'Daft' Cheltenham Festival entry system is ripe for an overhaul

The system of early closing entry stages for Grade 1 races has been brought into sharp focus this month by the declining numbers of horses being entered at the Cheltenham Festival, which have shown the whole process is ripe for an overhaul.

Entries for ten of the festival races have already had to be made, with fees as high as £780 for a place in the Gold Cup and £218 for the three big novice chases. For the Gold Cup, a further £1,560 is charged at the scratching phase in February and £780 one week before the race, while the subsequent fees for the novice races are £439 and £218.

The system was described as "absolutely daft" by trainer Kim Bailey last week and it is hard to disagree with him. The cost of living crisis means rising expenses are already being passed on to owners at a time when racing can ill afford to lose them, and asking them to pump in money for an entry when their horse might not even turn up is a further unnecessary drain on their resources. It's no wonder entries are down by 35 per cent from 2018.