Prominent figures warn Cheltenham against adding an extra day to festival

Cheltenham Festival: a fifth day was not ruled out by the new course chairmanCredit: Mike Hewitt

Cheltenham has been warned against extending the festival to five days by prominent figures from the course’s past after its new chairman left the door ajar for adding an extra day.

Former Cheltenham chairman Lord Vestey and leading owner and former Cheltenham Gold Cup sponsor Tim Radford on Thursday spoke of concerns around diluting the quality of racing at the fixture after comments made by new chairman Martin St Quinton on Wednesday.

Asked on ITV Racing if a five-day festival was on his agenda, St Quinton said: “We’re very happy with our four-day festival; it’s very successful at the moment. We’re always keen to look at ways of innovating and improving things and widening the appeal of racing.

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Peter ScargillDeputy industry editor

Published on 2 January 2020inNews

Last updated 20:57, 2 January 2020

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