Bluffers' guide to the Cheltenham Festival 2022

Bluffers' guide to the Cheltenham Festival 2022 explains the basics of the sport. Frankie Dettori is not riding and Red Rum is off the race card.

There are 13 races at the Cheltenham Festival that are either hurdles or chases. The difference between the two is that hurdles are small obstacles, often made of woven gorse or birch and measure 3½ feet from top to bottom. Horses start their careers over hurdles before graduating to fences.

The significance of the race distance in horse racing is defined by the trainer. Racing around two miles is for speedsters, contests over three miles for those with stamina and races that sit in between are for horses that have the best of both attributes.

Bluffers' guide to the Cheltenham Festival 2022.

The biggest races at the Cheltenham Festival are the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and the Grand Annual. The oldest race at Chelterham is the Annual, which dates back to 1834. The Gold Cup is considered the most prestigious of all National Hunt events.

Horse racing is a sport where the official handicapper gives each horse an equal chance of winning.

Half of all the 28 races at the Cheltenham Festival are grade one. The rest are made up of grade two and three races.

Novelty is a horse that hasn't won a race under a particular code at the start of the season. Bob Olinger won last year's Ballymore Novices' Hurdle but has since graduated to fences. It is possible for a novice to enter one of Cheltenham's big races, for example the Gold Cup.

There are two races at the meeting for mares only - the Mares' Hurdle and the mare's Novices' hurdles. Annie Power won the Champion Hundo in 2016 and Honeysuckle followed suit in 2021.

The going is the condition of the ground. It could be hard, firm, good, soft, or good to soft. The going in Irish racing is equivalent to British good-to-soft. Cheltenham officials expect the going to be good but soft in places.

There are three types of jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival. Professionals compete in 24 of the 28 races, conditional jockey can compete only in the Conditional Jockeying's Handicap Hurdle and amateurs compete at Foxhunter Chase, Kim Muir Challenge Cup and National Hunt Challenge.

A place is the first place in a race of less than 8 runners or the top 3 in races of 8 or more. In a handicap with over 16 runners, a place refers to the next 4 to finish.