Today is St Patrick’s Day at the Cheltenham Festival and the Stayers Hurdle, formerly known as the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, is the feature race on the card – and a whole host of top class stayers will be looking to join the race’s illustrious roll of honour.
The JLT Novices’ Chase, Ryanair Chase and Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle will also light up Prestbury Park and punters will be hoping they are ahead of the bookmakers.
Looking back at Wednesday’s attendance of 59,209 which was a new record for the second day of The Festival since the meeting switched to a four-day format in 2005.
Last year’s total on Ladies Day came to 58,959.
There was a record crowd on the opening day of The Festival 2019, with 67,934 attending Champion Day.
Last year’s attendance on the Tuesday came to 66,632, with the previous record for the day being 67,770 in 2016.
Superstar steeplechaser Altior was made to dig deep and battle magnificently to successfully defend his Queen Mother Champion Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday.
The victory was the Nicky Henderson-trained nine-year-old’s 18th consecutive victory, matching the record held by erstwhile champion chaser Big Buck’s. And it was Altior’s fourth victory overall at the Festival.
