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Cheltenham Festival

Champion Hurdle not the definite aim for surprise 100-1 Japanese entry with other Cheltenham races in the mix

Shinji Maeda (grey suit, left) and brother Koji (red rosette) could be heading to Cheltenham in March with All The World, a son of their Japanese Derby winner Kizuna (pictured)
Shinji Maeda (grey suit, left) and brother Koji (red rosette) could head to Cheltenham with All The World, a son of Kizuna (pictured)Credit: Lo Chun Kit/Getty Images

Cheltenham head of racing Jon Pullin has welcomed the presence of Japanese-trained All The World among the entries for the Unibet Champion Hurdle, although whether that race ends up as the horse's ultimate target at the festival remains to be seen. 

The eight-year-old is widely available at 100-1 for the day-one feature at Cheltenham, for which he was one of 16 contenders when entries closed on Tuesday. 

“We’re liaising with connections and the BHA on the eligibility of All The World to run in handicaps and novice hurdles," said Pullin. "In the meantime, we wanted to ensure he received an entry in the Champion Hurdle.”

All The World was bred to be a star on the Flat by the Maeda family's North Hills Farm – his half-brother Danon The Kid was a Grade 1 winner at two – but was switched to Japan's version of steeplechasing in December 2023, since when he has won three of his six starts.



Pullin added: “We’re delighted to see All The World among the entries for the Unibet Champion Hurdle. The festival is the highlight of the British jump racing calendar, so it is always brilliant to welcome international runners over the four days.

“The Jockey Club is proud to play a part in the rich history and strong relationship between British and Japanese racing, and we hope to continue this by welcoming a Japanese runner over jumps to Cheltenham."

All The World runs in the sky blue and red silks of Shinji Maeda, most readily associated in Europe with his sire Kizuna, the 2013 Prix Niel winner and subsequent Arc fourth.

More recently they have been carried by the all-conquering Contrail, who won the Japanese Triple Crown and signed off with victory in the 2021 Japan Cup as a four-year-old. 

Older brother Koji Maeda heads the North Hills operation and has had his version of the silks represented by leading dirt sprinter Remake, as well as the smart fillies Believe In Love and Divine Jewel for Roger Varian, while cult horse Lani also took the Maeda family around the world, running in all three legs of the US Triple Crown, the UAE Derby and the Dubai World Cup. 

Believe In Love winning at Goodwood for Koji Maeda and Roger Varian
Believe In Love winning at Goodwood for Koji Maeda and Roger VarianCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty)

While still lucrative by European standards – the Nakayama Grand Jump purse in 2024 was £745,000 – jump racing is something of a poor relation in Japan, with races sandwiched into predominantly Flat cards and little in the way of speciality breeding for the discipline.

As a consequence most races take place on flat and firm ground, with All The World having clocked 3m31.10s for just under two miles in winning at Hanshin last March. 

Run over about a furlong and a quarter further, but on the undulating Old course at Cheltenham with its punishing uphill finish, the record time for the Champion Hurdle was Annie Power's 3m45.10s in 2016.


Read these next:

Japan set to have first Cheltenham Festival runner since 1960s - just who is All The World?  

Surprise Japanese runner joins Constitution Hill in Champion Hurdle as more star-studded Cheltenham Festival entries revealed 

Why Constitution Hill has to be taken on in the Champion Hurdle 


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