• Nearly 40% of 2026 races at showpiece meeting affected

• Track layout and listening devices for stewards on menu

The British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday that it aims to introduce a series of measures before next year’s Cheltenham festival to tackle a significant rise in the number of false starts at National Hunt’s showpiece meeting. The percentage of false starts has climbed steadily over the past five years, from 18% in 2022 to nearly 40% at the 2026 meeting. The rate of false starts in jump racing is around 4% over the same period.

A review of this year’s meeting identified particular problems at the starts for races over two and two-and-a-half miles, which begin near a bend.

Former Tottenham manager says ‘I would give it a go’ after seeing his horse weaken up the Cheltenham hill

Harry Redknapp is the living embodiment of Spurs’ motto, Audere est Facere: To Dare Is To Do. And on the day one improbable dream ended, with his horse The Jukebox Man fading to finish eighth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the 79-year-old switched his sights towards another bold adventure: saving Tottenham from relegation.

“It’s a big challenge,” said Redknapp, who managed Spurs between 2008 and 2012. “Do I need the pressure at this stage of my life? Why not? I’d give it a go. I’m not too old. I feel as fit as a fiddle. If they ask me, I think I’d do a good job.”

• Well-backed favourite is trainer’s fifth winner in race

• Jockey Townend out on his own with five successes

A capacity crowd had squeezed into the grandstands on Friday hoping to see a football legend lift the festival’s biggest prize, but the greatest trainer in National Hunt history had other ideas. The Gold Cup was one of the last races at the meeting to elude Willie Mullins until his first win in 2019. Now he has five, joining Tom Dreaper, Arkle’s trainer, as the co-holder of the all-time record, after Gaelic Warrior’s relentless charge up the hill to an eight-length success.

Paul Townend, meanwhile, is now out on his own as the only rider to win five Gold Cups, one more than Pat Taaffe, who steered Arkle to all three of his victories in the 1960s.

Paul Townend romped to Gold Cup victory on Gaelic Warrior to deny Harry Redknapp’s The Jukebox Man

Time flies – the day’s first race is about 25 minutes away. Here are the latest odds, via Oddschecker.

1.20 JCB Triumph Hurdle

Victory for former Spurs manager’s horse in Cheltenham’s top race would be one of the best sporting stories of the year

Harry Redknapp was in a reflective mood after watching Taurus Bay, his first runner at this year’s meeting, finish among the also-rans in Wednesday’s Turners Novices’ Hurdle. It was a decent performance – Taurus Bay was a 33-1 shot, after all – but it was the disappointing run by the favourite, No Drama This End, that was on Redknapp’s mind as he looked forward to his second runner on Friday: The Jukebox Man, one of the favourites for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Redknapp said. “Max McNeill [the owner of No Drama this End], he’s the most lovely man, he had the favourite there and I know how he’s been. I saw him before the race, all the expectations, and he ends up tailed off. It’s unreal.”

• Pair shake hands but BHA will continue inquiry

• Mullins strongly critical of ground at meeting

Declan Queally and Nico de Boinville appeared to resolve their differences on Thursday after an angry and controversial exchange of words before the start of the first race on Wednesday.

Queally lodged a complaint with the stewards that he had received verbal abuse from De Boinville, some of which was of a racial nature, when he lined up against the running rail shortly before the field was due to set off for the Grade One contest.

Updates from third day of the Cheltenham festival
Day three tips | Queally accuses De Boinville | Mail Niall

And with that, I’ll hand over the reins to Niall McVeigh. Have a great afternoon and hope you back a winner or two …

One of the biggest issues for a number of years now at the Cheltenham festival has been the starts of races and this week has been the same so far with a number of unsatisfactory starts so far. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has now announced that a full review will take place into the starts of races at the Cheltenham festival following its conclusion.

The BHA’s statement reads: “Following several false starts in 2025, the BHA worked with the PJA and the Jockey Club to discuss the issues that were contributing to the starts. Measured alterations were subsequently made to some starting locations. At the same time, work was undertaken with jockeys to ensure that the rules and procedures were understood by all participants ahead of the start of the 2026 Festival.

“The review will consider factors such as the configuration of the course, the perspectives of riders from differing jurisdiction and licence types, the process of starting the race including the preliminaries and starting process, technology, the penalties and deterrents for rule breaches and the other, varied contributing factors which are unique to the Cheltenham Festival.”

• Irish amateur and British jockey argued at race start

• Il Etait Temps triumphs in Champion Chase

The Cheltenham festival was mired in controversy over alleged racial abuse on Wednesday evening after Declan Queally, an Irish amateur jockey, claimed the leading British rider Nico de Boinville had subjected him to a series of verbal attacks before the start of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle.

Queally and De Boinville could be seen exchanging words on ITV ­Racing’s coverage as 21 runners and riders jostled for position before the start of the opening race.

Insiders worry about how to grow racing as costs rise but JP McManus continues to find winners in his 50th year in the sport

No sooner had Lossiemouth lifted the roof off Cheltenham with a staggeringly dominant Champion Hurdle victory than the skies around Prestbury Park also began to brighten too. The buildup to the festival had been dominated by talk of civil war, of feuding and internecine conflict. But this was a reminder of the sport’s simple pleasures. Horse and jockey. Fence and turf. Drama and thrills for the ages.

This was a day that jump racing needed. The opening day attendance of 57,242 was the highest for three years. It made Cheltenham feel like a place to be while not bursting at the seams, a balancing act it has not always managed. Most important of all, the racing was competitive and the stars came out to play.

The next three weekends of relentless action will put us within touching distance of a definitive answer

Cheltenham opens its doors for the final time before the festival meeting for an eight-race Trials Day card on Saturday, marking the start of a frenetic 15-day period of action during which, according to recent figures as least, trainers will apply the finishing touches to at least half of the runners and about 60% of the winners over the four days in March.

And this year it will do so amid a refreshed sense of optimism, both at the track and in British jumping as a whole, that things are (finally) on the up.