Many Clouds, who enjoyed his finest hour when winning the 2015 Grand National, will be remembered at Cheltenham with the screening of the film Many Clouds - The People's Horse on Festival Trials Day, Saturday, January 27.
Many Clouds - The People's Horse was produced by Equine Productions and directed by Nathan Horrocks, who rode Many Clouds in his work at home. The film remembers the courageous Trevor Hemmings-owned gelding, who sadly passed away following his head victory over Thistlecrack in the G2 BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase on Festival Trials Day in 2017.
The performance of Many Clouds at Cheltenham saw the horse, who was ridden by Leighton Aspell throughout his career, subsequently announced as the leading staying chaser in the 2016/17 Anglo Irish Jump Classifications.
Horrocks, who picked up award for best director at the prestigious EQUUS Film Festival in New York, will feature in Q&A sessions alongside Oliver Sherwood, trainer of Many Clouds. The two Q&A sessions will take place in the winner's enclosure at 12.05pm and 2.05pm. Racegoers will be able to submit questions to Horrocks and Sherwood via Cheltenham's Twitter account @CheltenhamRaces.
Following the running of the last race at 4.10pm, Many Clouds - The People's Horse will be shown on TV screens across the racecourse.
Festival Trials Day takes place at Cheltenham on the final Saturday of the month, January 27, and offers racegoers the final opportunity to experience action at the Home of Jump Racing before The Festival (Tuesday, March 13 to Friday, March 16 inclusive). There is a bumper £354,000 on offer in prize money, up seven per cent on the 2017 total.
A fabulous seven-race programme is headlined by the £100,000 G2 BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase (2.25pm). Staged over three miles and a furlong, the BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase is a leading trial for the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup at The Festival. In addition to Many Clouds, other luminaries such as One Man, Master Oats and See More Business feature on the roll of honour.
Top-quality staying hurdle action is provided by the £60,000 G2 galliardhomes.com Cleeve Hurdle (3.35pm) over three miles. Past winners include Thistlecrack, Inglis Drever and Big Buck's, who all won the G1 Sun Bets Stayers' Hurdle at The Festival.
There is Pattern action on offer for novices' with the opening £32,000 G2 JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial (12.40pm), landed by subsequent G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle victor Defi Du Seuil in 2017, and the £32,000 G2 Ballymore Classic Novices' Hurdle (3.00pm), while the feature handicap of the day is the £75,000 G3 Festival Trials Handicap Chase (1.50pm).
