There are nine days of racing at Cheltenham each season before the track’s festival meeting in March. This time next week, with the showpiece event still four months away, five will be in the form book. It is, on the face of it, rather a waste of a magnificent racecourse (or two racecourses, since the New course takes over from the Old after the final afternoon of the November meeting on Sunday).
But the paucity of racing at the home of jumping is, to some extent, the point. Cheltenham racing is National Hunt’s most precious resource and an increase in the supply would debase the currency. It would also diminish the anticipation for the three-day meeting that has attracted nearly 400 entries.
