Cheltenham Festival 2022 Runners & Riders

We’re heading towards one of the most prestigious horse racing events on the global calendar. Cheltenham Festival is one of the most hotly anticipated festivals, attracting horse racing fans and horse racing bettors from all across the world and it all kicks off on Tuesday 15th March.

This year, there are 28 races scheduled to take place, with race distances varying between 1m 7f up to 3m 7f… with hurdles and obstacles to be jumped along the way.

The first day of action all revolves around the Champion Hurdle, which is considered by many as the best hurdles race in the world. The race has crowned some of the most exceptional winners throughout the years. This year Honeysuckle will be looking for another victory, following last year’s win- and retaining her current unbeaten record.

The next day of action brings us the Queen Mother Champion Chase. This race, considered one of the toughest jumping races around, requires contenders to be foot perfect over the whole 2 miles. We are expecting to see Shiskin in the line-up this year – who has been touted as the National Hunt race poster boy of recent times.

The third day of the Festival has two feature races. The first of these is the Ryanair Chase, which is a Grade 1 race run over 2m 5f. This is one of the newer additions to the schedule and has proven to be very popular. Additionally, we have the Stayers’ Hurdle, which is generally thought to be one of the most recognisable races in the Festival, the pinnacle for staying hurdlers and one of the most competitive races of the lot.

The final day, day four, sees the main event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, taking centre stage. This is arguably the most famous race in the entire Festival and is the one that every jockey owner and trainer dreams of winning.

THE 2022 CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL RUNNERS

With the Cheltenham Festival considered to be the pinnacle of Jumps racing, it obviously attracts the best racehorses from around Britain and Ireland – occasionally from even further afield. The horseracing elite descends on Prestbury Park all hoping to become a part of the Cheltenham Festival history.

This year, Shishkin is proving to be a popular horse with festival punters, given that he has been successful at both the Supreme Novice’s Hurdle and the Arkle Novices’ Chase at the two previous Festivals. So, will punters remain loyal to Nicky Henderson’s charge? It will be interesting to see.

One of the most popular of all horses that will be heading over to the Cheltenham Festival is the 12-year-old Tiger Roll. He has certainly turned a few heads recently and will likely make his final run this year before he retires.

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL TRAINERS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2022

Last year, Irish trainers dominated in a way that has never been seen before. However, it looks they will be facing tougher opposition from the home trainers in 2022. Despite this, it will still generally be the Irish horses going in as the favourites again.

All eyes will be on Willie Mullins, who has been the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, with no fewer than 78 winners to his name. It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that he will yet again be the top trainer this year as well.

There will be some opposition from the British yards, despite it being pretty thin on the ground in recent years. This season, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson will hope to hit the right notes with some of their best chances. Meanwhile, the up and coming yard of Dan Skelton could also enjoy success at this Cheltenham Festival.

Mullins’ main challenge will, more than likely, come in the shape of his Irish compatriot Gordon Elliot. He has several strong chances in the Handicaps and the Graded races. In Cheltenham Festival 2021, De Bromhead enjoyed a fantastic outcome and he will be looking to repeat this success this year.

THE JOCKEYS AT THE CHELTENHAM 2022

For many years, the go-to names on the Cheltenham Festival racecards were AP McCoy, Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh. However, after they retired, new riders are looking to cement their places as the leading riders.

One to look out for is Paul Townend, who will have the pick of Willie Mullins’ top chances this year, which certainly puts him in a good position as Cheltenham Festival’s top jockey

Another name that caught the attention of Festival audiences last year was Rachael Blackmore, who left the event with six runners – and became the first-ever female jockey to walk away as the Cheltenham Festival’s leading rider.

Also in with a chance this year are Charlie Deutsch and Harry Skelton, with Nico de Boinville also in with a number of strong chances.

Year after year, Cheltenham Festival created magical moments for horse racing betting fans and yet again we look forward to what is on offer in the Cheltenham Festival 2022.