The British Horseracing Authority have announced a string of changes to the Cheltenham Festival’s National Hunt Chase, designed to make the sometimes-controversial contest safer.
The Grade 2 race, which was first run in 1860, is the longest at the Festival at around four miles and was heavily criticised in March when just four of 18 runners completed, with one faller, Ballyward, losing his life.
The race will remain a novices’ affair for amateur riders, but several measures have been brought in to ensure participants, both equine and human, have significant experience to cope with the challenge.
They include a minimum rating and number of previous starts for the horse, as well as a minimum number of rides and winners for the jockey. The distance of the race has also been revised by around two furlongs, and the number of fences jumped reduced to 23 from 25.
In the other major change to be announced on Monday, the BHA have confirmed that a mares’ chase will be introduced from 2021.
At present, there are two mares-only races run over hurdles at the Festival, the Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle and Grade 2 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, but none over the larger obstacles.
The race, to be run over a distance of around two-and-a-half miles, will initially be granted Grade 2 status, and will replace one of the existing 28 races, though the BHA have not yet confirmed which.
