Tracks similar to Cheltenham

Don't think there's many that are similar, Exeter is similarish with the uphill finish although it's right handed though.

What about Kelso? Is it still in use? The last to the finishing line is about 660 yds, from memory.

is it still in use ?

Plumpton is left handed and up and downhill.
Not much else Plumpton has that compares though

I've just realised Kelso is still racing. It must have been a long time I last backed a runner that is not antepost or at a big meet.

Navan would be thereabouts.

pre cheltenham  a few run quietly at  KELSO .  FOR MANY MOONS  .. fair test and   anti clockwise same as chelts ..

A better question would've been "which tracks provide a good test for a future run at Cheltenham".

And my reply to that question would be Kempton.

Now a flat right handed track bears no resemblance to a left handed galloping track like Cheltenham but if a horse can cope with the fast pace of a decent race at Kempton then it should be capable of coping with the pace of a Festival race run at Cheltenham.

Inglis Drever ran well at Warwick and was unbeatable around Cheltenham apart from when I backed it. A few other good Warwick winners have gone well at Cheltenham.

Kempton … PMSL  WFPAYO

Tralee or Galway

Do yerself a favour …..start walking courses

agree with irish

1st question to ask is which track are you talking about old/new?
start lumping them together you are beat before you start

Yep.... and thats two different courses as well
Chepstow is a tough left handed but its a galloping track
Downpatrick  is like cheltenham but r handed
Epsom pretty close to chelt !!!

For me the perfect prep for Cheltenham has to be Leopardstown. Ok, it doesn't have the undulations, but the style of racing there can be very similar to what you would expect at the Cheltenham Festival.

spot on wondersobright i remember a few years ago now, on this forum been dead against detroit city in the champion hurdle my main reason was the track would not suit him,along came the sheep on here with all the clever remarks about him winning the triumph,the greatwood and the bula hurdle at cheltenham,i was amazed at how mant did not know the difference.

irishone dont know if your acting the goat with epsom but with the problems that course can cause it would have been my only one to compare,

i think its the speed of the races that cause the most difference at the festival and detroit city was almost certainly got at

i got lucky then if he was got at.

well I have walked both Cheltenham new and Epsom and they are both roller coasters.
from the stands and t v you would not know about
the little slopes and undulations , some only lasting thirty yards or so
or the twists or the gradients
all of which throw a horse off balance
aiden Obrien and the jockeys don't walk the courses for nothing
trying to keep a horse balanced can cost you lengths
Its like Galway , you save yerself for the hill by counting 4/5 strides after the last
but a furlong  out the hill  flattens out then goes up again
that's where a lot of horses ….and jockeys get caught out
especially two year olds and young jockeys

goodwood is a nightmare as well on the flat

Irishone - read my post again. I’m not suggesting that Kempton is remotely similar to Cheltenham other than in good races it tests a horse’s ability to jump at speed which is an attribute a horse will need at the Cheltenham Festival on both courses.

Foxy - The Greatwood is run over the Old course.

thanks for that cash it was a weak race that year


I got lucky twice then

I'd concentrate on the quality of the race being run, whatever the track, rather than the nature of the track itself. Class comes to the fore at The Festival.

No idea if Detroit City was got at but it had nothing to with the course, he never went a yard in that Champion Hurdle or at Aintree afterwards. Had a heart attack first time out the next season I think so something was definitely amiss

ascot was 9 months after cheltenham how on earth can you be so sure a heart attack at ascot had anything to do with the way he ran at cheltenham ?

Detroit city never had a heart attack first time out next season !

...… thought he died at ascot after falling.... might be wrong

lovely grey as I recall

he was a lovely grey irishone at the time it looked like the fall had killed it was later the heart problem was found to be the cause.

won the czar at newmarket on the flat.

Any course that puts the emphasis on jumping ability.

Obviously I can’t be sure. But DC went from looking like a potential Champion Hurdle winner to a seller at Cheltenham and Aintree. Perhaps the heart attack was just a coincidence but it’s not a massive leap to imagine there wasn’t perhaps something underlying that had begun to affect him prior to that.

He’d been brilliant as a juvenile and also in the Greatwood and Cesarovitch and beat Hardy Eustave albeit getting weight, while you can never be sure if he was top class those last few performances were so bad that something had to be up.

Sorry for going on as I know it’s not the thread subject, but he was a fav of mine

Don’t be sorry for going on resner it’s great to remember these old horses I to liked the horse and backed him after his sandown win For the triumph hurdle ,thinking back to his run in his champion hurdle I don’t think he was overly impressive in the Agfa hurdle his race before the champion hurdle it was a bleak day at ascot when he was lost.

Yeah he did me a few favours across 2006 winning all those races. You’re right though he only scraped home against Straw Bear I think in the Agfa, albeit SB was no mug at the time, but was by far his least impressive performance up until that point.
I remember watching the Ascot race in a bookies as I was away that weekend and getting in an argument with someone who was swearing about the money DC had just lost him.

Think Kauto Star won his second Betfair that day too beating Exotic Dancer in a close one.

Absolutely spot on regards kauto star I was actually at ascot despite haydock been my local track and watched the race on the big screen ,beef or salmon also ran in the betfair that day.

Funny how we remember these things