It is just two weeks tomorrow until the tapes rise again on the greatest racing show on Earth, the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. More than a hundred horses will go to post each day bidding for the fame and glory that accompanies a Cheltenham Festival win.
While most of the pre-March focus is – quite rightly – on the Championship events, there are also ten established handicaps at the meeting, as well as a couple of new races for which there’s little evidence to go on to date.
The handicaps break down into hurdles and chases, with six established chases (William Hill, Cross Country on Tuesday; Jewson, Festival Plate and Kim Muir on the Thursday; and, the Grand Annual to close the meeting on the Friday) and four established hurdles (Coral Cup and Fred Winter on the Wednesday; Pertemps Final on the Thursday; and the County Hurdle on the Friday).
Obviously, each of these races has its own trends backbone, some stronger than others as is always the case at Festival meetings.
But, as a collective, they also have some interesting patterns, which we punters will be well served to observe and acknowledge. Let’s start by looking at the handicap hurdles mentioned above.
