Declarations for the 2018 Cheltenham festival will be made 48 hours in advance after the British Horseracing Authority bowed down to public demand. A number of fans got in touch with the BHA to suggesting declarations be made two days or more in advance. For now 24-hour declarations will persist for the rest of the National Hunt season, but the Cheltenham Festival will have a 48-hour rule going forwards.
“All roads over jumps in the winter lead to Cheltenham in March, and this initiative should help to ensure that racing can promote the occasion itself more effectively, to the benefit of the betting public and the wider sport,” said BHA chairman Simon Rowlands. This will undoubtedly prove challenging for trainers, but it should help out bookmakers, punters and fans and allow the sport to maximise its biggest meeting of the year. If it proves a success the initiative could be rolled out across the season.
“This is a progressive move by the BHA which we believe makes sense on a number of levels,” said Ian Renton, regional director at The Jockey Club. “We have been part of the ongoing discussions and after listening to the views of everyone regard this as a sensible decision which will enhance the Cheltenham Festival experience for racegoers and provide assistance to the media.”
Further changes mean that with the exception of non-novice Grade One contests, owners and trainers cannot declare a horse for more than one race, unless it has been ruled out of another contest or declared as a reserve. All handicap races will have two reserve slots and the deadline will be on 1pm the day before the race takes place.
The move is great news for punters as they will have longer to pore over the form and make their selections. Check the latest racing odds at Bet365, which has secured great reviews, and you will only be able to see the full declared card for races taking place the next day. An extra 24 hours to study the form will benefit bettors greatly, and it will enhance the buildup to the world’s greatest festival, which includes a remarkable 19 of the year’s top 40 races. This move will spark further interest among fans and generate more cash for the sport and help the media cover it in a more comprehensive fashion. Overhauling the reserves system seems very sensible, as does the prevention of double declarations.
For example, fans will be keen to see which race a horse like Douvan will feature in. He is the most promising horse in the UK and has beaten triple Gold Cup-winning superstar Sizing John no fewer than seven different occasions. Douvan was unbeaten until he suffered a broken pelvis and limped home in seventh in the Queen Mother Champion Chase earlier this year. But trainer Willie Mullins is upbeat about his condition and plans to give him a run out in the autumn. “Douvan is in tip-top shape, I am delighted to say,” declared Mullins. “The Hilly Way at Cork is a race we’ve had plenty of runners in but with it being in December we’d be inclined to look at an earlier race for his comeback run, potentially.”
In the ante post lines, Douvan is currently down for three different races at the Cheltenham Festival: the Gold Cup, the Ryanair Chase and the Queen Mother Chase. If he can get back to his best he will be a great shout to win the Gold Cup, let alone the other two. Having 48-hour declarations will give punters a lengthy window in which to really assess how well a horse like Douvan has progressed since injury, mull it over and place some action. There really do not seem to be any downsides to the move, and if it could be rolled out to other meetings throughout the year it would be a positive development.
