years later. The 1820's saw crowds in the tens of thousands flock to the annual two day fixture in July, where a flat race over three miles was the highlight. However, the local church was eager to crack down on the dark art of gambling, and disrupted proceedings enough for a new venue to be sought.
Racing in the area remained popular, yet it was not until 1898 that Mr Baring Bingham decided to re-establish the sport at Prestbury Park, purchasing the course and constructing a grandstand. Within a decade Cheltenham had set the process in motion to become the home of jumps racing. The first three day meeting took place in 1923, and the creation of the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle soon established the festival as the most important event in the National Hunt calendar.
The 1960's saw the exploits of Arkle, Mill House and Flyingbolt, and with it came the mass improvement in facilities that has showed few signs of stopping. In 2005 the meeting was expanded to four days, and this year well over 200,000 people will visit the course with nearly £6 million in prize money at stake.
