Cheltenham Racecourse

The National Hunt Chase staged at the Cheltenham Festival has been permanently named in honour of HRH The Princess Royal, the Jockey Club announced on Sunday. The oldest contest staged at the meeting, it will now be known as the Princess Royal National Hunt Chase. In 2025, it will take place on Tuesday, March 11, the opening day of the Festival. Guy Lavender, CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse, said, "It is a tremendous privilege for us to announce today that the National Hunt Chase will now honour HRH The Princess Royal...

Michael O'Sullivan will be honoured at this year's Cheltenham Festival with the opening Supreme Novices' Hurdle set to be run in his memory, the Jockey Club and Sky Bet announced on Thursday. The Grade 1 event, the first race of the meeting on Tuesday, March 11, will be staged as the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle, paying tribute to the National Hunt jockey who died after being seriously injured in a fall at Thurles on February 6. He was 24. It was in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle that...

Guy Lavender has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Cheltenham Racecourse, The Jockey Club announced on Wednesday. He will begin his new role early next year, working alongside Cheltenham managing director Ian Renton. The duo will coordinate the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, and Renton, who has served in his role since 2012, will remain involved at the racecourse in an advisory capacity at least through the event. Lavender was previously the CEO and secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 2017 and since 2022 has been a committee...

Zara Tindall MBE has been appointed patron of the charity Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), which is dedicated to the welfare and retraining of retired racehorses. A former three-day eventing world champion and Olympic silver medallist, Tindall, the daughter of the Princess Royal, has also had a long association with racing and is currently a director of Cheltenham Racecourse.  She said, "I am delighted to be joining Retraining of Racehorses as a patron. The charity's commitment to the wellbeing and retraining of retired racehorses resonates with my lifelong love for these...