Cheltenham Factoids

Cheltenham Related Trivia

Gate receipts
Well over 200,000 spectators attend the four days of The Festival. With ticket prices ranging from £20 to £75, the estimated gate receipts will total around £7m.

 An estimated 10,000 Irish racing fans make the hop across the Irish Sea or St George's Channel to attend the Festival.

Betting
The Festival is a massively important betting event, and one that can fundamentally affect the annual profits of bookmakers. Indeed, so important is the Cheltenham Festival that in 2003 when favourites won half of the races at the meeting, The Festival was blamed by the major bookmaking firms for significantly lower than expected profits that year. Through their 8,500 betting shops, telephone betting and online operations, Britain’s bookmakers put a great emphasis on the 27 races that comprise the Festival.

Each year, something approaching £600m will be staked on the outcome of those 27 events. The Festival will also account for around 10 per cent of the Tote’s annual on-course pool betting turnover, while at least £1 million pounds changes hands on every race in the betting ring at the racecourse, with over 250 bookmakers in attendance for each day of The Festival.

Catering
Racecourse caterers Letheby & Christopher will serve some 20,000 bottles of champagne, 30,000 bottles of wine, 240,000 bottles of beer & lager, and 220,000 pints of Ireland’s national drink, Guinness, as well as 10,000 gallons of tea and coffee. Whilst around 12,000 people each day will sit down to three or four course lunches in the various restaurants and hospitality areas, the remainder of the crowd will eat into a pile of burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches that if laid end to end, would stretch almost three miles!

Transport
When over 65,000 people converge on Cheltenham, as they will on totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup day, they will come in every form of transport you can imagine.

Race sponsor (and official airline to The Festival) Ryanair bring a vast throng of racegoers from Ireland, staging up to 20 additional flights to their normal schedule to Birmingham, Bristol and East Midlands.

Train operators Cross Country Trains, First Great Western and Virgin Trains all run additional services throughout the week. And Cheltenham’s very own steam railway brings several hundred spectators each day the eight miles from its station at nearby Toddington. On a local level, taxi firms do significantly more business in Festival week than in any other week of the year.

Typically, 30,000 cars, 2,000 coaches and 50 stretch limos bring people to the races and typically there will be up to 650 helicopter landings at the course during the meeting, making it the busiest temporary airfield anywhere in the country - and that includes Silverstone on British Grand Prix day.

Last, but by no means least, many people staying in town just walk to the racecourse - the best way to beat the traffic.
 
Cash
The racecourse is a place where a great deal of cash changes hands, whether in bars, the betting ring or with the Tote. Except via Tote vouchers that can be purchased on the day, no bookmaker will accept a debit card on the racecourse, so best to come with banknotes. In 2009, almost £1.2m was drawn from the 20 cashpoints around the site - refilling pockets, handbags and wallets before returning to the battle against the bookies.

Staying in Cheltenham
Cheltenham Tourism estimates that around 10,000 beds each night are filled during Festival week, ranging from four-star accommodation to local B & Bs. And night clubs and bars around Cheltenham all benefit from the uplift in the numbers in Cheltenham. Gloucestershire Tourism put the value of The Festival to the wider local economy at £50 million.

The totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup trophy
A new  Cheltenham Gold Cup is minted each year. There is 10 ounces of gold in the trophy, which will make it worth around £10,750 in 2012.

The Gold Cup

1. The Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain. The total prize money for the 2012 running will be £500,000. The first Cheltenham Gold Cup was a three-mile Flat race in 1819, won by Mr Bodenham’s Spectre. The chase as we now know it was introduced in 1924, with Red Splash successful. The winning prize money was £700.

2. The joint biggest Gold Cup field ever was in 2006 when 22 runners went to post. Since the race was first run in 1924, there has only been one other renewal with more than 20 runners - in 1982 when Silver Buck defeated 21 rivals. The current maximum field allowed is 24.

