Cheltenham International Meeting: Race List & Meeting Info

Cheltenham Racecourse jockey

The National Hunt season may annually build to a climax at the big springtime festivals, but it’s a long and winding road which leads to Cheltenham in March. A road which features no shortage of spectacular stopping off points – a statement which is particularly true over the festive period. The Kempton Christmas Cracker of the King George VI Chase of course takes centre stage in December, but is far from the only wintertime highlight on offer.

Earlier in that month, and beginning just prior to the point at which the festive season really begins to hit full stride, we have this excellent two-day offering from the home of the National Hunt game. With 14 quality contests on offer, including key trials for a number of the Cheltenham Festival’s biggest races, in addition top handicapping action, this is another meeting not to be missed for fans of the jumping game.

 

Day One Races - International Friday

RaceGradeLengthPrize MoneyAges
EBF 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle Class 3 2m1f £15,000 4-6 Years Old
Novices’ Chase Class 2 3m1½f £25,000 4 Years Old +
Catesby Handicap Hurdle Class 3 2m1f £16,400 3 Years Old +
Mares’ Handicap Chase Class 3 2m4½f £16,400 4 Year Old + Mares
Handicap Chase Grade 3 3m2f £60,000 4 Years Old +
Cross Country Handicap Chase Class 2 3m6f £35,000 5 Years Old +
Citipost Handicap Hurdle Class 2 3m £22,000 4 Years Old +

EBF 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle

Class 3, 2m1f

Run in association with the British European Breeders’ Fund, this hurdle event is open to novices aged between four and six. Run on the New Course over two miles and one hundred and seventy nine yards, there are eight hurdles for the horses to contend with. A Class 3 Qualifier, the prize money is a little over £9,000 and if the Going is Soft then you can expect the race to last for about four minutes and twenty-five seconds.

Novices’ Chase

Class 2, 3m1½f

Sponsored by International Decorative Surfaces at the time of writing, this steeplechase is for novices jumpers aged four and over. With prize money of more than £15,600 on offer, the event is run on the New Course over three miles, one furlong and fifty-six yards. There are twenty-one fences for the horses to jump, with a time of close to seven minutes not unexpected if the Going is Soft.

Catesby Handicap Hurdle

Class 3, 2m1f

Something of a Royal race on account of the fact that the Queen’s horse Sunshade won in it in 2019, the Catesby Handicap Hurdle is for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 140. It is run on the New Course over two miles and one hundred and seventy-nine yards and the handicappers decide how much weight each horse will carry. There are eight hurdles to be jumped, with the race lasting about four minutes and fifteen seconds if the Going is Soft.

Mares’ Handicap Chase

Class 3, 2m4½f

Sponsored by CF Roberts Electrical & Mechanical Services at the time of writing, this race is limited to mares aged four and over with a rating of between 0 and 125. It’s a Class 3 Qualifier that is run on the New Course over two miles, four furlongs and one hundred and twenty-seven yards. The handicappers elect how much weight should be carried by each horse, aiming to make it a level playing field as they take on the seventeen fences that must be jumped.

Handicap Chase

Grade 3, 3m2f

A race that has been run under numerous different titles of the years, the Handicap Chase is open to horses aged four and over and is run left-handed on the New Course. The distance is three miles and two furlongs and the race was inaugurated in 2003, gaining Grade 3 status eight years later.

No horse has won the race more than once, but it is a race worth watching if you want some clues about the Grand National the following year. The likes of Monbeg Dude and Shakalakaboomboom have gone on to compete in the Aintree race, but Mon Mome won this race in 2008 before winning the National in 2009.

Cross Country Handicap Chase

Class 2, 3m6f

The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Steeple Chase is one of the races worth telling you about for the simple reason that it is the culmination of the Crystal Cup European Cross Country Challenge. That is an eleven race series that takes place across Europe, asking jumpers to take on fences, hedges, banks and ditches as they aim to prove that they are amongst the best cross country runners on the continent.

