New-look Cheltenham festival delivers day of drama for smaller audience

The Guardian

11-03-2025

Once the gasps had subsided following a Champion Hurdle that upended every script and expectation, a most unlikely serenade began. 'Oh, Jeremy Scott!' the Cheltenham crowd sang, the voices getting louder and meatier with every refrain. 'Oh, Jeremy Scott!'
Scott, the trainer of the shock 25-1 winner Golden Ace, smiled at the absurdity of it all, before finding the perfect response from Only Fools And Horses. 'As Del Boy says, 'Who dares wins', Rodney''.
Who dares wins indeed. The Champion Hurdle was billed as a clash for the ages between Constitution Hill, the greatest hurdler of this generation, and Brighterdaysahead, the young Irish mare who had smashed the best in her country over Christmas. Instead it was Golden Ace, bought for just £12,000, who proved the glorious unpredictability of jumps racing.
First the odds-on favourite Constitution Hill, the 2023 winner, fell at the fourth-last when looking poised to pounce. Then last year's winner State Man belly flopped after hitting the last fence when victory seemed certain.
That left Golden Ace to pick up the pieces, with the winning jockey Lorcan Williams in shock as he crossed the line. He wasn't the only one. Golden Ace was not only unfancied, he wasn't initially going to the Champion Hurdle at all. It was only when Lossiemouth was declared for the Mares' Hurdle, that his team rolled the dice. Their reward? The £253,000 first prize.
Still, you felt for Nicky Henderson, the trainer of Constitutional Hill, who was left shaking his head and silently cursing the gods. 'Nobody's hurt, but two jockeys and two jockeys have had proper old falls,' he said. 'It's cruel, we've waited two years to get back here and he was back. You can't have him any better than he was today.'
Willie Mullins was also phlegmatic after seeing State Man come down. 'It's what happens, what can we say?' he admitted. 'And it's a very popular winner.'
There were 55,000 souls hollering and cheering as Golden Ace crossed the line, although it sounded like more than that. That figure was still 5,000 down on day one last year, and 13,000 down on 2022, which is bound to prompt more hand wringing about declining audiences. But as one seasoned Cheltenham attendee put it to me, there is truth that dare not speak its name here: it made for a better experience.
Cheltenham's bean counters are unlikely to agree. But certainly when the Festival is full to its 68,500 capacity, it becomes squashed to the point of unpleasantness. But while the paddock was at least five or six rows deep and the bars throbbing on Tuesday, the spectator did at least feel like there was room to breathe.
This was also the first test for Cheltenham's new chief executive, Guy Lavender who has promised that the enjoyment of those attending the meeting was a priority, and that there would be 'better value for our customers' on food and drink. That is to be welcome although you wonder why it has taken them so long to realise the obvious.
A punter has always arrived at Cheltenham fearing he might leave with his wallet somewhat lighter. In recent years, though, it has felt like the pocket is being picked long before the off. How could it not when the cheapest tickets are nearly £50 on the day, mediocre hotels charging north £500 a night during Festival week, and Guinness costing £7.80?
However the early signs were positive, with the decision to expand the areas in which racegoers can drink alcohol to include an open standing area in front of the grandstands appearing to reduce overcrowding.
Still, more needs to be done. And Lavender, who previously served two tours in Afghanistan and worked for seven years at the MCC, doesn't face an easy task.
One challenge is that jumps racing can sometimes feel like a modern-day christianity, with two very distinct audiences. The first: an ageing demographic who attend because they always attend, and believe because they have always believed.
They are the ones that fret about smaller field sizes and want Cheltenham to be the best against the best. The sight of Lossiemouth easily winning the Mares' Hurdle, rather than taking her chance in the Champion Hurdle 40 minutes later, would have had them shaking their heads in despair.
Meanwhile the sport increasingly caters to the once-a-year casuals who turn up for midnight mass. For them the festival is about the experience, the event, a few pints and the promise of a few winners.
They got that all right. As well as plenty of fantastic stories on this opening day. They included the mightily impressive Kopek Des Bordes winning the Supreme Novice Hurdle to sustained cries of 'Ole! Ole! Ole!' as well as Jango Baie, who was 329-1 in running, coming from the gods to win the Arkle Chase in a four-way shootout.
And then there was Golden Ace, providing the great plot twist that absolutely no one saw coming.