'Flat' Cheltenham needs dedicated festival boss and big changes to halt recent decline says former chief

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.