3. Golden Miller holds the record for the most Gold Cup victories, with five consecutive wins from 1932-36. The race is fiercely competitive - so much so that before Best Mate in 2002, 2003 and 2004, the last horse to win more than once was L’Escargot in 1970 and 1971. Kauto Star was the first horse to regain the Gold Cup, winning in 2007 and 2009.

4. Golden Miller’s owner, Dorothy Paget, is also the most successful owner in the race with an amazing seven victories, with Roman Hackle (1940) and Mont Tremblant (1952) adding to Golden Miller’s five wins.

5. The most successful trainer was Tom Dreaper, who won five Gold Cups with three separate horses, namely Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964-66) and Fort Leney (1968). Paul Nicholls, the most successful current handler, bids to equal that record this year. His four previous winners are See More Business (1999), Kauto Star (2007 & 2009) and Denman (2008).

6. Tony McCoy’s Stan James Champion Hurdle/Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup double in 1997 on Make A Stand and Mr Mulligan was the 11th time that the big-race double has been landed by one jockey in the same year. The other jockeys to have achieved the feat were Dick Rees (1929), Tom Cullinan (1930), Ted Leader (1932), Bill Stott (1933), Gerry Wilson (1935), Aubrey Brabazon (1949 and 1950), Tim Molony (1953), Fred Winter (1961) and Norman Williamson (1995).

7. Alderbrook and Master Oats in 1995 enabled Norman Williamson and Kim Bailey to join a very select group of jockey and trainer partnerships who have won both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup in the same year. The other partnerships were Tommy Cullinan and Jack Anthony in 1930, Ted Leader and Basil Briscoe in 1932, Bill Stott and Basil Briscoe in 1933, and Aubrey Brabazon and Vincent O’Brien in both 1949 and 1950.

8. Dawn Run is the only horse to have won both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. She was successful in 1984 and 1986 respectively.

9. The longest-priced winner of the Gold Cup is Norton’s Coin, who started at 100/1 in 1990, while the shortest-priced winner was Arkle, the 1/10 favourite in 1966.

10. The last grey Gold Cup winner was Desert Orchid in 1989.

11. Following the acquisition of the Tote by Betfred in 2011, the 2012 renewal will be run as the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Tote previously backed the contest from 1980 onwards.

12. In the Gold Cup's history only seven horses have won more than once, the most recent of them is Kauto Star, who took the spoils in 2007 and 2009. The others were Best Mate (2002/03/04), L'Escargot (1970/71), Easter Hero (1929/30), Golden Miller (1932/33/34/35/36), Cottage Rake (1948/49/50) and Arkle (1964/65/66).

13. While Best Mate, L’Escargot, Easter Hero, Golden Miller, Cottage Rake and Arkle all recorded consecutive victories, Kauto Star became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup in 2009.

14. Since 1980 10 9-year-olds, nine 8-year-olds, six 7-year-olds and five 10-year-olds have been successful. The last horse over the age of 10 to win was 12-year-old What A Myth in 1969. In 2011, Long Run became the first horse since Mill House in 1963 to win the Gold Cup at the age of six.

15. A total of 10 favourites since 1980 have justified the market confidence – Long Run in 2011, Kauto Star in 2007 and 2009, Kicking King in 2005, Best Mate in 2003 and 2004, Master Oats in 1995, Desert Orchid in 1989, Dawn Run in 1986 and Bregawn in 1983.

16. The four Irish-trained winners since 1980 were War Of Attrition in 2006, Kicking King in 2005, Imperial Call in 1996 and Dawn Run 10 years before that. Irish-trained horses did better between 1946 and 1977 when 16 successes were achieved. The only French-trained winner was The Fellow in 1994, while there has also been one Welsh-trained victor in Norton’s Coin (1990).

The Queen Mother Champion Chase

1. The National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase was first run in 1959 and the Queen Mother’s name was added to the race title in 1980, the year of her 80th birthday. The race was first sponsored by Sportingbet.com in 2011.

