The 2024 Cheltenham Festival must finally be a catalyst for change - and here's what the new programme should look like

Last week's worryingly subdued Cheltenham Festival might finally be the catalyst for change required to save what used to be such a sacred institution. At least we hope it might be. 

For years now, those of us who have been calling for an overhaul of a programme that has drastically diluted exactly what it was that made the week so singular have been met with plenty of hostility. Many refused to acknowledge how the product was disintegrating before our eyes. 

In this space two years ago, after record crowds of 280,267 poured into Cheltenham, I compared the festival's ailing status to the demise of Manchester United. Under the Glazers' regime, defined by the bottom line, the club took its eyes off what mattered most and the team lost its identity.