Cheltenham Racing Club

Cheltenham Racecourse is often at the forefront of doing things a little differently, and in the Summer of 1993, it launched The Cheltenham Racing Club. The aim was to give Jump racing enthusiasts the excitement of involvement with racehorses and the dream of winning races at Cheltenham - a feat achieved five times to date. Gold Cup winning trainer David Nicholson (who purchased and trained our horse Zaitoon to win six races) was an Honorary and Lifetime Member of the Club and since his death Mrs Dinah Nicholson has become our President.

The enthusiastic Membership (which is restricted to 250 in number) has been well rewarded, with our horses winning a total of 33 races thus far. In addition to those five wins at Cheltenham, our horses have won four races at Worcester, Market Rasen and Plumpton, two at Haydock Park, Ludlow and Wincanton and one each at Bangor-on-Dee, Carlisle, Chepstow, Exeter, Huntingdon, Newton Abbot, Perth, Taunton and Warwick. Horses in Cheltenham Racing's colour have run on 234 occasions, with a 14% winning strike rate and 60% of our runners finishing in the first four, a tremendous record of success.

Entering the parade ring as an owner is a great thrill for everyone who has dreamed of involvement in racehorse ownership, but going behind the scenes and seeing your horse in its home environment provides a rare treat for the racing enthusiast. This really does allow you to see the amount of care, attention and sheer hard work that goes into training racehorses by everyone at the yard and this aspect of ownership is, for many Club members, the highlight of their involvement. You also get the chance to talk to the trainers about our horses, their targets and see all the other stars of the stable at close quarters.

The club usually has three horses in training at any one time, with the current squad being: Prestbury Knight with Nigel Twiston-Davies at Naunton, Quick Fix with Tom George at Slad and Fleetstone at Barbury Castle with Alan King.

Members are kept in touch with the progress of the horses by way of a regularly updated, national-rate telephone information line and by e-mail.

Benefits include free admission to Cheltenham Racecourse when our horses run and on other specified days, plus reduced admission to other courses when we have runners. FREE private entertainment facilities are normally provided for the use of members and their guests when racing. We arrange two stable visits to each yard each year, prize competitions and provide all members with two FREE Club Badges and a Car Park Label for Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle Day at the Cheltenham Festival in March and two free admissions on New Year's Day and for the AGM (October) and GM (April).

Cheltenham Racing's biggest wins to date include:

FUZZY LOGIC (trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies)
Cheltenham: 12 November 1994. Fuggles Chocolate Mild Handicap Hurdle.
ZAITOON (trained by David Nicholson)
Haydock Park: 6 May 1995. Crowther Homes 4-Year-Old Handicap Hurdle.
LADY OF GORTMERRON (trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies)
Haydock Park: 25 November 2000. Tim Moloney Memorial Handicap Chase.
PRESTBURY KNIGHT (trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies)
Market Rasen: 29 September 2007. Bluesquarepoker.com Novices' Chase.
The Club employs a stringent welfare policy for all of its retired horses and has regular updates on their progress. Directors, the Manager and Members of the Club maintain contact with our old, and not so old, favourites on a regular basis and news of interest is always passed on to Members.

If you have ever considered racehorse ownership, but were not sure how to get involved, Cheltenham Racing (sponsored by Cheltenham Racecourse), is a great way to get many of the benefits of ownership at the cost of a daily newspaper! In addition, the backing of Cheltenham Racecourse means that you are dealing with an organisation that you know you can trust.

For anyone who is interested in joining for next season, please contact Charlie Parkin, the Manager of Cheltenham Racing, on 07885 326457 or via email at cheltenhamracingltd@btinternet.com The subscription for 2009/10 has not been finalised yet but is £320.00 plus VAT, with a significant discount for Cheltenham Racecourse annual members.