A tough week
It has been a difficult week for horse racing. The deeply disturbing images of jockey Gordon Elliott has been followed by a similar video of Irish jockey Rob James. Both men have been left embarrassed by the images and horse racing’s image has been damaged by the recent events.
However, with the world’s biggest jump festival starting next week, the Cheltenham Festival has the chance to rebuild horse racing’s reputation and, while it will be dramatically different than usual, the eyes of the horse racing world will be on the action in Gloucestershire.
There was big controversy last year when fans were allowed to attend the full week of festival despite Covid-19 cases rising. 250,000 people flooded to Cheltenham over the course of the week which was the last big event before the UK went into its first lockdown.
Since then horse racing has been held behind closed doors and next week we will see if the festival can restore it’s own reputation as well as horse racing’s overall.
How the festival can improve the image
It all starts on Tuesday with the Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle getting underway at 13:20. The highlight of the festival will be the WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase which will take place on Friday 19th at 15:05.
Fans and owners won’t be allowed and it will only be jockeys, trainers and limited amount of staff present at the venue. They will all be tested as they arrive each day to the course to ensure the festival can be a safe as possible.
BHA chief executive Julie Harrington has admitted that it’s been a tough week for the sport, but the festival has a chance to show the positive sides of the sport. “Cheltenham and all the other major festivals are a real opportunity for the sport to be in the shop window and show the positives.” she said.
Racecourse managing director Ian Renton added: “I’d love to think we can put those negative headlines, put them behind us, and look forward to all the opportunities.”
While horse racing is often criticised for its cruelty to the animals, the horses are all treated superbly before and after their races. Last year the festival achieved the feat of having no horse die as a result of the racing.
Coverage will be exclusively on ITV throughout the whole four days of the festival. Keep an eye out on the Parklife Sport twitter as we continue to build up coverage for the festival and share some tips for the big races.
