Cheltenham Festival
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09 Mar 16
11:43
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21 Apr 09
Does anyone know for sure what impact, if any, this will have on final declarations for next week's handicaps?
Details of this rule change – which slipped below many a radar – were published on 2nd February. Given the current scheduling of the Festival’s handicap races, my interpretation of this rule change is that it would only appear to affect those who are contemplating declaring a runner in both the Coral Cup and Pertemps or the Pertemps and the Martin Pipe races. The wording of the rule change is however less than perfect so my interpretation could be wrong and the rule change could affect all handicaps including those that are not run on consecutive days.
Cheltenham racecourse and the British Horseracing Authority have announced a change to the declaration arrangements for the handicaps at the Festival in March. A horse will no longer be declared to run if they are already due to run in another handicap at the meeting which has yet to take place. This has been done to ensure declared runners are intended rather than merely possible participants.
As all 10 handicaps at the Festival declare at the 24 hour stage, the change only concerns races run the following day, meaning it is still possible to run in two handicaps if connections so wish. Simon Claisse, regional head of racing, Jockey Club Racecourses South West, and clerk of the course at Cheltenham, said: "There are 10 handicaps staged during the week of the Festival, all of which are highly competitive with full fields and, as a consequence, horses are regularly balloted out of these races. For a meeting like the Festival, opportunities to run should be maximised and, following consultation with trainers and the British Horseracing Authority, any horse whose entry is confirmed under Rule (F) 87 will not be permitted to declare to run if, at the time fixed for declaration, they have been declared to run in any other handicap which has yet to take place."
Details of this rule change – which slipped below many a radar – were published on 2nd February. Given the current scheduling of the Festival’s handicap races, my interpretation of this rule change is that it would only appear to affect those who are contemplating declaring a runner in both the Coral Cup and Pertemps or the Pertemps and the Martin Pipe races. The wording of the rule change is however less than perfect so my interpretation could be wrong and the rule change could affect all handicaps including those that are not run on consecutive days.
Cheltenham racecourse and the British Horseracing Authority have announced a change to the declaration arrangements for the handicaps at the Festival in March. A horse will no longer be declared to run if they are already due to run in another handicap at the meeting which has yet to take place. This has been done to ensure declared runners are intended rather than merely possible participants.
As all 10 handicaps at the Festival declare at the 24 hour stage, the change only concerns races run the following day, meaning it is still possible to run in two handicaps if connections so wish. Simon Claisse, regional head of racing, Jockey Club Racecourses South West, and clerk of the course at Cheltenham, said: "There are 10 handicaps staged during the week of the Festival, all of which are highly competitive with full fields and, as a consequence, horses are regularly balloted out of these races. For a meeting like the Festival, opportunities to run should be maximised and, following consultation with trainers and the British Horseracing Authority, any horse whose entry is confirmed under Rule (F) 87 will not be permitted to declare to run if, at the time fixed for declaration, they have been declared to run in any other handicap which has yet to take place."
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