'Flat' Cheltenham needs dedicated festival boss and big changes to halt recent decline says former chief
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Edward Gillespie, the man in charge of Cheltenham for 32 years, believes the festival requires its own independent leader to guide it through the radical changes needed to turn around a slump at jump racing's biggest meeting.
The now-retired former managing director has called for a tournament director, similar to the Wimbledon tennis championships, to be installed solely for the four-day meeting to make the necessary decisions to boost the fixture. Gillespie said the leader should also be striving for better representation from British-based trainers at the meeting to arrest an imbalance in favour of Irish-trained horses.
The Jockey Club, which runs Cheltenham, began advertising for a new racecourse manager in October with the current incumbent Ian Renton to become managing director across the group's 15 tracks.
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Published on inCheltenham Festival
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