In the ongoing 2024 season, there will be several significant races. The horse racing culture is vibrant all around the globe, not just in this one area where these races take place. One of these highly anticipated Grade 1 horse races is the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This year, however, the fan favorite, II Est Francais, wouldn’t be able to participate in the popular 3m 2f 70y horse race that has 22 fences.

Following its 2023 Kempton triumph, II Est Francais gained the attention of horse racing fans as a possible contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Everyone admired the horse because of how dominant it was in many graded stakes. Noel George, the horse’s long-time trainer, revealed that the horse would not be competing this season because of the recent cold spell.

The scratch of the Cheltenham Gold Cup hopeful

Very few horses can claim to be race hopefuls, much less for a Grade 1 event. Every year, racegoers from all around the world, eagerly await the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The weather, however, impacted several English racecourses this winter. The cold wave came with freezing temperatures, which led to the postponement or cancelation of several events in the UK. This cold wave has also affected the majority of Europe. According to At The Races, the horse’s home in Chantilly has also been affected by this weather.

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The trainer of II Est Francais decided against taking the horse to Cheltenham because of the severe weather. In addition, Noel George said that the horse had “put on 20kg” and is in excellent condition. The trainer further added, saying, “We had a big frost the last week, so he missed another week and I don’t think we will be coming to Cheltenham, but he’s in great form.” Despite not running the horse at the Grade 1 event in Cheltenham, George still aims to attend the G1 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris in May.

The anticipated French Group 1 race

Every year, the Auteuil Racecourse hosts the G1 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. This year’s scheduled dates for the prestigious Group 1 race, also called the French Gold Cup, are May 18th and 19th. The horse racing weekend would not only be hosting the Group 1 race but also be up with other races and a plethora of off-track events for the entertainment of the audience.

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Only horses who are five years old or older would be allowed to compete in the G1 race. The race would cover an astounding 3 and ¾ miles, with an average finishing time of seven minutes. There will be challenging obstacles in the way of the horses, too. The variation of these hurdles would make them a tough challenge for the equines. Any horse entered into the G1 race would have a formidable task, but the winner would go down in the annals of horse racing.

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