Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Cheltenham changes mean we will see more of top horses

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty gives his thoughts on the changes to next year’s Cheltenham Festival.

Festival changes will mean we see more of top horses

I think moves Cheltenham have made are very good. Horses will now have to run in four chases and five hurdles to run in the Festival non-novice handicaps and that will make a big difference. The hurdle number was increased from three to four after State Man won the County Hurdle in 2022, and I think this is another step in the right direction.

It will give both the handicapper and public a better chance to assess these horses as they’ll have more information to go on. Cheltenham Festival runners are horses that we all need to see more of, and this will force trainers and connections’ hands to get more runs into them.

Turners becoming a handicap

The Turners was a novice handicap originally and [as a Graded contest] it has had a negative effect on both the Arkle and the Brown Advisory. Reverting to a handicap will cause more horses to run in the Arkle and Brown Advisory, so that’s a definite positive.

Kicking King was second to Well Chief in the Arkle, but to me though, he would have been a perfect candidate for two-and-a-half miles. Obviously, he won the Gold Cup the following season, but as a novice three miles in the Brown Advisory would have been too much for him. However, he ran a great race in the Arkle, was second to a very good horse and it made for a real spectacle.

National Hunt Chase

We saw Corbett’s Cross hack up in the National Hunt Chase last season. There were quality horses in that race, and with that now becoming a handicap, those horses will now revert to the Brown Advisory. Across the board it’s going to have a positive effect, not only on the Grade 1 races but also on the handicaps themselves as horses will be more exposed and it will be more open than it would have been with hopefully fewer short-priced favourites.

Cross Country

I know some people feel that the Cross Country becoming a handicap is going to be a downgrade, but as a race it has grown in popularity and recognition. It was a fun race and a completely different spectacle when it was introduced initially, but people take it more seriously now and really want to win it.

When you have Gold Cup standard horses, who could be running in the Gold Cup, going for the Cross Country instead, that has a negative effect on the Gold Cup itself. You also then have a situation where you have three or so superstars standing out from near hunter chasers. Bringing it back to a handicap will make it harder for those older stars to give weight away. Banks do make for a specialist race and the lower-rated specialist horses have a better chance in a handicap.

Mares’ Novice Hurdle

It will have a good effect through the season because before a lot of trainers would only run their mares twice during the season because they didn’t want to get a penalty. If they won a Grade 1 they would get a five-pound penalty and they’d often duck a bigger challenge in the spring so they didn’t get one.

Flooring Porter’s Kerry National win

It was a really good performance. He was favourably treated on the back of what was, I suppose, a slightly disappointing campaign last season, but his form with the likes of Broadway Boy was brilliant, so he clearly had the ability over fences.

He jumped well at Cheltenham last season. I know he got a little low at a couple of fences in Listowel but he’s not a bad jumper – he’s economical. Tiger Roll was a bit the same and if connections choose to go to Aintree he could well be the next National star.