Mares' Hurdle moves to Thursday at Cheltenham Festival

In a change to the race programme at The Festival (Tuesday 10th March to Friday 13th March in 2026), Cheltenham Racecourse announces today that the Grade One Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle will move from Champion Day (Tuesday) and now take place on St Patrick’s Thursday.

The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle was added to The Festival in 2008 and is registered as the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle in honour of the late jockey and trainer who enjoyed such great success at the Home of Jump Racing. Since 2009, it has taken place on Champion Day.

Initially a Grade Two contest, it was upgraded to Grade One status in 2015. The Willie Mullins-trained Quevega became the first horse to win a race six times at The Festival when successful in every running from 2009 to 2014.

With the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle now taking place on St Patrick’s Thursday, there is a slight change to the race distance due to the race moving to the New Course from the Old Course. The race distance on the New Course is now 2m 4f 56y compared to 2m 3f 200y on the Old Course.

Swapping places with the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle is the TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase. The two-and a-half-mile Premier Handicap moves from St Patrick’s Thursday to become the sixth race on Champion Day.

A further change to the running order on St Patrick’s Thursday is that the feature race, the Ryanair Chase will now take place at 4pm with the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle being run at 3:20pm.

Explaining the changes, Jon Pullin, Head of Racing at The Jockey Club & Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “The race programme at The Festival is one of constant evolution and we are always looking at ways to enhance the experience for all stakeholders.

“We made a number of significant changes to the race programme ahead of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and were pleased with the impact that these made in the first year. As a result, we aren’t making any further significant changes to the programme for 2026 but will be amending the running order by switching the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle to St Patrick’s Thursday and the TrustATrader plate will move to the opening day.  

“Having previously been run on Champion Day, the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle was always somewhat in the shadow of the Unibet Champion Hurdle. This has been particularly evident in recent years since it was elevated to Grade One status and taking place as the race immediately before the Unibet Champion Hurdle on the card.

“The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle is the pinnacle of a very successful mares’ programme that has been developed by the industry over the last 20 years. In this time, we have seen the number of mares training in Great Britain increase from 18% to almost 25% and some of the most memorable moments at The Festival include performances by mares such as Honeysuckle and Epatante. By moving to St Patrick’s Thursday, we feel the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle will receive more attention and receive the coverage a race of its status merits.

“We also believe this change enhances the overall race programme across The Festival, with each of the four days now having at least three Grade One contests.”