Taking place on the Cross Country Course at Cheltenham and lasting for three miles, six furlongs and thirty-seven yards, there are a remarkable thirty-two obstacles to be jumped before horses hit the run-in. The race itself is open to horses aged five and over, whilst the Challenge as a whole is decided on a points basis. First place gets six points, with each place down to sixth getting one less point per place. There are also bonus points available to horses that have travelled from overseas. Here’s the list of races:

  • Grand Cross de Pau Reverdy (Pau, France)
  • Cross Country Chase (Cheltenham, England)
  • Grand Steeple-Chase Cross Country de Fontainebleau (Fontainebleau Racecourse, France)
  • Anjou-Loire Challenge (Le Lion-d’Angers, France)
  • Crystal Cup Partynice Wrocław (Wroclaw, Poland)
  • Grand Steeple-Chase des Flandres (Waregem, Belgium)
  • Grand Cross de Craon (Craon, France)
  • Gran Premio Merano (Merano, Italy)
  • Velká pardubická (Pardubice, Czech Republic)
  • Grand Steeple Chase-Cross-Country de Compiègne (Compiègne, France)
  • Cross Country Handicap Chase (Cheltenham, England)

Citipost Handicap Hurdle

Class 2, 3m

The handicappers once again have a say in this race, deciding how much weight must be carried by each horse according to their ability .Citipost are the main sponsors at the time of writing, with the Class 2 event lasting for two miles, seven furlongs and two hundred and thirteen yards. It is run on the New Course and there are twelve hurdles to be jumped. It is open to horses aged four and over and the prize money stands in excess of £13,700.

 

Day Two Races - International Saturday

RaceGradeLengthPrize MoneyAges
JCB Triumph Trial Hurdle Class 2 2m1f £25,000 3 Years Old
Ryman Novices’ Chase Class 2 2m4½f £25,000 4 Years Old +
Cheltenham Club Handicap Chase Class 2 2m½f £30,000 4 Years Old +
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Grade 3 2m4½f £130,000 4 Years Old +
Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle Grade 2 3m £32,000 4 Years Old +
International Hurdle Grade 2 2m1f £140,000 4 Years Old +
Mares’ Handicap Hurdle Class 2 2m4½f £30,000 4 Year Old + Fillies & Mares

JCB Triumph Trial Hurdle

Class 2, 2m1f

Earning sponsorship from JCB at the time of writing, the Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle is the opening race of the second day of the International Meeting at Cheltenham. The race is for horses aged three and asks them to jump eight hurdles during the two miles and one hundred and seventy-nine yards of the event. Run on the New Course, it is a Class 2 Qualifier with more than £15,600 available in prize money.

Ryman Novices’ Chase

Class 2, 2m4½f

Coming hot on the heels of the Triumph Trial is this novices’ chase that is currently sponsored by Rymans. It’s a Class 2 event for horses aged four and over, taking place on the New Course. Run over two miles, four furlongs and one hundred and twenty-seven yards, it features seventeen fences. The steeplechase is, as the name suggests, limited to novices and boasts prize money in excess of £15,600.

Cheltenham Club Handicap Chase

Class 2, 2m½f

Run in association with the Cheltenham Club, this steeplechase has the weights that horses will carry decided by the handicappers. A Class 2 event, it is run over two miles and sixty-two yards on the New Course. The horses that take part must be aged four or over and will need to jump fourteen fences before they get towards the finish line. With a time of around four minutes and twenty seconds when the Going is Soft, there is usually more than £18,700 in prize money on offer.

Caspian Caviar Gold Cup

Grade 3, 2m4½f

Also known as the December Gold Cup, it’s little wonder this race features on the list of races that are worth watching considering it bears the name of one of the racecourse’s most famous trophies. It’s not to be mixed up with the Gold Cup run during the Festival, of course, but it offers a similar level of excitement for those watching.

Run left-handed over two miles, four furlongs and one hundred and twenty-seven yards, it’s a handicap race that means the handicapper assigns the weight to be carried to the various participants. The race is open to horses aged four and over, with seventeen fences that need to be jumped before horses hit the final straight.

First run in 1963, it was sponsored by Massey Ferguson and therefore given the name of the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup. After 1980 it enjoyed numerous different sponsors, always maintaining its registered name of the December Gold Cup. In 2005 it was briefly run as the Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup in honour of the former Foreign Secretary who was a keen racing lover and had died earlier that year.

Another interesting name was given to it in 2010 when it was bestowed with the title of the Vote A P Gold Cup, aimed at getting people to vote for Tony McCoy in the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year competition. It became known as the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup in 2014 when Caspian Caviar took over sponsorship duties and is often run by horses that had previously taken part in the Festival’s Gold Cup.

Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle

Grade 2, 3m

The final race worth giving you some information about is the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. Run left-handed on the New Course over a distance of two miles, seven furlongs and two hundred and thirteen yards, the race features twelve hurdles. As the name suggests, it’s open to novice hurdlers that are aged four and over.

The race was originally run over two mile and four and a half furlongs, but it was extended to its current distance in 1994. That was also when it was upgraded to be given Grade 2 status. Though it is officially known as the Bristol Novices’ Hurdle, the race has been sponsored by Albert Bartlett, the vegetable growing company, since 2007 and is now perhaps best known by its sponsored moniker.

