Cheltenham grandstand opens as final part of £45m redevelopment
Cheltenham fans will be in for a treat this season, as the racecourse’s new grandstand opens next month.
The five and a half storey grandstand is the final part of a £45m redevelopment of the Gloucestershire course.
It will be unveiled to the public on Friday, 13 November, with Princess Anne conducting the official opening at 11.30am.
Over the past 19 months, a number of different areas of Cheltenham racecourse have been redeveloped — with the new stand the centrepiece of the project.
As well as viewing and areas for owners and trainers and annual members, the next stand will host two new bars.
One is on the ground floor named after former Cheltenham chairman Lord Vestey, and a second is on the first floor called Big Buck’s Champagne Bar, in honour of the four-times World Hurdle winner.
“We feel very privileged to not only own him but the honour of having this fabulous new bar at the best racecourse in the world named after him,” said owner Andy Stewart.
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Other new developments at the course include a refurbished weighing room, a new first aid room and the new crescent walkway which will be open for the Showcase meeting (23-24 October) and will greatly assist racegoers’ mobility behind the grandstand and offer additional viewing of the parade ring
“The team and I could not be more excited that we are to open the new grandstand at Cheltenham on the first day of The Open,” said Cheltenham’s Ian Renton.
“Since we started the project in earnest immediately after the Festival in 2014, all of those involved in this new development have worked tirelessly to deliver such a fantastic new grandstand in readiness for this season, as well as providing significant enhancements to our racegoers’ experience as the works progressed over the last one and a half years.
“The feedback on those parts of the redevelopment that we have already opened has been incredibly positive and I am sure that those who experience all that the new stand has to offer over the coming months will agree that this is a stand of which Cheltenham and its racegoers can be really proud.”
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.