2. The race’s roll of honour includes many multiple winners. Badsworth Boy (1983-85) is the only three-time scorer. The double winners are Fortria (1960 and 1961), Drinny’s Double (1967 and 1968), Royal Relief (1972 and 1974), Skymas (1976 and 1977), Hilly Way (1978 and 1979), Pearlyman (1987 and 1988), Barnbrook Again (1989 and 1990), Viking Flagship (1994 and 1995), Moscow Flyer (2003 and 2005) and Master Minded (2008 and 2009).

3. Irish-trained runners have a good record in the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase, winning 21 of the 52 runnings including last year’s winner Sizing Europe, who followed up his 2010 Arkle success.

4. Tom Dreaper had the best record of any trainer in the race, winning six runnings with Fortria (1960 and 1961), Ben Stack (1964), Flyingbolt (1966), Muir (1969), and Straight Fort (1970). Of current trainers, Paul Nicholls (1999 Call Equiname, 2004 Azertyuiop and the 2008 & 2009 winner Master Minded) is leading the way.

5. Flyingbolt was the shortest-priced winner when succeeding at 1/5 in 1966, while Another Dolly, who was awarded the 1980 race at odds of 33/1, provided the biggest upset.

6. Pat Taaffe was the most successful rider with five wins, while Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh have the best records of any current jockeys, having won three renewals each. Geraghty’s wins came with Moscow Flyer in 2003 and 2005 and Big Zeb in 2010, while Walsh’s victories were aboard Azertyuiop in 2003 and Master Minded in 2008 and 2009.

7. The oldest horse to have triumphed was the 12-year-old Skymas in 1977, while the youngest was Master Minded, who was just five when winning for the first time in 2008.

8. The largest field for the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase was in 1999 when 13 went to post, while only five runners lined up in 1985, 1972, 1968, 1964, 1963 and 1961.

9. The most successful owners have been George Ansley, who enjoyed three wins with Fortria (1960 and 1961) and Straight Fort (1970), and Doug Armitage who also had three victories with Badsworth Boy (1983, 1984 and 1985).

10. Michael Dickinson trained the winner for three consecutive years with Rathgorman (1982) and Badsworth Boy (1983 & 1984). His mother Monica had taken charge of the training operation for Badsworth Boy’s final success in 1985.

11. The 1986 winner Buck House subsequently met with that season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup heroine Dawn Run in a special match race at Punchestown in April that year. Dawn Run prevailed by two and a half lengths.

12. The Arkle Chase is a good guide for future success in the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase. Voy Por Ustedes (2007), Azertyuiop (2004), Moscow Flyer (2003 and 2005), Flagship Uberalles (2002), Klairon Davis (1996), Remittance Man (1992) and Sizing Europe (2011) all won the novices’ event before their sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase victory.

The Ryanair Chase

1. The Ryanair Chase was introduced to The Festival in 2005. It replaced the Cathcart Chase, although the conditions of the race changed slightly with it being open to all horses rather than being restricted to first and second season chasers.

2. The first three renewals were run as Grade Two contests before it was upgraded to its current Grade One status in 2008.

3. The Daily Telegraph backed the inaugural contest, with Irish airline Ryanair taking over the sponsorship for 2006. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, came close to winning his company’s money in 2008 when owning the runner-up Mossbank.

4. Fondmort, the 100/30 joint-favourite, was landing his fourth race at Cheltenham when victorious in 2006. Our Vic, successful in 2008, was winning for the third time at the course and had a further four Cheltenham placed efforts to his name, including when runner-up in the 2007 Ryanair Chase.

5. The 2009 winner Imperial Commander went on to complete a championship race double last year when landing the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. The 10-year-old, trained locally by Nigel Twiston-Davies, has now won six times at Cheltenham with his other victories including the 2008 Paddy Power Gold Cup.

