Paddy Flood: Wednesday-Saturday Could Create ‘Big Problem’ for Cheltenham The Cheltenham Festival has a “big problem” if it moves to Wednesday to Saturday, according to Paddy Flood. Speaking on irishracing.com’s Irish Angle show this week, the Festival-winning former jockey called on organisers to stop tweaking with the programme and reduce the amount of racing to three days. It was confirmed last week that the Mares’ Hurdle has moved from Thursday to Tuesday and will switch to the new course. On Sunday, Cheltenham’s chief executive Guy Lavender seemed to suggest it could move from Tuesday to Friday to Wednesday to Saturday. Racing Can’t Compete With Other Sports Asked if Cheltenham would be able to survive against the rest of the sporting calendar at a weekend, Flood said: “I don’t think it will. “I think it’s a problem — a big problem for Cheltenham. “I don’t like all this tinkering — trying this, changing that. “Look, changing the mares’ race will make a difference, it’s on a different course, a different round of jumping. That’s something. “But going from Wednesday to Saturday — you’re going to compete with something big on a Saturday. “And the TV coverage isn’t good enough to compete with the Six Nations or any major football match. A big football game would take over that — it’s more exciting to watch. “ITV, for me, is a bore. And if it’s boring me, it’s going to bore the old fans as well. “Realistically, there was nothing wrong with Cheltenham. Why are we tinkering and tapping away at it? Three days was super. The best three days of jump racing in the year. “It was like the Olympics. We don’t tinker with the Olympics either, do we? “It might never happen, but for me, it’s worrying that it’s even being talked about. If they’re not careful, they could lose the allure of Cheltenham completely. “At the minute, it’s Irish dominance. I know people who’ve been going for donkey’s years who aren’t going this year — they just can’t be bothered. “Your average forty-year-old plus person isn’t. They’re going to the pub — and if there’s a big game on, that’ll be on the main screen, and Cheltenham will be on the other one." Less Is More Racing journalist Johnny Ward also called for the Festival to go back to three days, as it was before the four-day programme was introduced in 2005. “I’ve gone on the record a million times about this — I’d prefer Cheltenham to go back to a three-day festival. Get rid of the rubbish mares’ races that have no place there in the first place, and a few other races. A three day Festival would be fine. That’s not going to happen, by the looks of it. “It also looks like there is talk of a horrible prospect of a five-day festival — which, amazingly, some people in the sport seem to be a fan of, including high-ranking officials. “That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen because the crowd figures, in terms of demise, especially on the Wednesday are quite stark. “I remember Eddie O’Leary saying this to me last year, or earlier this year, in relation to Cheltenham — that he feels people are a bit too obsessed with the crowd issue. That it’s kind of like Royal Ascot now, where you’ll go for a day or a couple of days. And I kind of get that. “I remember meeting David Jennings’ mother, and both she and David’s dad were going for the four days. And I was like, ‘Jesus, even if I were going, I think I’d struggle with four days at this stage.’ It’s tough going now. Even if you’re not going to the bars, there’s just a lot happening. The Case For Wednesday To Saturday However, Ward claimed that if the Festival is to stay over four days, Wednesday to Saturday would make more sense than the current schedule. He explained: “If the four days are here to stay, I actually do feel that Wednesday to Saturday would have plenty going for it. “Wednesday would be a start, and you’re building towards Friday and Saturday. There’d be an amazing buzz on Friday and Saturday, as the weekend builds. “Maybe it’s a bit anomalous now that these big festivals basically take place midweek, when people’s sporting interest is generally focused more on weekends. “The traditionalists would say it’s moving further away from what Cheltenham was. But Cheltenham isn’t what it was. “Wednesday to Saturday might actually work because Saturday is such a showpiece day. The Wednesday as it stands is in big trouble, and losing the Tuesday wouldn’t be a big issue. I think it’s worth looking at.” Pricing The Real Issue Both felt that the status quo does not offer the necessary quality given the rising costs of attendance. As Ward explained, it is also something on the mind of master trainer Willie Mullins. He said: “I asked Willie Mullins about this — I can’t remember if it was this year or last — but Willie’s point was that Cheltenham is too expensive for the racegoer. “If you look at the cost of staying over there, that’s absolutely true. But the problem for racing is that — and this isn’t Willie’s problem — I don’t want to go to Cheltenham to see four odds-on favourites in six-runner races. I don’t want that, I don’t want to see diluted fields. "Cheltenham has gone way, way down in terms of the allure for me. The buzz I got, whether that was at the pub or Cheltenham itself, was to see proper, proper championship races — Brave Inca, Harchibald, Hardy Eustace. “Now you’ve got 1-4 shots, three odds-on winners in a day. That’s not Cheltenham to me. “Because of the Irish dominance it’s lost its allure big time and four days is not helping.” Flood agreed, claiming that the Cheltenham Festival experience no longer offers value for money. He explained: “It’s already very hard to get accommodation in Cheltenham, very hard to get a drink for the right price, very hard to do anything affordably there. If you start diluting the racing as well, it’s not value for anyone. It’s not fun. "People like us have to work to afford to go. And if it’s not interesting to us anymore, what’s the point?” And irishracing.com editor Vincent Finegan pointed to the trend of fans going to Benidorm to watch the event on television as evidence of this. He said: “You’ll spend your money somewhere else. “As we’ve seen, people go to Benidorm or wherever instead, or just stay home and go to the pub. That’s the problem. It needs to be value for money, and it needs to be exciting. Those are the two things they’ve got to balance.”
