Teahupoo wins 2024 stayers hurdle

Cheltenham Festival 2024: Day Three Review

St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham is now over, and there were some enthralling races surrounded by an incredible atmosphere at this famous and historic racecourse.

The third and penultimate day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, better known as St Patrick’s Thursday, is now over, and the crowds in attendance witnessed some fantastic horse racing at the historic and famous Cheltenham Racecourse on Thursday afternoon. It was another memorable day of racing at this year’s Festival.

Thankfully, for all those racing and watching at the racecourse or around the world, the weather held up, and so we witnessed all seven races take place on the day. As a reminder, here are all of the races that took to the Cheltenham race track on Thursday afternoon: Turners Novices’ Chase (13:30), Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (14:10), Ryanair Chase (14:50), Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (15:30), TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase (16:10), Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (16:50), and finally the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (17:30).

Willie Mullins, the most successful trainer in the entire history of the Cheltenham Festival, reached a century of wins earlier this week, and he was looking to add to his ever growing list of wins in this event on St. Patrick’s Thursday.

Now, we will review all seven races that took place on Thursday afternoon at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival on 14th March 2024. We will start this review with the 13:30 Turners Novices’ Chase.

13:30 – Turners Novices’ Chase (Winner: Grey Dawning)

We start this review, as promised, with the race that kicked off the action for St Patrick’s Thursday – the 2024 Tuners Novices’ Chase. It was a victory for the Skelton family on this occasion, with Harry Skelton riding Grey Dawning to victory ahead of runner-up Ginny’s Destiny (Harry Cobden) and Djelo (Charlie Deutsch), who rounded off the top three in third place on the day.

Ginny’s Destiny did have the initial lead in this race, but when the field started to head down that famous Cheltenham hill, Grey Dawning was now closing in on the leader, and they were tied going into the next bend. In the end, Skelton took the lead and won the race.

14:10 – Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Winner: Monmiral)

Manchester United and Aberdeen legend Sir Alex Ferguson was used to success during his illustrious managerial career, and he is now looking to taste success in the world of horse racing. To the Scot’s delight, his horse, Monmiral, won the 2024 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, ahead of Kyntara in second place and pre-race favourite Cuthbert Dibble in third place. This was Ferguson’s first-ever Cheltenham Festival win.

Harry Cobden was the winning Jockey in this race, but it did look that he may be caught by Kyntara as the horse closed in when they went down the hill for the second time. Thankfully for Cobden and Monmiral, there was an extra burst of energy that earned the victory in the end.

14:50 – Ryanair Chase (Winner: Protektorat)

The third race to take place on the third and penultimate day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival was the latest renewal of the Ryanair Chase. This was to be a second win already on the day for the Skelton family, with Jockey Harry Skelton riding Protektorat to a memorable victory ahead of stern competition from the likes of pre-race favourite Envoi Allen (Rachael Blackmore) and Conflated (Jack Kennedy).

This was also the second win of the day for Sir Alex Ferguson. Protektorat was right on the heels of the leaders (Stage Star and Ahoy Senor), but heading into the final straight, Skelton got the better of Stage Star to win the race for Henry de Bromhead.

15:30 – Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Winner: Teahupoo)

Race Four saw a pre-race favourite finally emerge victorious from a race on St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham Racecourse. Jack Kennedy, riding Teahupoo, won the biggest race of the day – the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle. Runner-up Flooring Porter and Home By The Lee had to settle for a second and third-place finish, respectively, in the end.

For much of this race, Teahupoo was amongst the chasing pack in the field, but Jockey Kennedy was able to apply enough pressure onto the race leader Flooring Porter going into the latter part of the race before eventually powering through to take the lead and the win in the end.

16:10 – TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase (Winner: Shakem Up’Arry)

The third-to-last race of the day, the 2024 TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase, saw the second ex-football manager win a race at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. Former QPR, Portsmouth, and West Ham United Manager Harry Redknapp was there to witness Ben Jones guide his horse Shakem Up’Arry to victory ahead of what was some stern competition from Crebilly (Jonjo O’Neill Jr) in second place and Straw Fan Jack in third place (Sean Houlihan).

This was Ben Jones’ first-ever victory at this Festival. It was a tight and tense race, and it was only in the closing stages of the contest that Jockey Jones and Shakem Up’Arry finally took the lead in the final lengths after successfully and tremendously handling the final jump of the race. They went on to extend the lead and win the race.

16:50 – Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Winner: Golden Ace)

Then came the penultimate race of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival at the iconic and historic Cheltenham Racecourse—the 2024 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. It was won by Lorcan Williams, who was on board Golden Ace. Jack Kennedy’s Brighterdaysahead was the pre-race favourite, but he had to settle for a second-place finish in the end. Finishing behind the runner-up in third place was Birdie Or Bust, who Jockey Rachael Blackmore rode.

After being amongst the horses in the field behind the race leaders Brighterdaysahead and Birdie Or Bust, going into the race’s closing stages, Golden Ace and Lorcan Williams managed to find an extra level from somewhere to burst past the race leaders to take first place overall.

17:30 – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (Winner: Inothewayurthinkin)

We now come to the seventh and final race of St Patrick’s Thursday at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival at the iconic and equally historic Cheltenham Racecourse. Derek O’Connor was the winning jockey in this year’s renewal of the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase for 2024, riding Inothewayurthinkin to victory after the horse had been declared as the favourite for the race ahead of it getting underway on Thursday afternoon. William Biddick’s Git Maker and John Gleeson’s Whacker Clan had to settle for second and third place finishes in the end.

After managing to recover from a mistake at the first fence, O’Connor managed to lead Inothewayurthinkin on a powerful run that saw race leader Git Maker caught at the second to last jump, which saw Inothewayurthinkin take the lead and eventually emerge with the victory at a margin of an incredible 8 lengths in the end.

Excitement and anticipation is growing rapidly ahead of the fourth and final day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival – the iconic Gold Cup Day on the afternoon of Friday 15th March 2024. The first race of day four is set to be the 13:30 JCB Triumph Hurdle.

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