6. Last year’s Ryanair Chase winner Albertas Run became the first dual winner of the race and was also completing a Festival treble, having won the 2008 RSA Chase.

Champion Hurdle Facts

1. The Champion Hurdle was inaugurated in 1927, with a value to the winner of £365. The race was abandoned in 1931 due to persistent frost, in 1943 and 1944 because of the Second World War, and in 2001 because of foot and mouth disease.

2. There have only been three sponsors of this great race since its inception. Waterford Crystal backed the contest from 1978 to 1990, while the Smurfit Group sponsored the race from 1991 to 2010. Stan James took over the sponsorship in 2011.

3. The largest field has been 24 (1964 and 1991) and the smallest three (1932). The first five runnings of the race saw a total of only 24 runners between them. The current safety limit is 28.

4. The Stan James Champion Hurdle is a contest for multiple winners. Peter Easterby and Nicky Henderson are the race’s most successful trainers, with five wins each. Easterby’s victories came courtesy of Saucy Kit (1967), Night Nurse (1976 and 1977) and Sea Pigeon (1980 and 1981). Nicky Henderson’s five victories so far have come with See You Then (1985, 1986 and 1987), Punjabi (2009) and Binocular (2010).

5. Among jockeys, Tim Molony won the race most often with four victories, on Hatton’s Grace (1951) and Sir Ken (1952, 1953 & 1954). A P McCoy is the most successful current jockey with three wins aboard Make A Stand (1997), Brave Inca (2006) and  Binocular (2010).

6. The most successful owners are Dorothy Paget, who won the race four times thanks to Insurance (1932, 1933), Solford
(1940) and Distel (1946), and J P McManus, who owned triple winner Istabraq (1998, 1999 and 2000) and Binocular (2010).

7. Istabraq, successful in the three Champion Hurdles from 1998 to 2000, was retired after failing to become the first horse to win the race four times in 2002. The four other three-time winners are Hatton’s Grace (1949-51), Sir Ken (1952-54), Persian War (1968-70) and See You Then (1985-87).

8. The race has been won seven times by entires, but only twice by mares - Dawn Run (1984) and Flakey Dove (1994).

9. Four greys have won, the most recent being Rooster Booster in 2003. The others were Kribensis in 1990, Our Hope in 1938 and Victor Norman in 1936. Only one roan horse has won the Champion Hurdle, Anzio in 1962.

10. Istabraq’s success in 2000 in a time of 3 minutes 48.1 seconds beat the previous Champion Hurdle record time, set by
Make A Stand in 1997, of 3 minutes 48.4 seconds.

11. Dessie Hughes, who trained Hardy Eustace to win in 2004 and 2005, is only the fourth person to have both ridden and
trained a Stan James Champion Hurdle winner, having partnered Monksfield in 1979. The others to have achieved this double were Fred Winter, Fred Rimell and Gerry Wilson.

12. As part of the Stan James sponsorship, the bookmaker is backing three races leading to the Stan James Champion Hurdle:

November 26, 2011 – The StanJames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle – Newcastle – won by Overturn
December 10, 2011 – The StanJames.com International Hurdle – Cheltenham – won by Grandouet
January 21, 2012 – The StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial – Haydock Park

Ladbrokes World Hurdle

1. The Ladbrokes World Hurdle is one of the youngest races at The Festival. Known as the Stayers’ Hurdle up to and including 2004, it was only introduced with its current race conditions in 1972. Before that, it was known as the Spa Hurdle.

2. The Ladbrokes World Hurdle has been run on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the meeting. It moved to its current Thursday slot in 1993.

3. Its first year of sponsorship was 1972, under the title of the Lloyds Bank Hurdle. There have been four sponsors of the race, Waterford Crystal from 1978 to 1990 and Bonusprint from 1991 to 2004. 2005 was the first year of Ladbrokes’ sponsorship and prize money currently stands at £260,000.

