In 2025, the races of note at the Cheltenham festival such as the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, have had their start times set back to 4pm. This update was recently unveiled by the Jockey Club, the proprietor of Cheltenham. The leaderboard for the impending festival has shifted with the primary four championship awards being delayed by half an hour, making them the fifth event from a line-up of seven contests.
Ian Renton of the Jockey Club stated that the revised routine, disclosed today, aligns with alterations announced the preceding month. The highlight race is now due to commence later in the day, permitting a crescendo of anticipation and exhilaration throughout the afternoon.
Renton also verified that terrestrial TV audiences could avail the advantage of viewing an extra festival race due to ITV broadcasting six out of the seven competitions.
The first appointments of the Cheltenham National Hunt season advance on Saturday, featuring 20 horses from Ireland across the seven races. Amongst them is Bottler’secret, trained by Gavin Cromwell, participating in a conditions hurdle.
The Current jumps campaign is emphasized domestically by an eventful bank holiday weekend’s pursuits, barring a solitary flat fixture scheduled for Monday. This culminates the three-day timetable ending Galway’s 2024 activities.
This weekend’s annual time change, with clocks going back an hour, further imprints the shifting seasons. Sunday’s activities in Ballybrit start at 12.55pm, almost 10 minutes prior to the first at Wexford.
In the absence of Jack Kennedy owing to a ban, Sam Ewing is poised to capitalize on the weekend, opening with probable prospects Kish Bank, Sporting Glory and Will Do on Saturday.
Lastly, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) decided to take no additional action after their probe into the contentious late removal of Petrol Head from the Guinness Galway Hurdle this summer.
Following a comprehensive examination into the positive drug test outcome that led officials to withdraw the favourite horse, trained by Katy Brown, from the €270,000 feature race just hours before it was scheduled, it has been determined that clenbuterol was present in a hair sample taken from Petrol Head. This was reportedly given for medical reasons whilst the horse was in the custody of its former owner.
Previously, Petrol Head was owned and trained by Ronan McNally, who was barred by the IHRB the previous year. Although clenbuterol is prohibited on race day, it is a widely employed medication for respiratory issues.
Subsequent to Galway, it was stated by the IHRB that Brown submitted a copy of a prescription noting ventipulmin, a drug containing clenbuterol. This pointed to the medication’s use earlier in the year when Petrol Head was purportedly under the care of his owner.