Thursday 23 July 2015 14:54, UK
Next year's Cheltenham Festival will feature 28 races for the first time, with the creation of a new mares' novice hurdle.
The spot presently occupied by the amateur riders' charity race, the St Patrick's Derby, will from next year be filled by a new contest.
Responding to pressure from the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association and in the light of the success of the recently-upgraded Grade One OLBG Mares' Hurdle, Cheltenham announced the creation of the Grade Two £75,000 Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle, a contest to be run over two miles and a furlong and open to four-year-olds and upwards. The new race is being sponsored by owners and breeders Richard and Lizzie Kelvin Hughes.
Simon Claisse, South West Regional Head of Racing for Jockey Club Racecourses, commented: "With the great success of the OLBG Mares' Hurdle, which was promoted to Grade One for this year's renewal, and the recent promotion of the mares' National Hunt Flat race at Aintree to Grade Two status in 2016, it was concluded that the introduction of a mares' novices' hurdle at next year's Festival was appropriate and we are very grateful to the British Horseracing Authority for having allowed the Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle to start out with Grade Two status."
Trainers have not been scared to show their support at the new addition to the schedule, with Nicky Henderson and Dan Skelton both speaking of their "delight" at the new race.
Henderson, the most successful trainer at The Festival, added: "I am not surprisingly delighted to hear not only that there is going to be a 28th race at The Festival, but particularly that it is going to be a mares' novices' hurdle which will be an enormous boost to the National Hunt breeding fraternity.
"The introduction of a mares' novices' hurdle as the part of the expansion of black type opportunity for mares is another great incentive for National Hunt breeders and can only be of benefit to National Hunt racing as a whole.
"We have been lucky enough to have trained a number of high-class and successful mares over the years both with home-breeds and those bought at public auction and this new race, sponsored by such great supporters of National Hunt racing and breeding, Richard and Lizzie Kelvin Hughes at Trull House Stud, is great news.
"Indeed, we currently have what I hope are two top prospects and high-class young mares in Richard and Lizzie's homebred Chocca Wocca, out of their great racemare Chomba Womba, and Robins Reef, also part-owned by Ronnie Bartlett. They both looked very high class when winning their bumpers last spring and let us hope they are the right material for this very exciting new opportunity for the National Hunt fraternity. I am sure that the race will be well supported and competitive."
Skelton added: "I'm delighted that Cheltenham have decided to fill the 28th race slot at The Festival 2016 with the addition of a mares' novices' hurdle, as part of the expansion of black-type opportunities for mares. I look forward to what will no doubt be a competitive event that will further encourage owners to choose to have mares in the future."
A statement issued by the British Horseracing Authority said that there was also a "long-term plan" to add a mares' chase to the Festival.
The statement said: "Following the announcement that a mares’ novices’ hurdle has been added to the Cheltenham Festival, the BHA has today outlined further enhancements to the mares’ programme, both in the short and longer term. The enhancements have the objective of providing further incentives for owners and trainers to own mares and keep them in training.
"In the short term the addition of a mares’ novices’ hurdle to the Festival programme provides a further, substantial incentive for talented mares to be brought into training over Jumps. This race joins the OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle, which was recently upgraded to Grade 1 status, in ensuring that The Festival provides valuable and prestigious opportunities for mares.
"In addition to this new race at The Festival, the Weatherbys Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Listed), which is run at Sandown in February over 2 miles about 4 furlongs, has been upgraded to Grade 2 status. The result of this is that there are now nine Pattern or Listed Mares’ Novices Hurdles over the course of the season.
"In the longer term the BHA are working with Cheltenham to explore the possibility of a mares' chase being added to the Festival in the coming years, to be supported by a programme of Pattern and Listed steeple chases for mares.
"To pave the way for this, invitations have been sent to racecourses for applications for two new Listed mares' chases to be run in November and February, joining the existing mares' chase that was added to the programme last season at Doncaster in December (whilst Doncaster's meeting was unfortunately abandoned, the mares' chase was successfully rescheduled at Doncaster in January).
"Should the addition of a mares’ chase at The Festival occur it is intended that a further three Pattern/Listed races will be added to the mares’ chase programme. This will have the effect of ensuring that an aspirational and valuable programme of races will exist for mares over fences, and as such a genuine incentive to keep talented mares in training."