Because it’s a race for novices it has never been won by the same horse more than once. A lot of the best-known jump jockeys have won the race, with Tony McCoy and Carl Llewellyn leading the pack with three wins apiece. Nigel Twiston-Davies is the race’s most successful trainer having won it four times to date.

This is another race that is worth watching for clues about other big jump races. Remittance Man, for example, won this in 1989 and then went on to win the likes of the Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Likewise both Bindaree and Comply or Die won this before going on to win the Grand National at Aintree, whilst Coneygree won this in 2012 and then the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years later.

International Hurdle

Grade 2, 2m1f

When a meeting is named in honour of a particular race then that one really does seem like the best place to start. This Grade 2 race is open to horses aged four and over with a weight of eleven stone and is run left-handed on the Cheltenham New Course. It’s around two miles, seven furlongs and one hundred and seventy-nine yards in length, with eight hurdles to be negotiated during the running.

Established as the Cheltenham Trial Hurdle in 1963, it became the Bula Hurdle in 1977 as a nod to Bula, a horse that had won the Champion Hurdle twice and had been victorious in this race five years earlier. In 1978, 1979 and 1980 Bird’s Nest won the race on three successive occasions, which was a feat matched in the 1990s by Relkeel.

The reason the International Hurdle is seen as such an important race is that it’s one of the legs of the so-called ‘Road To Cheltenham’, which culminates in the Champion Hurdle during the Festival. The Road to Cheltenham was created by Racing For Change, which is an arm of the British Horseracing Authority tasked with trying to reappraise the way that racing events get promoted. The six races are as follows:

  • Elite Hurdle (Wincanton)
  • Greatwood Hurdle (Cheltenham)
  • Morgiana Hurdle (Punchestown)
  • Fighting Fifth Hurdle (Newcastle)
  • International Hurdle (Cheltenham)
  • Champion Hurdle Trial (Haydock Park)

Bird’s Nest, Relkeel and The New One have all won the race on three occasions, whilst Richard Johnson is the race’s most successful jockey. Rooster Booster is a good example of a horse that has won the International Hurdle and then gone on to be successful in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Mares’ Handicap Hurdle

Class 2, 2m4½f

The final race of the International Meeting is a handicap offering for horses aged four and over. Once the handicappers have decided how much weight each horse needs to carry, the competitors will attempt to jump ten hurdles during the two miles, four furlongs and fifty-six yards of the event. It is run on the New Course and there is over £18,700 in prize money on offer for a race that usually takes over five minutes to be completed if the Going is Soft.

 

About the International Meeting

Cheltenham Racecourse Track and Spectators

The March Festival and November Meeting are the key events that everyone thinks of when the name of Cheltenham Racecourse is mentioned, but it’s a world-class venue that hosts top-notch racing at other times during the year too. One of these is the International Meeting, which usually takes place in December and comes before the New Year’s Day meeting and after the November Meeting, meaning that the course is never too far away from playing host to some of the National Hunt’s most exciting racing.

Cheltenham is thought of my many as the home of jump racing, so it’s no major surprise that many of the biggest names in the sport head to the Gloucestershire venue whenever it opens its doors. That is even more the case during the International Meeting for the simple reason that its proximity to Christmas means that everyone tends to be in a festive mood, ready to gobble down a mince pie and swig from a cup of mulled wine, all whilst watching some of the best horses around demonstrate their skills as the jump racing season starts to hit its stride.

The Two Days of Racing

Being a meeting rather than a one-off day, there are two days of racing for you to sink your teeth into. The first day sees the Crystal Cup European Cross Country Challenge take centre stage as the atmosphere is one of people enjoying a day out with friends or work colleagues, whilst Day Two welcomes horses from all around the world for the International Hurdle.

It’s normal for the International Meeting’s second day to fall on the Saturday in the middle of December, meaning that everyone in attendance knows they’re likely to soon be heading into break from work for a couple of weeks and are therefore in an excitable mood. There’s also the impending doom of spending time with family, though, so they might also be determined to enjoy the day in every sense possible.

Day One on Friday

Whilst the Crystal Cup European Cross Country Challenge might well be what lots of the people are turning up to watch play out, that doesn’t mean that the other races aren’t worth having a look at. With seven races in total, you’re sure to find something that tickles your fancy if you’re paying attention.

Day Two on Saturday

The office Christmas party atmosphere of Day One is replaced by one of general festiveness when Day Two rolls around. There’s no doubt that the main even is the International Hurdle, around which the entire meeting is built. Yet don’t ignore the other races that are primed for your enjoyment during an excellent day of racing.