Mares and fillies will be given their chance to shine at Cheltenham’s first raceday devoted to female horses.
Taking place on day two of the April meeting (19 April) the mares’ raceday offers a seven-race programme, with £190,000 in prize money.
It will be the first time a National Hunt racecourse will stage an all-mares’ race card.
“With two mares-only races at the Festival and this card following four weeks later the mares’ programme is developing and, hopefully, owners be encouraged to run mares at the home of jump racing, especially late in the season,” said Simon Claisse, the Jockey Club’s southwest regional head of racing, and Cheltenham’s clerk of the course.
“My thanks go to British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for their help in bringing this concept together — we are very much looking forward to hosting the mares’ card in April.”
The richest races are the £40,000 mares’ novices’ handicap chase finale and the £40,000 four-year-old fillies’ juvenile handicap hurdle.
“We have been working for some time towards jump racing’s first all-mares’ card,” added BHA racing operations manager Stuart Middleton.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“Cheltenham has long since held the same ambition and, having between us, expanded their card to include four mares’ races already, it is the obvious venue to give this exciting venture a try.
The Love Island finalist is an avid racing fan and said he has ‘always wanted’ to become a jockey
“This initiative forms yet another part of our ongoing commitment to bolstering the overall mares’ programme and providing an incentive to own and train jump mares.
“We hope that the fixture will garner positive publicity and the promise of being part of a unique event at such an iconic venue will, we hope, be yet another reason to be excited about ownership of mares at all tiers of the sport.”
For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.
