The Cheltenham Festival revamp: the move few would question 14 years on

It was in 2005 that the first four-day Cheltenham Festival was staged, with four brand new races and a major revamp to what had traditionally been known as the Cathcart Chase and is now the Ryanair Chase.

It's fair to say that not everybody welcomed the extension to begin with, and with daily attendance down in the first year not even the local economy initially enjoyed quite the benefit that had been anticipated. However, 14 years on it's hard to imagine what all the fuss was about.

Even traditionalists generally accept that the new events – which have been added to again since – have enhanced the meeting, and the four-day festival has proved such a success that there is a vocal minority still clamouring for a fifth.