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Held annually over four days in March, the Cheltenham Festival is often described, justifiably, as the ‘Olympic Games of National Hunt racing.’ The Festival programme, which was extended from three days to four in 2005, nowadays consists of 28 races, including 14 at the highest Grade 1 level, in all the disciplines of jump racing. The undisputed highlight of the week is the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is the feature race on the fourth and final day. The other ‘defining’ events over the four days are the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Stayers’ Hurdle, although the latter nowadays co-stars with the intermediate chasing championship, the Ryanair Chase, inaugurated in 2005, on day three.

The popularity of what is, after all, the biggest horse racing festival staged in Britain, is undeniable. The average attendance over the four days is 65,000, an estimated 15-20% of which is made up of Irish spectators, who make the annual pilgrimage to Prestbury Park, on the northern outskirts of Cheltenham, in the foothills of Cotswolds.

Indeed, horses trained in the Emerald Isle have dominated the Cheltenham Festival in recent years. Since 2016, the Prestbury Cup – that is, the trophy awarded to the nation with the most wins over the four days – has, bar a 14-14 tie in 2019, gone exclusively to Ireland, including by a record score of 23-5 in 2021. Unsurprisingly, Willie Mullins, who is reigning champion trainer on both sides of the Irish Sea, is also the leading trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, with a eye-watering 103 winners to his name at the last count.

In Great Britain, horse racing under the Rules of Racing, as administered by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), is staged under two codes, Flat and National Hunt. As the name suggests, Flat racing features no obstacles at all, while National Hunt racing, with a few exceptions, features obstacles in the form of hurdles or fences. Unsurprisingly, each code has its own jockeys’ and trainers’ championship, which is decided by the number of winners ridden, or the total prize money won, during a set period.

On the Flat, the champion jockey title is awarded to the jockey who rides the most winners in a ‘window’ between the Guineas Festival at Newmarket in early May and British Champions Day at Ascot in October. The champion trainer title in that sphere, though, is awarded to the trainer who wins the most prize money during the whole of the calendar year. At the time of writing, the respective reigning champions are William Buick, who won his second consecutive jockeys’ title in 2023, and John and Thady Gosden, who became the first licensed partnership to win the trainers’ championship.

Under National Hunt Rules, the champion jockey and trainer titles are awarded based as the same parameters as on the Flat, but the set period for both championhsips is the whole of National Hunt season, which runs from early May until the aptly-titled Jumps Finale Day at Sandown Park in late April.Again, at the time of writing, the respective reigning champions are Harry Cobden, who won his maiden jockeys’ title in 2023/24, and Willie Mullins, who became the first Irish-based trainer to win the British trainers’ championship for 70 years.

Anyone with even a passing interest in National Hunt racing probably knows that horses jump two types of obstacle, namely hurdles or fences. Hurdles are the smaller of the two and consist of a series of individual panels, made from small branches, or brush, which are driven into the ground, side-by-side, to create a ‘flight’ of hurdles stretching the full width of the racecourse. Height-wise, hurdles must measure a minimum of 3’6″ from top to bottom, but are angled forward, such that the top bar is 3’1″ above the ground. Hurdles are much less rigid than fences and may, indeed, be knocked flat during a race.

Steeplechases – that is, races run over fences – tend to slightly slower, more deliberate affairs than hurdle races, not least because of the height, and rigidity, of the obstacles involved. Fences come in three different ‘flavours’, namely plain fences, open ditches and water jumps. In each case, the upright portion of the fence consists of a rigid frame, made of steel or wood, which is filled mainly with birch, real or artificial, but also, possibly, with spruce and other approved materials in its lower portion. Water jumps need only stand 3′ high, but other fences must be a minimum of 4’ 6” in height, measured on the take-off side. One of the most fearsome fences on the Grand National course, The Chair, for example, measures 5’2″ high and is preceded by a 6′ wide ditch.

The phrase ‘under starter’s orders’ is well known in horse racing and describes the phase, just before the ‘off’ of a race, when horses are ready and waiting for imminent action. All that remains is for the racecourse official responsible for starting the race, that is, the starter, to open the starting stalls or release the elasticated tape stretched across the course to get the race underway. At this the stage of proceedings, it is no longer possible for horses to be officially withdrawn and declared non-runners, which has ramifications for bets placed on any horse that, for whatever reason, refuses to race.

If horse is withdrawn before coming under starter’s orders, stakes on that horse will be returned. The raceday stewards also have the power to delare a horse a non-runner if it is riderless at the time of the start or if it prevented from starting by, say, faulty starting starting stalls. However, if a horse refuses to leave the starting stalls, loses all chance because of the late removal of a blindfold, or simply fails to move muscle, it may be officially deemed a runner, such that all bets placed on it are losers.

Such decisions are always controversial and, when they occur, punters must rely on so-called ‘goodwill’ payments from bookmakers to recover their stake money. Although under no obligation to do so, some of the larger bookmaking firms will refund stakes on some, but not all, bets in cash or as free bet credits.