The old course is used for the Open Meeting in November and for the first two days of the Festival in March, hosting the Champion Hurdle and Queen Mother Champion Chase as well as the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Arkle Chase, Neptune Novices' Hurdle and RSA Chase. It's probably safe to say it favours the more speedy horse or those that travel well through their race.
Racing is staged on the New Course for the December Gold Cup meeting, Festival Trials Day in January and the last two days of the Cheltenham Festival in March, where it plays host to the Cheltenham Gold Cup as well as World Hurdle, Triumph Hurdle and Ryanair Chase.
Both courses demand stamina. The old course is on the outside going away from the stands but cuts back on the inside of the New Course again well before the home straight.
Mick Fitzgerald sums it up well here;
"To the naked eye, or to the layman, Cheltenham looks very stiff, but the two courses are actually totally different and I rate the Old Course much the quicker. So, especially on that, you need a horse that can travel easily within itself. Without one of those, you invariably find yourself snookered, because you’re always trying to get into a position to improve.
“IF YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT GOING FOR A GAP, NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN IT’S TOO LATE”
Ideally, therefore, you need a horse that can get into a gap as soon as one appears, because there’s so little time to manoeuvre. If you have to think about going for a gap, nine times out of ten it’s too late - someone else will have got into it before you.
As for the uphill finish, it only rides really testing if you’re on one that’s tying up. Then, it feels like an eternity from the last to the line."
