Gold Cup heroes, Grand National stars and popular greys to parade at Cheltenham

Retrained Gold Cup and Grand National heroes are set to star on the opening day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.

Native River, Coneygree and Pineau De Re are among the 11 horses set to take part in the annual Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) parade at 12.30pm on Tuesday (12 March).

Coneygree, trained by the late Mark Bradstock, and the Colin Tizzard-trained Native River, won the Gold Cup in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Pineau De Re, who won the 2014 Grand National, has excelled in his second career enjoying eventing and dressage with Lizzie Brunt.

RoR managing director David Catlow said that there is a “lovely cross-section of horses in the parade”.

“They are all high performers on the racecourse, but some have had notable success in their second careers, while others simply enjoy an active and fulfilling retirement, competing at lower levels,” said Mr Catlow.

“The varied lives these horses lead highlights the care and dedication to aftercare we have in Great Britain. However, this also underscores the need for further support and resources, as set out in the RoR Strategy 2024-2026, to ensure every retired racehorse finds a fulfilling second career or retirement.”

The line-up also features Saphir Du Rheu, a Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase winner at Aintree when saddled by Paul Nicholls and double Cheltenham Festival winner Champagne Fever. Also taking part in the parade are four-time Cheltenham Festival runner-up Melon, popular greys Smad Place, Bristol De Mai and Duc Des Genievres, Balthazar King – who finished second to Pineau De Re in the Grand National, and multiple Grade One-winning chaser Kemboy.

The display will take place in the parade ring ahead of the first race.

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