CHELTENHAM CHANGES: DAVY and HARRY reaction

There will be a different look to the Cheltenham Festival in 2025 with the news that the Turners Novices’ Chase is being downgraded from a Grade 1 to a novice handicap chase – designed as part of an overall plan to improve the competitiveness of the Festival.

We’ve got the two perfect men to give their reaction to the news…. our brand ambassadors DAVY RUSSELL and HARRY SKELTON – both previous winners of the race.

Davy has won the race twice – in 2012 with Sir Des Champs (pictured below) and the enigmatic Samcro in 2020 and said of the news: “Changing the Turners to a handicap race will not only provide a bigger and more competitive field but it will also add strength to the two other novice championship races in the Arkle and the Brown Advisory.”

There are also changes afoot with the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase which switches to a handicap from a conditions race.

Davy has won the Cross Country twice on Rivage D’Or in 2015 and Native Jack in 2006 and also enjoyed a close relationship with the race thanks to three-time winner Tiger Roll.

He added: “To me it’s more about adding strength to the Gold Cup. Horses, if it’s a handicap, will more likely run in the Gold Cup than concede lumps of weight to other horses in conditions races. If the race is more competitive, it will be a more enjoyable spectacle for punters with a bigger field increasing the chances for other smaller yards to have a crack at winning a Festival prize. Overall, I think the changes are a real positive for the sport.”

Harry Skelton won the Turners this year on Grey Dawning (pictured below with Harry and Davy) and said: “It was fantastic to win the Turners. This was the race for Grey Dawning, because we felt 2m 4f at Cheltenham was the right distance for him at the track. Cheltenham is a unique place, it’s not just as easy as saying we’ll run him over 3m or drop him back to 2m because novices are novices for a reason – they’re inexperienced and it’s vital you make the right decisions for them at this stage of their careers.

“Now with the race becoming a handicap, while I’m sure it’s going to open up with more runners and generate more betting, what happens to top-class 2m4f novices that don’t fit into the Arkle or Brown Advisory? They now don’t have an option at the Cheltenham Festival. It’s sad really, because I think the Cheltenham Festival should be about the best horses in Grade 1s.

“What does ‘competitiveness’ mean? Does that just mean having 16 runners? If Grey Dawning and Ginny’s Destiny had been the only two runners in the Turners last year, would that have been a competitive race and fun to watch? That’s exactly what it was.

“I’d like to know now what they’d like to do with the middle-distance horses that are Grade 1 level. Had there not been a Grade 1 option at Cheltenham last year we probably would have waited for Aintree with Grey Dawning. Why would we drop down or step up in trip? We want to give our owners the best chance, and if you’ve got a top-class 2m4f horse then you want to be winning Grade 1s.

“Now with 2m4f novice chasers people might consider missing Cheltenham and wait for Aintree, but that shouldn’t be the case because Cheltenham is the Olympics of our sport and these types of races should be there to compete in. There are lots of handicaps at all distances on offer and they have the right qualifications for novices to run in so I’m not sure why we need another handicap at the Festival.”

In line with other bookmakers starsports.bet will be refunding ante-post stakes on the Turners given the change of conditions.

Star’s Managing Director Flynn Goward said: “In line with most in the industry, we have voided all antepost bets on the Turners Novices Chase. As a Racing orientated bookmaker, we are delighted with the changes which should give us a very competitive Novice Handicap Chase, as well as boosting the quality of the Arkle & Brown Advisory. The Cross Country amendments we also see as a positive step, giving more trainers & owners a chance to win the race.”

🔹 The Turners has averaged 8.6 runners in the last 10 years with all the winners in single figure odds:

2024 Grey Dawning 5/2 (11 ran)
2023 Stage Star 5/2 (7 ran)
2022 Bob Olinger 6/5 (4 ran)
2021 Chantry House 9/1 (8 ran)
2020 Samcro 4/1 (12 ran)
2019 Defi du Seuil 3/1 (10 ran)
2018 Shattered Love 4/1 (9 ran)
2017 Yorkhill 6/4 (8 ran)
2016 Black Hercules 4/1 (9 ran)
2015 Vautour 6/4 (8 ran)

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