Welcome to our dedicated Cheltenham Festival Live Blog and Cheltenham Festival Results Page. You will find all the latest information and results right here during the Cheltenham Festival so keep tuned to this page as all the top-class action unfolds.
The Cheltenham Festival is the greatest show on turf and we’re committed to providing the 2023 Cheltenham Festival results from today’s action live and as they happen. The four days at Prestbury Park truly are the pinnacle of Jumps racing and all Jockeys, Trainers and Owners dream of having their names etched into just one of the prestigious Cheltenham races.
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Day 1 Cheltenham Festival Meeting Details
The action begins on day one of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, a fast and furious curtain raiser that often sees a select field of the best 2m novice hurdlers either side of the Irish Sea do battle. A look back at the Cheltenham Festival results from previous Supreme Novices’ Hurdles will see the race being run on a variety of ground conditions, matching whatever the weather brought that year. In general, however, a blend of Good to Soft ground is more often than not produced for the Festival opener, and this looks the likely combination – at least for the beginning of the meeting – when predicting the Cheltenham race results in 2023.
Day one of the Cheltenham Festival is run on the ‘Old’ track, generally considered to be the easier of the two tracks, this often favours speedier types and this is best showcased in races such as the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Champion Hurdle, a trend that will undoubtedly continue throughout the Cheltenham 2023 race results.
With this in mind, it is often difficult to make up significant ground from the back of the field at this track, unless the pace is ferocious and collapses late.
The pace angle looks particularly pertinent in races such as the Arkle Novices’ Chase, where it can often pay to side with horses that race on the front end, and even in stamina sapping contests like the National Hunt Chase, horses ridden too cold can find themselves with plenty to do.
Day 2 Cheltenham Festival Meeting Details
Day two of the Cheltenham Festival begins with the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, a 2m 5f contest that often attracts a stellar field, with the likes of Faugheen, Envoi Allen and Sir Gerhard all names that feature amongst the recent Cheltenham results.
The final day’s racing run on the Old course, the previous day’s action can chew the ground up somewhat, so rail replacements and ground changes are something to keep in mind. With distances on day two by in large greater than those of day one, however, stamina tends to come to the fore.
The second race that features on the 2023 day two Cheltenham Festival results is the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, this extended 3m contest provides a stern examination of jumping for novice chasers, with 20 fences needing to be successfully navigated. The race has produced some thrilling finishes down the years, with the enigmatic Might Bite’s 2017 victory one of the more memorable Cheltenham Festival results in recent years.
Whilst the first three 2023 Cheltenham Festival race results on day two will show contests run over 2m 5f or further, we drop back to the minimum 2m distance for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the feature contest on day 2.
Regular Cheltenham Festival racegoers will remember the 2008 Festival, where the Wednesday fixture was cancelled due to high winds. This led to the scheduled Wednesday races being accommodated on the Thursday and Friday cards, resulting in a ten-race Thursday card and a nine-race card for Cheltenham Gold Cup day, something to bear in mind for anyone assessing historical Cheltenham Festival results.
Day 3 Cheltenham Festival Meeting Details
Racing at Cheltenham switches to their ‘New’ track from Thursday, with the first race of the day being the Turners Novices’ Chase, a 2m 4f Grade 1.
With this being the first day’s racing on the New course, the ground is fresh and therefore ground conditions tend to be slightly better than Wednesday, which was run on the already raced upon Old course.
The New course is considered a more demanding course than the Old, this is due to the steep incline to the top of the hill which tests the stamina of horses, particularly in races such as the Kim Muir Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase, which closes the card.
There are not one, but two feature races on the day three card, namely the Ryanair Chase and the Stayers’ Hurdle. Formerly given Grade 2 classification, the race has become extremely popular with trainers, owners, and punters since its inception back in 2005, so much so that it now shares top billing with the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Day three of the Cheltenham Festival is also referred to as St Patrick’s Thursday, and in the spirit of the celebration, Irish trainers feature prominently in the recent Cheltenham Festival results, with just one of the last six Ryanair Chases going to a British-based horse. It will be interesting to see whether the Irish continue their Thursday domination when looking back at the 2023 Cheltenham race results.
Day 4 Cheltenham Festival Meeting Details
The final day of the Cheltenham Festival 2023 is headlined by the Cheltenham Gold Cup, arguably the most sought after prize in the racing calendar.
The Gold Cup has been won by the likes of Arkle, Best Mate and Kauto Star down the years, and its 22 fences over the demanding New course makes the race notoriously gruelling, especially when the ground is riding soft.
A quick glance at who bookmakers feel could potentially be filling the 1-2-3 in the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup results will note that Irish horses dominate, with six of the top seven horses in the betting currently trained in Ireland. The market is headed by Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs, who has bolted up in recent races and looks a deserved favourite.
This marries up with recent Cheltenham Gold Cup results, with the Irish completing a 1-2-3 in 2021 and only one of the last six Gold Cups staying in Britain.
There have been many exciting Gold Cup finishes down the years and the ground has played a huge part in the recent results, with Lord Windermere bouncing off an unseasonably quick surface to score in 2014, and four years later, proven mudlark Native River appreciating a gluey surface when landing his Gold Cup. Coincidently, both of these horses ran in novice chases at the previous Cheltenham Festival, and a look back at the previous year’s Cheltenham Festival results will see that in the current Cheltenham Gold Cup betting, Galvin, Asterion Forlonge and Chantry House all attempt to continue that trend.
It is not only the Gold Cup that catches the eye on day four of the Cheltenham Festival, however, with the Triumph Hurdle opening the card.
The addition of the Boodles Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle has helped to make the Triumph a far more competitive race, and having been a 20+ runner cavalry charge for many years, there are now far less entrants.
Even though the Triumph Hurdle is contested over 2m 1f, it is run on the New course and therefore provides a stern stamina examination for juveniles. A recent look back at the Cheltenham results in previous Triumph Hurdles will see a large proportion of the win and placed horses subsequently becoming staying types later in their careers, this is probably best showcased by the legendary Tiger Roll, who won the 2014 Triumph Hurdle and went on to land two Grand Nationals.
The Triumph Hurdle can produce a dramatic finish, as backers of Goshen will no doubt attest to having seen the gelding throw away a 10l lead at the last hurdle when making an error and ultimately unshipping his rider Jamie Moore.
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