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The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most illustrious racing meetings in the British racing calendar. It is held each year in March and has the second largest prize fund in the country, after the Grand National. The Cheltenham Festival is unique as it showcases the best British and Irish race horses in one spectacular event which is why it draws so many spectators.
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The Cheltenham Festival is held each spring in the spa town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. During the four day event millions of pounds are gambled away as spectators bet on their favourite horses. The Cheltenham Races are famed for having an electric atmosphere with the 'Cheltenham roar' being echoed throughout the festival with each new race.
Prestbury Park has hosted the Cheltenham Festival since 1902 and the venue has become nearly as famous as the festival itself. The first National Hunt Steeplechase was introduced to the festival in 1904 which in 1924 grew into the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is open to race horses over 5 years of age and held at Cheltenham Racecourse on the New Course. It is run over a distance of three miles and two and a half furlongs and during the race the horses must jump over twenty two fences before crossing the finish line.
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The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most prestigious of the Cheltenham Festival races with the other being the Champion Hurdle which was introduced in 1927, the Queen Mother Champion Chase on 1959 and the Stayers Hurdle which was first raced in 1972.
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The Champion Hurdle is the opening race of the Cheltenham Races which make it a most spectacular event. The race is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham and covers a distance of two mile and one hundred and ten yards with eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is open to horses over three years old always promises to get a good old 'Cheltenham roar'.
The Queen Mother gave her name to the National Hunt Two Mile Champion Chase in 1980 on her eightieth birthday. The race was first run in 1959 on the Old Course at Cheltenham and has taken place there every year since on the second day of the festival. The Queen Mother was a big fan of the two mile race and successfully owned many National Hunt chasers, including Game Spirit who was the runner up of the race during the 1976 Cheltenham Festival.
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The final race of the Cheltenham Festival is the World Hurdle, a three mile race held at the New Course which is open to all horses over three years old.
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The Cheltenham Festival was a three day event until 2005, when the organisers decided to introduce a fourth day so that each championship race would have its own dedicated day. However to keep the spectators happy they also introduced five new races so that each day would still have the traditional six races. The Grade One races include the RSA Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy, Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Ryan air Chase, Triumph Hurdle and the Champion Bumper.
Over the past several years the Cheltenham Races have come under criticism for the number of deaths and injuries to horses during the Cheltenham Festival. The racecourse in response reduced the number of runners in each race and lowered some of the higher fences to try and lower the amount of fatalities.
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The Cheltenham Festival is and will remain one of the most attended and talked about meetings during the National Hunt as it continues to attract the best horses that Britain and Ireland has to offer.
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