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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
