Day Three of The Cheltenham Festival is home to celebrating St Patrick's Day and every year the atmosphere is second to none with a quality seven racecard on offer, with two feature races. The first of the two is The Ryanair Chase, followed by The Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle Race.
Day Three of the Cheltenham Festival is kicked off with the Marsh Novices’ Chase. A Grade 1 novice chase race run over the distance of 2m abt 4f. It's open to horses aged over five years and runs on the New Course with 17 fences jumped.
The race was first introduced to The Festival in 2011 and has celebrated some fantastic chasers including Defi De Seuil and Sir Des Champs.
Previous winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
|
2011 |
Noble Prince |
7 |
A.P. McCoy |
Paul Nolan |
|
2012 |
Sir Des Champs |
6 |
Davy Russell |
Willie Mullins |
|
2013 |
Benefficient |
7 |
Bryan Cooper |
Tony Martin |
|
2014 |
Taquin du Seuil |
7 |
A.P. McCoy |
Jonjo O'Neill |
|
2015 |
Vautour |
6 |
Ruby Walsh |
Willie Mullins |
|
2016 |
Black Hercules |
7 |
Ruby Walsh |
Willie Mullins |
|
2017 |
Yorkhill |
7 |
Ruby Walsh |
Willie Mullins |
|
2018 |
Shattered Love |
7 |
Jack Kennedy |
Gordon Elliott |
|
2019 |
Defi du Seuil |
6 |
Barry Geraghty |
Philip Hobbs |
|
2020 |
Samcro |
8 |
Davy Russell |
Gordon Elliott |
The Pertemps Network Final race is a Grade 3 race for horses aged five and over. It's run on the New Course over a distance of Abt 3m with 12 hurdles jumped.
The race serves as the final for the 21 long-distance qualifying races that are run throughout the Jumps season prior to The Cheltenham Festival. The race has been won by younger horses who go on to greater achievements. Including Presenting Percy, who won in 2017 and has since won the Novices' Chase in 2018.
Previous winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Weight |
Jockey |
Trainer |
|
2011 |
Buena Vista |
10 |
10-08 |
Conor O'Farrell |
David Pipe |
|
2012 |
Cape Tribulation |
8 |
10–11 |
Denis O'Regan |
Malcolm Jefferson |
|
2013 |
Holywell |
6 |
11-04 |
Richie McLernon |
Jonjo O'Neill |
|
2014 |
Fingal Bay |
8 |
11–12 |
Richard Johnson |
Philip Hobbs |
|
2015 |
Call The Cops |
6 |
10–12 |
Andrew Tinkler |
Nicky Henderson |
|
2016 |
Mall Dini |
6 |
10–11 |
Davy Russell |
Pat Kelly |
|
2017 |
Presenting Percy |
6 |
11-11 |
Davy Russell |
Pat Kelly |
|
2018 |
Delta Work |
5 |
10-10 |
Davy Russell |
Gordon Elliott |
|
2019 |
Sire Du Berlais |
7 |
11-09 |
Barry Geraghty |
Gordon Elliott |
|
2020 |
Sire Du Berlais |
8 |
11-12 |
Barry Geraghty |
Gordon Elliott |
The Paddy Power Plate is a Grade 3 chase, run over the distance of 2m abt 5f. It's open to horses aged five and older, with 17 fences jumped. This race is often the beginning point for bigger successes and going on to win a Grade 1 race.
Previous winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Weight |
Jockey |
Trainer |
|
2011 |
Holmwood Legend |
10 |
10-09 |
Keiran Burke |
Patrick Rodford |
|
2012 |
Salut Flo |
7 |
10–10 |
Tom Scudamore |
David Pipe |
|
2013 |
Carrickboy |
9 |
10-05 |
Liam Treadwell |
Venetia Williams |
|
2014 |
Ballynagour |
8 |
10-09 |
Tom Scudamore |
David Pipe |
|
2015 |
Darna |
9 |
10–11 |
David Bass |
Kim Bailey |
|
2016 |
Empire of Dirt |
9 |
10–11 |
Bryan Coope |
Colm Murphy |
|
2017 |
Road to Respect |
6 |
10–13 |
Bryan Cooper |
Noel Meade |
|
2018 |
Storyteller |
7 |
11–04 |
Davy Russell |
Gordon Elliott |
|
2019 |
Siruh Du Lac |
6 |
10-08 |
Lizzie Kelly |
Nick Williams |
|
2020 |
Simply The Betts |
7 |
11-04 |
Gavin Sheehan |
Harry Whittington |
The Mares Novices’ Hurdle is one of the newest races at The Festival, having been first raced in 2016 and taking the total number of Festival races to 28. To date, it's been won by Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer Willie Mullins who has had all five winners.
The race is a Grade 2 hurdle open to fillies and mares aged four and older. It's run on the new course over a distance of 2m 1f with eight hurdles jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers.
Previous winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
|
2016 |
Limini |
5 |
Ruby Walsh |
Willie Mullins |
|
2017 |
Let's Dance |
5 |
Ruby Walsh |
Willie Mullins |
|
2018 |
Laurina |
5 |
Paul Townend |
Willie Mullins |
|
2019 |
Eglantine Du Seuil |
5 |
Noel Fehily |
Willie Mullins |
|
2020 |
Concertista |
6 |
Daryl Jacob |
Willie Mullins |
The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is run over a distance of 3m abt 2f and run on the New Course with 21 fences to jump.
The race is restricted to amateur jockeys and for horses aged five and older.
Previous winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Weight |
Jockey |
Trainer |
|
2011 |
Junior |
8 |
11-06 |
Jamie Codd |
David Pipe |
|
2012 |
Sunnyhillboy |
9 |
11-11 |
Alan Berry |
Jonjo O'Neill |
|
2013 |
Same Difference |
7 |
11-07 |
Ryan Hatch |
Nigel Twiston-Davies |
|
2014 |
Spring Heeled |
7 |
11-06 |
Robbie McNamara |
Jim Culloty |
|
2015 |
The Package |
12 |
11-04 |
Jamie Codd |
David Pipe |
|
2016 |
Cause of Causes |
8 |
11-09 |
Jamie Codd |
Gordon Elliott |
|
2017 |
Domesday Book |
7 |
11-04 |
Gina Andrews |
Stuart Edmunds |
|
2018 |
Missed Approach |
8 |
11-05 |
Noel McParlan |
Warren Greatrex |
|
2019 |
Any Second Now |
7 |
11-11 |
Derek O'Connor |
Ted Walsh |
|
2020 |
Milan Native |
7 |
11-08 |
Rob James |
Gordon Elliott |