The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online sportsbook StanJames.com, the race is now known as the Stan James Champion Hurdle. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about two miles and 110 yards (3,319 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
As its title suggests, the Champion Hurdle is the most prestigious hurdling event in the National Hunt calendar. Its list of winners features many of the most highly acclaimed hurdlers in the sport's history, and several of these, such as National Spirit, Hatton's Grace, Persian War and Lanzarote, have had races named in their honour.
Famous quotes containing the word champion:
“Let’s not quibble! I’m the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, “I’d rather be strongly wrong than weakly right.””
—Tallulah Bankhead (1903–1968)