- Written by Frank Keogh
- BBC Sport at Cheltenham
image source, Getty Images
The cross-country chase takes place on a different track than other races at Cheltenham
Wednesday's Cheltenham Festival cross-country chase has been canceled due to parts of the track being submerged in water and will not be rescheduled.
Officials said 11 millimeters of rain fell on the course on Tuesday.
Six races will continue to be held on the old course, with race starts delayed by 15 minutes to 13:45 GMT.
Willie Mullins runs favorite El Fabiolo in the Queen Mother Champion Chase (16:00 GMT) as he approaches an historic 100 Cheltenham Festival wins.
Tuesday's treble, led by Champion Hurdle winner States Man, was the Irishman's 97th win.
Last year's Arkle Chase winner, jockey El Fabiolo, was scheduled to rekindle his rivalry with runner-up Jon Bon, but trainer Nicky Henderson withdrew his candidacy.
Henderson's perennial star Constitution Hill was removed from the Champion Hurdle due to lack of practice, while First Street and Kingston Pride also withdrew from other races.
“I am disappointed that we have had to make a very tough decision following the very disappointing performance of all but one of our horses yesterday,” he said.
The cross-country chase is run on a different course to other races at Cheltenham and does not have as much displacement.
The conditions on the Old Course were officially described as soft and heavy in places.
A spokesperson for Cheltenham said: “Despite the 11mm of rain that continued yesterday, there has been no improvement in the conditions on the cross-country course, making parts of the course unrunable, so unfortunately the cross-country chase has been cancelled. It became,” he said.
“The weather forecast for the rest of this week remains uncertain, with further rain possible on both Thursday and Friday.
“Therefore, it has been decided not to reschedule the race due to insufficient improvements to the cross-country course by Friday.”
image source, Getty Images
Willie Mullins (right) is three places away from 100 winners at Cheltenham.
Mullins has plenty of chances on Wednesday with odds-on favorite Ballyburn in the Gallagher Novices Hurdle and Fact to File in the Brown Advisory Novices Chase.
The day was once promoted as Women's Day, but is now branded as “Style Wednesday.”
The first of the four days at Cheltenham drew 60,181 spectators, but two horses died on Tuesday, Highland Hunter, trained by Fergal O'Brien, and Oars Partir, stabled by Martin Brassil.
A Cheltenham spokesperson said: “The Highland Hunter was immediately examined by veterinary experts during the final stages of the third race, but unfortunately passed away.
“Ocepartir was injured in the sixth race and was humanely euthanized. We would like to express our deepest condolences to both horses.”
Wednesday revised schedule
13:45 – Gallagher Beginner's Hurdle, 2m 5f
14:30 – Brown Advisory Beginner Chase, 3m 1/2f
15:15 – Coral Cup Hurdle (handicap hurdle race), 2m5f
16:00 – Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, 2m
16:50 – Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase, 2m
17:30 – Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Standard Open NH Flat Race), 2m 1/2f
