Renton relishing racegoer return
LAST year’s Cheltenham Festival was a very different one with no fans on course but there’s now only one sleep before we hear the famous Cheltenham roar again.
Ian Renton, Jockey Club Regional Director, is looking forward to welcoming racegoers back to the Festival for the first time since 2020 and expects over 275,000 fans to witness the excitement across the four days.
He said: “It’s obviously really good to see people returning this year and judging by the clamour for tickets and hospitality it’s been very sorely missed. It’s fantastic to see people coming back in such strength.
“We’re sold out on Thursday and Friday. We’re also sold out in the Club Enclosure on Tuesday, so we still have tickets available in all enclosures on Wednesday and in Tattersalls and Best Mate on Tuesday. Very few spaces in restaurants are still available, there are a few spaces on Tuesday and Friday.”
While many will be enjoying a return to normality after a difficult few years, for people in Ukraine normal life is a distant reality.
Renton and his team have been working tirelessly to make sure Cheltenham does everything it can to raise funds and awareness among racegoers attending the Festival.
“People come here to have four enjoyable days racing and are in a very celebratory mood, so we think it’s really important that we need to recognise that elsewhere in the world things are very much more sombre,” Renton said. “We’re trying to do everything we can here to raise funds for and draw attention to what’s happening in Ukraine,” he added.
“The National Hunt Chase on Tuesday has been renamed The Ukraine Appeal National Hunt Chase, which we hope will draw attention to the ability of all our fans and racegoers to contribute to such an important cause. We’re also talking to the jockeys and we hope they’ll be wearing armbands in the Ukrainian colours.
“We’ve committed to contributing to the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal and are doing everything we can to encourage our racegoers and viewers to donate.
“There will be a raffle for 24 pairs of hospitality places in our most prestigious hospitality area on the Friday. Anyone making a £10 pound donation to the Ukraine Appeal can be put in a draw to win two hospitality tickets on Gold Cup Day.”
Last year the strength of the racing community and Cheltenham’s capacity to raise awareness of a worthy cause was in full evidence, with the Gold Cup being run in the name of local charity, WellChild.
It’s an association that is set to continue through next year, and Renton said: “We staged the WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup last year and as a continuation of that, WellChild are our official charity partners for the Festival for three years. We are working very closely with them and this year will see the inauguration of the Cheltenham WellChild Walkway, which will be opened by their first non-human ambassador in Smad Place!
“Rachael Blackmore and Barry Geraghty will also be involved in the opening before racing on Tuesday. Bucket collections for WellChild will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.”
Cheltenham sponsors have come together, with Boodles donating a ‘Raindance’ necklace for auction, with the money going to WellChild.
The family jewellery firm that has a history of supporting racing will sponsor this year’s Gold Cup, something Renton believes will be a great success.
He said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to have Boodles on board. They have been great partners in recent years and it’s wonderful to see them step up to sponsor the Gold Cup this year.
“It’s a fantastic brand for Cheltenham to be associated with and lovely to see a family firm like Boodles enjoying the association with Cheltenham and the Jockey Club. I think it will be a huge success for both of us.”
Looking ahead to four days of high-quality action on the track, Renton is clearly as excited as any racing fan, but he expects it to be a tough year once again for the British.
He said: “There’s some fantastic racing ahead of us. I think, certainly in the championship races, the Irish would seem to be dominant, but we’ve got some exciting novices on both sides of the Irish Sea. Hopefully we’ll have some incredibly competitive racing at that level and some fantastic performances at championship level.
“It was a fantastic four days last year and amazing to see both Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead achieve such success. It would be great if one or two of those successes can be repeated for them this year in front of the crowds.”
Money can be donated via the Cheltenham Festival website, with the raffle closing on Monday at 3pm. All money will be donated to the Ukraine Appeal.