4. The Ladbrokes World Hurdle used to be a favourite with the Irish, who have won it nine times, most recently in 1995 with Dorans Pride. Baracouda provided a first success for France in 2002 and followed up in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, he was runner-up behind Iris’s Gift and Inglis Drever respectively, while in 2006 he ran fifth behind My Way De Solzen. Baracouda’s trainer Francois Doumen also saddled Kasbah Bliss to finish second in 2008 and fourth in 2009.

5. In 2011, Big Buck’s created history by becoming the first horse to win the race three times in succession. Inglis Drever is the only over horse to win the contest three times. He was successful in 2005, but missed the 2006 race due to injury before returning to land both the 2007 and 2008 renewals. There have been three dual winners - Crimson Embers (1982 & 1986), Galmoy (1987 & 1988), and Baracouda (2002 & 2003).

6. Paul Nicholls (trainer of Big Buck’s), Howard Johnson (trainer of Inglis Drever) and the late Fulke Walwyn - with three wins apiece - are the only trainers to have won the contest more than twice. The race was dominated in the mid-1980s by
Crimson Embers, trained by Walwyn, and the winner in 1982 and 1986. Indeed, Crimson Embers would have been awarded the race in the stewards’ room in 1985 had his rider not declined to give evidence to the enquiry afterwards, but the trainer won the race anyway with Rose Ravine. The owner, Sally Smart, was ambivalent about the result - she owned both horses!

7. Gaye Chance, the winner in 1984, was a full-brother to the 1983 Champion Hurdle winner Gaye Brief. Both horses were trained by Mercy Rimell.

8. No horse has managed to win both the Stan James Champion Hurdle and the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.

9. A total of 13 favourites have been successful.

10. The smallest field to go to post was eight in 1973, while the largest was 22 in both 1985 and 1990. The current safety limit is 24.

11. Tommy Carberry, Stuart Shilston, Tommy Carmody, Mark Perrett, Charlie Swan, Jamie Osborne and Thierry Doumen each recorded two victories, while Ruby Walsh is the most successful jockey in the race following his three victories on Big Buck’s in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The three-time winner Inglis Drever was partnered by different jockeys for each of his victories – Graham Lee (2005), Paddy Brennan (2007) and Denis O’Regan (2008).

The Arkle Chase

1. The Racing Post Arkle Chase was inaugurated in 1969, after Arkle’s three wins in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (1964- 66). In its first year, the race was worth £1,365, and was won by Chatham (10/1), trained by Fred Rimell and ridden by Terry Biddlecombe. The 2012 running has total prize money of £130,000. It was known as the Cotswold Chase before 1969.

2. The Racing Post, which backs the Arkle Chase for the first time in 2012, is only the race’s fourth sponsor. The Irish Independent was the sponsor from 2000 to 2011, Guinness sponsored from 1994 until 1999 and Waterford Cystal supported the race between 1991 and 1993.

3. The Racing Post Arkle Chase has always been a fiercely contested event, and the following winners have gone on to other Championship victories at The Festival:

2010 Sizing Europe (sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase 2011)
2006 Voy Por Ustedes (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 2007)
2003 Azertyuiop (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 2004)
2002 Moscow Flyer (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 2003 & 2005)
1999 Flagship Uberalles (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 2002)
1995 Klairon Davis (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 1996)
1991 Remittance Man (Queen Mother Champion Chase winner 1992)
1978 Alverton (Cheltenham Gold Cup winner 1979).

Alverton is the only horse to have won both the Racing Post Arkle Chase and Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup.

4. The lowest number of runners has been eight (1979, 1984 & 1993) and the highest 19 (1987 & 2005) as the Arkle Chase - there were 25 runners in the Cotswold Chase in 1960. The current safety limit is 20.

