Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has criticized The Jockey Club's recent alterations to the Cheltenham Festival, asserting they diminish the quality of two prominent races.
Michael O'Leary has blasted changes made to races at the Cheltenham Festival , describing them as "insane and misjudged".
READ MORE: Ladies Day tips for the Listowel Races: Brian Flanagan previews the sixth day of the FestivalO'Leary has won five of the last six renewals of the Cross Country with Tiger Roll and Delta Work, using the contest as a preparation race for each of Tiger Roll's Grand National victories in 2018 and 2019, and he feels that Aintree bound horses will now avoid Cheltenham completely due to the race being downgraded.
"The Cheltenham Festival should be about quality, it should be about Grade 1s and quality horses, not more boring handicaps which benefit nobody except bookmakers." Oliver expressed her dismay at not only the removal of amateur status, but also a lack of direct consultation with Cheltenham’s owner the Jockey Club ahead of the alteration.
“It feels especially harsh to see our racing heritage suffer such change and, with the rich variety of backgrounds of our amateur jockeys, for them to be deprived of participating in this historic race. Following the last review of the race in 2019, amateurs were only eligible to ride if they had taken part in at least 20 races and won five times over fences, a condition some trainers were reported to have found difficult to fulfil and meant they had not run their horse in the race.
Cheltenham Festival Michael O'leary Ryanair Race Changes Handicaps
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