RACING: Jumps trainers yesterday praised the initiative of the Cheltenham racecourse executive in their bid to extend the National Hunt Festival to four days from 2005.
Although details have yet to be finalised, it appears the hordes who descend on Prestbury Park in mid-March can add an extra night to their accommodation needs in two years time.
Dual Gold Cup-winning trainer Noel Chance led the positive response to the concept.
"I'm delighted with the news," said the Lambourn trainer who saddled Mr Mulligan (1997) and Looks Like Trouble (2000) to success in the Blue Riband event.
"Apart from everything else, it gives us trainers the chance to earn another three or four hundred thousand quid!" Chance does not believe extending the festival will dilute the quality of racing on offer.
"I don't think that at all," he said. "After all, they only have to find five more races. I think they should include a two-and-a-half mile champion chase somewhere.
"Take a horse like Florida Pearl, who has won the King George. He doesn't seem to have the stamina for the Gold Cup but over two-and-a-half miles he would be a formidable horse.
"And look at One Man. In the Gold Cup, the gas ran out up the hill and he had to drop back to two miles for the Queen Mother Champion Chase to win a big one.
"But if there was a two-and-a-half miler he would have won that twice."
Gold Cup-winning jockey turned trainer Mark Pitman agreed with Chance. "(It is) a great idea and I'm all for it," said the man who guided Garrison Savannah to his 1991 success.
"It's a wonderful course and I don't think they would have any problem at all getting fresh ground for the fourth day. And one of the extra races could perhaps be the EBF Final for National Hunt-bred horses."
Jim Old, who trained Collier Bay to victory in the 1996 Smurfit Champion Hurdle, agreed with his colleagues, although he was concerned for his health.
He said: "If it's good for the industry we must support it, but it won't be very good on the liver! But we don't want to dilute the quality or lose the "magic", and more doesn't necessarily mean more magic."
One dissenting voice was Willie Mullins. "I'd prefer a three-day festival and keep the quality," he said.
"Just having a quick glance through this morning, I didn't like the new format. A lot of festivals in Ireland have extended themselves from two and three days to four, six or seven-day festivals. For my money it's spoiled one or two of them and the others are going that way. Bigger isn't better."
However, the unrelated pair, Jeff King and Alan King, could not find an argument against the move. "I don't see anything against it," said Jeff.
