The Cheltenham Festival’s third-day crowd count witnessed another decline as it totalled 53,918, a downfall in comparison to last year’s turnout of more than 61,000 spectators. This followed a considerable drop in numbers on Wednesday, with fewer than 47,000s attendees while the festival saw about 60,000 on its opening day, Tuesday. The attendance capacity for the festival at Cheltenham is set at 68,500. Carrying on from last year, the festival noted a 14 per cent decline in total turnout when compared to 2022’s record of more than 280,000 visitors passing the gates.
On a different note, Thursday saw Harry Skelton enjoy a Grade One double, matching the number of wins to four for the week along with Paul Townend. Skelton, the English jockey, has one ride lined up for Friday, with L’eau du Sud in the County Hurdle being his main front-runner, while Townend has five chances, featuring the Gold Cup favourite, Galopin Des Champs. Skelton’s sibling, Dan, is also with four victories this week, being two wins behind Willie Mullins in the leading trainer category. Following next is Henry de Bromhead boasting two wins.
As the festival marches towards the last day, Ireland leads the Prestbury Cup point tally at 12-8 with seven more contests on the horizon. This year’s festival features 27 races, owing to the cancellation of Wednesday’s Cross-Country race
The New Course conditions remain soft currently, and Jon Pullin, the course clerk, mentioned on Thursday evening that periodic showers might visit during the night based on forecast consultations. With some uncertainty about the rainfall, the course condition will be revisited Friday morning after assessing the overnight weather.
In other developments, Hewick, initially intended to race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, now stands at a 50-50 likelihood of participating in next month’s Grand National as per the decision of trainer Shark Hanlon.
After careful consideration, the Co Carlow-based trainer has deemed the ground conditions excessively soft for his esteemed equine. He now has to decide whether to set his sights on the National, or allow the horse to run in the high-level Aintree Bowl that takes place a few days prior. Hewick, who leads the weight in the National, is another consideration.
The trainer said, “The choice wasn’t tough to make. I’ve surveyed the course twice today, and with further rainfall anticipated tonight, the conditions aren’t expected to improve.
“Yes, it’s a disappointment to have come this far only to be met with such obstacles. However, our next target is Aintree, and the probability of us participating in either the National or the Bowl stands at roughly fifty-fifty.
“Given that we’re missing out here, I’m inclined towards the Aintree Bowl. I harbour desires of granting him another attempt at a Gold Cup and would rather avoid him sustaining injuries in the National [without getting that].
“He’s in excellent form, and the horse has never demonstrated better health. This decision wasn’t an easy one to make given that the owners all committed to the journey and the horse travelled as well, but we’ve made up our mind,” said Hanlon.