Talking Horses: Shock move not to add fifth day to Cheltenham Festival the right one
FOUR'S PLENTY: After a six-month consultation process, the Jockey Club has announced the Cheltenham Festival will remain a four-day fixture. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA
Hot on the heels of Baaeed’s defeat at 1-4 in the Champions Stakes at Ascot, there was another big surprise on Monday morning as the Jockey Club announced that Cheltenham’s Festival meeting in March will not be extended to a fifth day from 2024. If the general delight among National Hunt fans on social media is any guide, this was a rare example of a beaten odds-on shot that punters could celebrate.
Cynics — this one included — who suggested back in April that the Jockey Club’s “consultation” over a fifth day at the Festival was window-dressing for a decision that had already been made will eat their humble pie, and do so, for the most part, very happily.
