Wars, Weather & Disease: Times the Cheltenham Festival Was Cancelled

For so long the Cheltenham Festival has been the highlight of the National Hunt season and racing fans would be devastated if it were to be cancelled or abandoned. Fortunately, this is an increasingly rare occurrence but let us look at the times there has been no festival, or a significantly disrupted one.

When Did the Cheltenham Festival Begin?

The festival itself has origins dating back to 1860, a time when it was known as the Grand National Hunt Meeting. It began with no fixed location, although Warwick Racecourse became a fairly regular host by the turn of the 19th century. There has been no chopping and changing of the location in the past century though, as Cheltenham has been home to the festival since 1911. So, this is where our investigation into years without a Cheltenham Festival begins.

1916-19: WWI

Although the festival continued as normal at the beginning of World War I, the conflict saw the 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919 events cancelled. Even the 1915 edition did not run completely as normal as the course’s luncheon room had been repurposed as a hospital for soldiers.

1931: Frost

Being scheduled for March means the Cheltenham Festival tends to avoid the worst winter weather but it could not escape the frost in 1931. With the bitterly cold conditions unfit for racing, organisers had to call off the proceedings and abandon the meet.

1937: Flooding

The weather was again the culprit as Cheltenham had to scrap several major races such as the Gold Cup and Stayers Hurdle due to flooding. Some of the then three-day festival remained intact but Cheltenham could not host its full schedule due to the wet conditions. This prevented Golden Miller from making it six consecutive wins in the Gold Cup.

1943-45: WWII

Despite WWII lasting longer than WWI, the disruption to the festival was shorter. The horse racing spectacle only had to miss three editions during the latter years of the conflict as the course was requisitioned by British and American soldiers. Most races faced three years in the dark, although the Gold Cup managed to return a year earlier.

1947 & 1949: Snow

Cheltenham enjoyed a full return to normality in 1946 with its full festival offering but the following year and again in 1949, snow and frost saw it forced to cancel some races.

1955: Snow

We had the same situation in 1955, as the weather forced the festival to run with a reduced schedule due to wintery conditions. Most of the major races were able to run as usual though.

1975: Flooding

After a solid uninterrupted streak, the pesky weather returned and flooded the course in 1975. It did not force the cancellation of the entire meeting but not all races were run during this year. For example the Grand Annual, National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup and County Handicap Hurdle were among the races not staged.

1978: Snow

Snow on one day of the festival resulted in the likes of the County Hurdle and Festival Trophy missing out but most of the action took place as normal.

2001: Foot-and-Mouth Disease

The Cheltenham Festival had never been cancelled in advance, outside of wartime, but this changed in 2001 following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Organisers initially attempted to save the festival by rearranging it to April but they had to cancel the back-up plan when a new outbreak of the disease was spotted just five miles from the course. It was believed that the racecourse would receive around £8m back from insurers due to the cancellation of the entire showpiece event.

2021: COVID-19

The Cheltenham Festival ran almost as normal in 2020, being one of the last major sporting events to run before the country went into lockdown due to COVID-19. The decision to host such a crowded event with coronavirus cases on the rise faced some criticism though, as there was a surge in positive cases afterwards. Despite the disruption COVID-19 had on sports, it never resulted in the cancellation of the Cheltenham Festival. The 2021 edition, however, had to operate with no crowd in attendance so it did not have the same feel as a regular festival.

The Race Goes On…

Cheltenham 2021
Hand sanitising stations at Cheltenham 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic

Since being relocated permanently to Cheltenham in 1911, the Cheltenham Festival has been a consistently present figure in the National Hunt calendar. With the exception of WWI and WWII, the only year they were forced to cancel it (rather than abandon parts of it) was in 2001. During this time it has not run at an alternative venue either.