The race known as the “amateurs’ Gold Cup” has been renamed after the Princess Royal, an “outstanding all-round equestrian”.
Cheltenham racecourse has announced that the hunters’ chase, which runs at the Festival immediately after the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, will now be The Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase.
The race is run over the same course as the Gold Cup on the last day of the Festival, which runs from Tuesday to Friday next week (10-13 March). It is not the first race at the meeting to be named in honour of a member of the royal family; the Queen Mother Champion Chase was renamed in 1980, the year of the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday.
The National Hunt Chase, on the opening day of the Festival, will no longer carry the Princess Royal’s name; it returns to being run as the National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Handicap Chase.
The Princess Royal is a frequent visitor to Cheltenham; she opened the Princess Royal Stand at the racecourse in November 2015, and her daughter Zara Tindall has been a member of the racecourse committee since 2019.
Cheltenham chief executive Guy Lavender said: “The Hunters’ Chase at the Festival is a contest that recognises and celebrates the very origins of our great sport. We therefore feel it is very appropriate to stage it under the name of Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal – an outstanding all-round equestrian who has excelled in a wide range of disciplines.”
Princess Anne won individual European eventing gold with Doublet in 1971 and team and individual silver in 1975 with Goodwill, with whom she became the first member of the royal family to compete at the Olympics, a year later.
She also rode as an amateur jockey, winning on the Flat and over jumps.
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H&H news editor
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.