TRM Opinion: Look at more urgent things before tinkering with Cheltenham

The Racing Mind on Cheltenham Festival being expanded to 5 days.

As the news broke on Monday morning, horse racing fans all over the country weren't in shock. They knew this was coming. The Jockey Club were, once again, putting out the feelers to add an extra day to Cheltenham Festival. I can't blame them given it's a huge cash cow for them, however we must remember that National Hunt racing is more than just the Cheltenham Festival.

You won't find bigger Cheltenham fanatics then us here at TRM. We live, breathe and sleep with the thought of who's going to win the Supreme Novices Hurdle 361 days of the year, not to mention the other 27 races. You can never explain the buzz of Cheltenham and what those 4 days feel like to someone who has no clue of horse racing. I can only guess it's like a heroin junkie describing his first high to a tee total monk.

Despite the high that Cheltenham brings, we have serious reservations about Cheltenham being diluted even further. Especially given the current state of the National Hunt game in the UK currently. Last season without fans, and the demolishment of the UK by Ireland in the 'Prestbury Cup' showed up huge flaws in the game in the UK. Small fields, lack of good trainers and average horses were all on show throughout last year and the game was dominated by 2 trainers, as it will probably be again this year.

This is a real worry for fans of the sport, especially the many obsessed National Hunt fans across the country and in Ireland too. I sense from these fans on social media platforms that they are more worried about the state of National Hunt racing in the UK then adding an extra day to Cheltenham. We share the same concern. There has to be a relook and revamp of the National Hunt game, where novice chasers and hurdlers are made to compete in high quality races through the season and then are able to be more competitive come the spring at both Cheltenham and Aintree. Just like the Irish horses who win a maiden hurdle or novice chase and then go into graded company next time out.

There also needs to be a serious look at the amount of racing that goes on too. There are either too many racecourses or too many race meetings, which dilutes that quality even further throughout the season. Big trainers can avoid any other hotpots with too much choice, and the younger horses will only improve in competitive racing. This is another huge elephant in the room that the BHA needs to be looking at before tinkering with the Cheltenham Festival too.

So we plead with the JCR and the BHA to sort out the urgent issues before looking at increasing the Cheltenham Festival to 5 days. It's obvious to anyone that it will happen as Saturday gives an opportunity for them to sell out another day easily. However we want urgent issues in the game to be fixed first before they make any changes to the greatest show on turf.