March 9, 1999. Copyright, 1999, Graphic News. All rights reserved

CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
By Midge Todhunter

LONDON, March 9, Graphic News:  NATIONAL HUNT Racing Ð races run over hurdles or steeplechase fences Ð is held at 43 racecourses across Britain. In 1999 the sport will stage over 500 meetings totalling nearly 3,500 races, with a cumulative distance of more than 7,500 miles over 30,000 obstacles.
Plus, thereÕs a flourishing amateur section called Point-to-Point Racing run on makeshift rural courses from January to June, which this year will hold 206 meetings.
A relatively young sport, and a direct descendant of hunting, steeplechasing began as individual challenges over natural countryside usually between the spires of local churches Ð hence the name.
A select group of ex-officio stewards known as the Jockey Club form the governing body of horseracing in Britain and are primarily concerned with administering the rules and ensuring fair play.
The sport is administered by the British Horseracing Board which allocates fixtures and agrees funding for racing at each course with the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the government-appointed body which collects and redistributes revenue in the form of betting tax from the 9,000 betting shops across the country.
The National Hunt Festival at Cheltenham is the single most important meeting in British and Irish steeplechasing and is to jump racing what Royal Ascot Ð which also features a Gold Cup Day Ð is to flat racing.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is not just the highlight of the three-day Festival meeting but of the entire season, and is considered the pinnacle by most jump racing professionals. A truly championship race held at level-weights over the optimum distance of three miles with a gruelling uphill finish Ð the winner is widely recognised as the foremost steeplechaser of the year.
Virtually all the greatest chasing names are on the roll of honour, including five-times hero Golden Miller, the legendary Arkle, who won the ÔBlue RibandÕ three times, and more recently the popular grey Desert Orchid.
/ENDS

Source: The Jockey Club