Willie Mullins has deemed the decision to allow professional jockeys to ride in the National Hunt Chase as a “backwards move”.
The three-mile-six-furlong contest was one of three events for the amateur ranks at the Cheltenham Festival, alongside the Kim Muir and the Hunters’ Chase, but from next year that restriction will be lifted.
Following a review of the 2024 Festival, the Jockey Club announced the race will now be run as a 0-145 novices’ handicap chase, one of a number of changes to the race programme that also includes the Grade One Turners Novices’ Chase moving to a Grade Two limited handicap.
Mullins has won the Turners a record four times with the likes of Sir Des Champs and Vautour, while he claimed the National Hunt Chase twice as a jockey and four times as a trainer – with changes to the latter race attracting his criticism.
He told Racing TV: “It’s very disappointing for amateur riders that they weren’t consulted and it’s a feature race for amateurs over the years with prestige and history. I thought that was a backwards move. They’ve been messing around with the race for years and have not made it any better.”
The Jockey Club has also announced measures to provide “a better experience and value for all visitors”, an area Mullins believes is really in need of attention.
He added: “We all know what is wrong with Cheltenham and it has just got too expensive for ordinary punters to go there for a day’s racing – and if they want to get the people back there, then it’s cost, nothing to do with the horses that are running.”
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