Cheltenham Festival radio coverage: How to listen to every race
Frankie Dettori announces retirement as horse racing legend confirms farewell plans
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Not everyone will be able to drop everything at 1.30pm on Tuesday to watch all of the action at the Cheltenham Festival, though that does not mean that they will only be able to stay up to date by reading the bare results. There are radio stations providing commentary on all of the races at National Hunt racing’s biggest meeting.
The four-day festival kicks off with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, though coverage of the event will start long before the starter lets them go. ITV Racing and Racing TV are set to be the leading broadcasters of Cheltenham, though the BBC will be covering all angles on the radio.
They have confirmed that BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra will be trackside to bring listeners all the latest from what is going to be an unbelievable four days of racing. Radio 5 Live will also be covering the feature races on each day, with thorough coverage of the Gold Cup on Friday.
The Jockey Club have also announced that they have launched their own special radio station specifically for the Cheltenham Festival. The coverage will start at 10am each day and run through until midnight, with streams providing weather and travel updates in the area for locals as well.
The station is accessible online as well as at the racecourse itself. Punters on the track will be able to tune into the coverage and receive tips and opinions from esteemed figures in the industry, such as Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey Lizzie Kelly.
The Supreme will kick off the meeting in dramatic fashion, with Willie Mullins’ Facile Vega looking to bounce back from his underwhelming run last month to prove why he is one of the most exciting horses in training. The gelding lost his unbeaten record at Leopardstown last time out, having gone off too quickly with front-runner High Definition.
Speaking about his chances on Paddy Power’s Cheltenham Preview, Tony Mullins revealed that he believes Facile Vega is a ‘bad favourite’ despite being full of praise for him previously, saying: “I very stupidly nominated Facile Vega as the best horse I’ve ever seen. I’m very sorry I said that. I mixed up youthful exuberance with real champion ability. He has a lot to do to redeem. I don’t care if they went too fast, he just wasn’t good enough at Leopardstown.
“I think everyone is forgetting the performance Il Etait Temps (who won the race) gave. He sat in behind, pulled out, quickened and went away from them. To me, he’s. The one. Facile Vega is obviously a good horse but he has a lot to learn. Leopardstown exposed him. He’s a bad favourite.”
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