Gold Cup and Grand National stars to parade at Cheltenham Festival

cheltenham racecard — Native River, pictured centre, is among the retrained racing heroes to parade at the Cheltenham Festival.

(Image credit: PA)

Retrained Gold Cup and Grand National heroes are set to star on the opening day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.

Native River, Coneygree and Pineau De Re are among the 11 horses set to take part in the annual Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) parade at 12.30pm on Tuesday (12 March).

The line-up also features Saphir Du Rheu, a Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase winner at Aintree when saddled by Paul Nicholls and double Cheltenham Festival winner Champagne Fever. Also taking part in the parade are four-time Cheltenham Festival runner-up Melon, popular greys Smad Place, Bristol De Mai and Duc Des Genievres, Balthazar King – who finished second to Pineau De Re in the Grand National, and multiple Grade One-winning chaser Kemboy.

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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.

Gold Cup heroes, Grand National stars and popular greys to parade at Cheltenham

Coneygree, trained by the late Mark Bradstock, and the Colin Tizzard-trained Native River, won the Gold Cup in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Pineau De Re, who won the 2014 Grand National, has excelled in his second career enjoying eventing and dressage with Lizzie Brunt.

RoR managing director David Catlow said that there is a “lovely cross-section of horses in the parade”.

“They are all high performers on the racecourse, but some have had notable success in their second careers, while others simply enjoy an active and fulfilling retirement, competing at lower levels,” said Mr Catlow.

The display will take place in the parade ring ahead of the first race.

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