Bookmaker calls for National Hunt Chase to be axed as Cheltenham’s biggest betting races are revealed

Entain, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral, has revealed its list of the biggest betting races of last week’s Cheltenham Festival, leading PR director Simon Clare to call for the National Hunt Chase to be axed.

Clare was speaking to the Racing Post for a major feature in Sunday’s newspaper in which several industry figures, including Cheltenham boss Ian Renton and his predecessor Edward Gillespie, Racehorse Owners Association president Charlie Parker and National Trainers Federation chief executive Paul Johnson, are asked whether the festival needs a major overhaul, minor tweaks or to be left alone.

Clare exclusively revealed to the Racing Post that the Gold Cup attracted the most turnover at the festival with Ladbrokes and Coral, heading a list in which races run on the Friday filled six of the top seven spots. Only Thursday’s Stayers’ Hurdle, in fourth place, interrupted the dominance of the day-four card, when the only race not to feature near the top of the list was the Mares’ Chase.

Highest turnover at Cheltenham (Ladbrokes and Coral retail)

Gold Cup
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle
Stayers' Hurdle
County Hurdle
Triumph Hurdle
Hunters' Chase
Martin Pipe Hurdle
Ryanair Chase
Supreme Novices' Hurdle
Mares' Hurdle
Arkle Chase
Coral Cup
Mares’ Chase
Champion Hurdle
Gallagher Novices' Hurdle
Turners Novices' Chase
Ultima Handicap Chase
Grand Annual Handicap Chase
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
Mares' Novices' Hurdle
Champion Bumper
Pertemps Final
Plate Handicap Chase
Queen Mother Champion Chase
Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
National Hunt Chase
Kim Muir Challenge Cup

However, Clare was looking at the lower end of the list as he considered potential tweaks to the festival, specifically the race second from bottom, with only the Kim Muir Challenge Cup below it.

"Sometimes you have to accept that things are done and I think the National Hunt Chase is done,” he said. “Back in the day, it was a four-mile chase for genuine Corinthian amateurs on horses who wouldn't have been anywhere good enough to run in a Brown Advisory or an Ultima. They used to be relatively inexperienced horses who would give relatively inexperienced riders a good spin around Cheltenham.

"Now, it's practically Gold Cup horses and only the most professional amateurs. Some people will say you should get rid of the Turners but I think the anachronism is the three-mile-six-furlong race. It's almost the lowest betting race, it's a small field every year. I'd get rid of it."

A special Big Read on what should be done with the Cheltenham Festival will be in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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