Michael O'Leary: 'These are inane and misjudged changes and horses will now start avoiding Cheltenham altogether'

One of the Cheltenham Festival's main sponsors has launched a scathing attack at the wholesale changes to the meeting with Ryanair supremo Michael O'Leary branding the tweaks "inane and misguided" and ones which will lead to a number of big names missing the festival altogether to wait for Fairyhouse or Aintree.

O'Leary's airline company has sponsored the Ryanair Chase since 2006, but the decision by the Jockey Club to strip the Turners Novices' Chase of its Grade 1 status and turn it into a handicap has left him disillusioned. He is convinced a lot of the top novice chasers will be held back for either the Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree or the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse over two and a half miles.

He said: "The decision to downgrade the Turners from a Grade 1 to a handicap will invariably mean that these Grade 1 horses will not switch to the Arkle or the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase but will instead avoid Cheltenham altogether and switch to the Grade 1 races over two and a half miles at Fairyhouse and/or Aintree. This silly downgrading of quality will damage the festival programme for no benefit other than to racecourses and bookmakers."

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On a similar note, O'Leary has voiced his concerns for the future of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase as he feels the public will now lose interest in the race at a time when it was at its most popular following victories by high-quality chasers like Tiger Roll and Delta Work.

O'Leary said: "The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, which for many years was ignored when it was a handicap for horses who nobody had ever heard of (our Rivage D'Or beat Any Currency when it was last a handicap), has in recent years dramatically improved its public appeal when it became a race for older higher-rated horses seeking a prep race for the Grand National and produced winners like Tiger Roll, Easysland and Delta Work.

"Linking the Cheltenham Festival with the Grand National at Aintree three weeks later has dramatically improved the quality and also the public appeal of the race. The baseless argument that it will now be more competitive ignores the reality that only two favourites have actually won it in the last five years.

"Tiger Roll won it three times, but he was also beaten by Easysland and Delta Work. The 2024 version of the race featured prominently in the build-up to Cheltenham with speculation over a rematch between Delta Work and Galvin, both of whom were well-known Grand National fancies. Now all of this will be lost."

Tiger Roll: won the Cross Country three times when it was run as a level-weights raceCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

He added: "Other than his connections, nobody knows or recalls who won the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase last November [Foxy Jacks], but downgrading the quality of the race will now mean that Grand National contenders like Galvin, Delta Work and Tiger Roll will now end up skipping Cheltenham altogether and go straight to Aintree. Cheltenham's loss will be Aintree's gain and the race at the festival will lose its public appeal."

In conclusion, O'Leary said the festival was moving in the wrong direction and should focus on quality rather than "benefiting bookmakers".

He said: "We regret Cheltenham keeps making these inane and misjudged changes to its festival programme. Reducing the quality of the Turners and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase and making them both handicaps makes them less appealing, will reduce the quality of the runners and means the better quality horses will avoid Cheltenham and go elsewhere.

"The Cheltenham Festival should be about quality, it should be about Grade 1s and quality horses, not more boring handicaps which benefit nobody except bookmakers."

Read more here:

Amateur jockeys say they were not consulted over 'bitterly disappointing' changes to National Hunt Chase 

Chris Cook: Cheltenham Festival tweaks won't make anywhere near enough difference if we refuse to tackle the elephant in the room 

What you need to know - these are the changes made to the Cheltenham Festival race programme 

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