Cheltenham 2023: 'The Irish would love to win them all'

Safe to say, were he around today, the Very Reverend Francis Close, the one-time fire breathing Anglican rector of Cheltenham would not be a happy man.

Way back in the 1820s , the reverend would often rail against the perils of alcoholic liquors, betting, adultery and even theatre-going, so obviously he wasn't best pleased to witness a fairly rapid growth in the popularity of racing on Cheltenham’s famous Cleeve Hill.

Such was the effect of Reverend Close’s protestations, the 1829 meeting was reportedly disrupted, with bottles and rocks thrown at horses and jockeys.

Worse would follow. Devout members of his congregation were allegedly responsible for the burning down of the racecourse grandstand the following year, prompting the move down to Prestbury Park.

Hey big spenders

Things have improved for National Hunt fans in the near 200 years since.

Around 280,000 of them came through the gates of Prestbury Park last year. Indeed numbers will be curtailed slightly this year to ensure a more comfortable experience for those attending.

Those travelling spend big too.

A 2016 financial impact report by the University of Gloucester found the festival to be worth around €110m to the local economy. The university repeated the exercise last year and found figures had jumped almost three-fold to €310m.

The study doesn't identify the origin of those attending, but it found a third of them arrive in Cheltenham at least a day before the festival and leave at least a day after. Fair to guesstimate then that around 30,000 or so have crossed the Irish Sea.

It's certainly not cheap to worship at the colosseum of the Cotswolds. Hotel prices are eye-watering to say the least . A room in one mid-standard hotel chain for example, costing €140 next