'They are diluting it more and more' - Carl Llewellyn against five-day festival

Introducing a fifth day to the Cheltenham Festival would be a "backwards step" for racing, according to seven-time festival-winning rider Carl Llewellyn.

He has warned the track's owners that no matter how much extra income an additional day might raise, they risk devaluing jump racing's biggest fixture if they continue to add races to the schedule.

One of the leading riders of his generation and twice a winner of the Grand National, Llewellyn was against the decision to extend the meeting to four days in 2005 and believes incorporating Saturday into a five-day festival would further diminish the kudos associated with victory at the meeting.

Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainers Nicky Henderson and Kim Bailey have both voiced support for a five-day festival in recent weeks, while Cheltenham supremo Ian Renton said on Thursday that the possibility of a fifth day would "certainly be explored" as he revealed more tickets than ever had been sold before next week's extravaganza.

A five-day Cheltenham Festival? Nicky Henderson 'can't see a reason why not'

Despite the hunger of paying spectators to be a part of the action after coronavirus restrictions kept them out of last year's meeting, Llewellyn highlighted faltering field sizes throughout the jumps season in Britain, as well as increased number of odds-on favourites at the festival, as two major warning signs against a further extension.

"A five-day festival financially might be good for Cheltenham but as regards horseracing, it's such a backwards step," he warned. "There's so much opportunity to avoid each other now and in so many races at the festival, only two or three can actually win.

"They are diluting it more and more and a fifth day would further dilute what is meant to be the championship meeting. It's got to be less special to win at Cheltenham when there are five days and 30 races compared with when there were 20 races over three days."

Carl Llewellyn: 'Maybe I'm old and cynical but I just don't get it'Credit: Edward Whitaker

While those in favour of a fifth day point to the fact that only two extra races would be needed to form five six-race cards, Llewellyn does not believe the current horse population is in a position to support additional races.

The initial entries for this year's festival add substance to the former rider's argument, with the 654 possibles for the nine handicaps at next week's meeting the lowest on record, while numbers for three of the four Grade 1 novice hurdles were down on last year.

"I'm sure they'll go to five days and make millions, but the entries are down this year, and for one week of the year it's supposed to be the pinnacle of jump racing, and diluting it makes it less attractive in the end," said Llewellyn, who is less than impressed with the races added to the schedule since the meeting went to four days.

"The way this year has gone with small-field sizes, you'd be less surprised if they were thinking we should reduce it to three days because that's what the numbers are indicating.

"There aren't the runners to make competitive racing, so why are they thinking about five days? It's got to be money."

He added: "You had to fit a horse in 20 years ago. It might not be exactly the right trip but it was a test. The Ryanair is a great race but without that they'd have to go in the Champion Chase or the Gold Cup, and straight away you're going to have five more quality horses in both races, which makes it more competitive.

"The majority of mares have gone now from the championship races when they should be in those races with the mares' allowance.

"Should a cross-country race be at the festival? It's great to have that specialised race in November, December and January but, personally, I don't think it's a championship race and it shouldn't be at the pinnacle of jumping."

Ian Renton: open to exploring the possibility of a fifth dayCredit: Harry Trump (Getty Images)

The 56-year-old, who remains a key cog in the successful Cotswold yard of Nigel Twiston-Davies, also warns that adding more races to the festival is a sure way to weaken competition in what should be key races outside Cheltenham in March.

"There are so many other good races worth more money, but all they're talking about is Cheltenham," he said. "Loads of people would rather go to Cheltenham and finish a well-beaten sixth than win a race of the same money. What's that all about?

"It's not just owners, it's trainers as well. Maybe I'm old and cynical but I just don't get it. People are skipping really good races with great prize-money over the last few months to save themselves for a run at Cheltenham."

Read more:

Record ticket sales add fuel to calls for a five-day Cheltenham Festival

'Beneficial long-term' - Kim Bailey weighs in on five-day festival debate

A five-day Cheltenham Festival? Nicky Henderson 'can't see a reason why not'

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