Cheltenham Festival 2016

The 2016 Cheltenham Festival was staged between March 15 and March 18, 2016 and, as has become customary, featured 28 races, worth £4.1 million in total prize money. Overall, the Festival proved to be quite ‘punter friendly’, with the outright or joint-favourite successful in 10 of the 28 races, albeit three times at odds-on. The third iteration of the Prestbury Cup again went the way of Ireland for the first time, by a score of 15-13 and, in the ‘feature’ races of the week, Irish-trained horses still outpointed their British-trained counterparts by a score of 3-2.

A terribly unlucky loser in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle at the 2015 Cheltenham Festival, Annie Power, trained by Willie Mullins, took full advantage of a 7lb mares’ allowance to win the Champion Hurdle, Vautour, also trained by Mullins, likewise justified favouritism in the Ryanair Chase, winning comfortably, as did Don Cossack, trained by Gordon Elliott, in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. For the home team, Sprinter Sacre, trained by Nicky Henderson, made an emotional return to something like his best form by winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase for a second time and Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, made mincemeat of the opposition in the World Hurdle.

Although yet to train a winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup – he actually saddled Djakadam into second place for the second year running – Willie Mullins won the leading trainer award, as he had done for the last three years, with seven winners. Ruby Walsh, who rode all seven Mullins-trained winners, won the leading jockey award for the fourth year running, and the tenth time in all. Indeed, his fifth winner of the week, Black Hercules in the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase in St. Patrick’s Day, brought up a half century of Cheltenham Festival winners for the Kildare-born jockey. He told BBC Radio, “It’s amazing. When I joined Pat Taaffe here on 25 I thought that was unbelievable, but 50 is incredible.”