5. The Racing Post Arkle Chase has seen several trainers and jockeys run up strings of wins. Martin Pipe notched up successive wins with Or Royal in 1997 and Champleve in 1998 before Well Chief in 2004 and Contraband a year later gave him another brace of victories. Peter Easterby trained three winners - Alverton 1978, Clayside 1981 and Ryeman 1983. Among current trainers, Nicky Henderson leads the way with three successes (Remittance Man 1991, Travado 1993 and Tiutchev 2000), while both Paul Nicholls (Flagship Uberalles in 1999 and Azertyuiop in 2003) and Alan King (My Way De Solzen in 2007 and Voy Por Ustedes in 2006) both boast a pair of victories. Among jockeys, Jamie Osborne won three times, via a hat-trick between 1992 and 1994 on Young Pokey, Travado, and Nakir for three different trainers, Oliver Sherwood, Nicky Henderson and Simon Christian. A P McCoy equalled Osborne’s three wins in 2004 when scoring on Well Chief, having also been aboard Or Royal (1997) and Champleve (1998).

6. Irish trainers have won the Racing Post Arkle Chase 11 times, including five of the last 15 runnings with Klairon Davis (1995), Ventana Canyon (1996), Moscow Flyer (2002), Forpadydeplasterer (2009) and Sizing Europe (2010).

7. The longest-priced winner was Gala’s Image, successful at 25/1 in 1987, while Pendil (1972) and Chinrullah (1979) were the shortest-priced scorers at 10/11. Six other favourites have won - Canasta Lad (1974), Clayside (1981), Bobsline (1984), Remittance Man (1991), Klairon Davis (1995) and Azertyuiop (2003).

8. The fastest time for the two miles of the Racing Post Arkle Chase was 3m 46.5s by Tiutchev in 2000, beating the previous best of 3m 52.5s set by Or Royal in 1997.

9. Until 1980, the Racing Post Arkle Chase was always run on the Wednesday of the The Festival. It now takes place on the opening day, Tuesday.

National Hunt Chase

1. The Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase has been run more times than any other race at The Festival, and is in its 142nd year in 2012. Until the 1930s, only the Grand National was more important than the National Hunt Chase in the Jump calendar. The race had been run at a number of venues until it became a part of the new two-day National Hunt  Festival at Cheltenham in 1911. It had also been run at Cheltenham in 1904 and 1905.

2. The four-mile Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase is the longest race run at The Festival. The distance was reduced in distance by a furlong in 2008 and reverted back to the Old Course.

3. The race is usually one of the best supported at The Festival, with very competitive fields each year. The largest postwar field size was 37 (1948) and the smallest 13 (1993). There is now a safety limit of 20 runners.

4. Flimsy Truth, a 33/1 chance, set a record post-war time of 8 mins 11.09s in 1998 but that was beaten by Relaxation in 2000, who scored in 8 mins 0.60s.

5. Flimsy Truth is not the longest-priced post-war winner - that honour goes to Topsham Bay, successful in 1990, and 2005 winner Another Rum, who were both returned at 40/1. Castledermot, 6/4 favourite in 1949, is the shortest-priced victor.

6. The race has proved a good guide to future success in recent seasons. The 2007 winner Butler’s Cabin subsequently won the Irish Grand National, while 2006 victor Hot Weld landed a memorable double in 2007 by collecting the Scottish National and the Sandown Gold Cup in the space of a week. The 2007 John Smith’s Grand National victor Silver Birch finished fourth in 2004. The 2009 winner Tricky Trickster took the Grade Two AON Chase at Newbury the following year.

The 2011 runner-up, Beshabar, went on to win the Scottish National at Ayr a month later.

7. The 2008 race was run as the Peter O’Sullevan National Hunt Chase to celebrate the legendary commentator’s 90th birthday and in 2012 honours the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

8. Katie Walsh, whose father Ted and brother Ruby had both enjoyed great success at past Cheltenham Festivals, joined an elite group of female riders to have won at Jump racing’s biggest meeting when riding Poker De Sivola to beat her best friend Nina Carberry in the 2010 race on Becauseicouldntsee.

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