Cheltenham Festival 2024: race off and Henderson scratches trio – live

Good morning from Cheltenham where, sadly, one disappointment has followed another this morning ahead of the second day of this year’s Festival.

News that today’s seven-race card had shrunk to just six with the abandonment of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase was followed by the scratching of three runners from Nicky Henderson’s yard, including Jonbon, the second-favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, amid concerns about the health of his string.

Five of Henderson’s six runners here on Tuesday were pulled up, and the trainer said in a statement posted on X that he had “been forced to make some very tough decisions following the disappointing performances of all bar one of our horses yesterday”.

The statement continued: “It was there for all to see that there is obviously something affecting nearly all our horses and consequently we have reluctantly decided that Jonbon, First Street [in the Coral Cup] and Kingston Pride [in the Champion Bumper] will not run today. It is impossible to identify any reason for all the disappointments and none of these horses have given us any cause for concern and all yesterday’s runners were scoped clean post-race and I am glad to say all are sound this morning.

“There will unfortunately be further non-runners on Thursday and Friday. I hope everybody will appreciate that we have to do this in everybody’s interests, particularly the horses. It is very, very disappointing for everybody.”

Shishkin, the third-favourite for Friday’s Gold Cup, has since been added to the list of absentees, and there will be obvious concerns that Sir Gino, the favourite for the Triumph Hurdle earlier in the day, could join the list.

The Cross-County Chase, meanwhile, has been abandoned following an inspection this morning. “Following 11mm of rainfall throughout yesterday, there has been no improvement in the conditions on the cross-country course and with areas of the track unraceable, the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase has sadly been abandoned,” read a statement. “The forecast for the remainder of the week continues to look unsettled, with further showers likely on both Thursday and Friday. There will therefore be insufficient improvement by Friday 15 March, and the decision has been taken not to reschedule the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase at the Festival.”

As a result, the start time of today’s first race, the Gallagher Novice Hurdle, has been pushed back to 1.45pm and the full revised running order is:

1.45 Gallagher Novice Hurdle
2.30 Brown Advisory Novice Chase
3.15 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
4.00 Queen Mother Champion Chase
4.50 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup
5.30 Champion Bumper

It has been an inauspicious opening to the day, and El Fabiolo is now long odds-on at 1-3 for the feature race after the scratching of his main market rival. There is still plenty to look forward to, however, including the distinct possibility that Willie Mullins will become the first trainer to register 100 Festival winners. He has the favourite in the Gallagher (Ballyburn), the Brown Advisory (Fact To File) and the Champion Chase, and a treble on all three is currently paying out at around 5-2.