The Cheltenham Festival 2020 🐎🏆

Al Boum Photo does it again!! *The crowd roars*.
Wow- what a Gold Cup! If you are landing on this blog, I think it would be safe to assume you have an interest in racing, in some capacity, so I hope you enjoy this blog post. If you haven’t seen on my instagram yet (@countryclassiclucinda), I created a series of IGTV videos for each day of the Festival, please do check these out if you haven’t already. Having now ended an amazing four days racing, I wanted to share a short debrief blog of the Cheltenham Festival with you.
I hope you enjoy…

The Cheltenham Festival 2020
There is always such a buzz on day one of the Festival, for racing fanatics, we wait all year long for this meet, it is one of the pinnacle race meets, and has an atmosphere like no other. For me, I easily prefer Cheltenham to the other larger, popular race meets, and I am so lucky that it is right on my doorstep. I always feel a lump in my throat as I walk in on that first day, the overwhelming feeling of pride for our sport just bursts out of me. If you’re a regular follower of the blog, you’ll know I used to work on a racing yard, and it is something I really do miss.
I get the train in every day to the Festival, for me this is easier than driving as I am only a 10 minute train journey away. There is a bus link from the Cheltenham Spa station, so if you’re able to get the train, this is a very straight forward route to the racecourse. Gates open at 10.30am each day, so of course I attempted to be right on time for this each day.
The Festival boasts some fantastic shopping. I love looking around the Shopping Village where some of my favourite brands have a stand. Joules were the first stand as you walk in, and they have all of their beautiful exclusive hats on display. I was also so pleased to see Timothy Foxx, Mackenzie and George, Hiho Silver, Grays 1922, Fairfax and Favor, and Welligogs. If you love country fashion, you can be sure to have your head turned in the shopping village.
I was also really excited to see that The Longbottom Company had a stand serving Bloody Marys this year. The team behind the Longbottom Company were so friendly, it was great catching up with them during the Festival. I was also pleased to see a Ben and Jerrys stand, where I tried a Half Baked Milkshake – delicious!
For me, the races is all about the horses, yes the shopping, atmosphere and bars are great, but nothing gets in the way of me being out in the stands watching these incredible athletes, and we had some incredible racing over the four days.
The Park was a new addition to the racecourse, featuring live DJ sets, a Ferris wheel and carousel and street food. This is included in some memberships, but for others it comes as an extra cost. I was a little disappointed looking round this new area, but I did go earlier on in the day and I think it was much busier once we were further into the afternoons.
I have done some video content looking around the racecourse on my Instagram, so if you’d like to see what it looks like, be sure to head over and watch the IGTV series.

Day One – Champions Day
I love stepping into the course on day one, and there were some incredible highlights today. Champions Day hosted the retraining of racehorses parade. This is such a special parade, where we are able to see some of our favourite racing legends looking their absolute best following their life off the track. This parade included racing hero’s such as Annacotty, Coneygree, Monbeg Dude and Cue Card.
Shishkin won race one much to my delight, but the highlight of the day was the Unibet Champion Hurdle, where Nicky Henderson trained favourite, Epatante, stole the show, ridden by Barry Geraghty – what a horse. It was also amazing to see Honeysuckle claim the fifth race of the day.

What I Wore
I love my Cheltenham outfits, we all know that, and if you follow my instagram, you’ll know you’re inundated with different racing looks. This year, I teamed up with Joules to create two race day looks. This first look is based very much on my classic style. I love wearing longer line jackets, and the bright, bold blue of the Walton Crombie Jacket really caught my eye. This paired effortlessly with the classic look of a camel jumper, white jeans and tan boots. A silk scarf completes any classic country look, and the Bloomfield Square Scarf perfectly adding a touch of colour to the outfit. Finish with a matching bag and sunglasses, and you have the perfect day one outfit.

Shop the look:
Walton Crombie Coat in Navy
Halton Luxe Turtle Neck Jumper in Camel
Monroe High Rise Stretch Skinny Jean in White
Bloomfield Square Scarf in Cream Spot
Ashdown Sunglasses in Tortoiseshell
Langton Mini Heritage Leather Everyday Bag
All from Joules
Boots – Fairfax and Favor – The Heeled Amira in Tan (Friends of Joules)

Day Two – Ladies Day
Ladies Day at Cheltenham doesn’t have a set dress code, allowing ladies to dress as they please, in what they feel comfortable in. Ladies Day sees the 3.30pm feature race – The Queen Mother Champion Chase, which this year was won by 9yr old Politologue, ridden by Harry Skelton. Race two saw the incredible Champ, named aptly after Sir AP Mccoy, take first place, much to the delight of the crowds, and me!!! I was sad to see Tiger Roll come in second place behind Easysland in race five, but what a race.

What I Wore
Once again teaming up with Joules, I wanted to go for an elegant Ladies Day look, pairing together some items that you could consider slightly out of my comfort zone. I was immediately drawn to the Genevieve Dress, I rarely ever wear a long dress, but what better day than Ladies Day to try and ultra sophisticated and elegant dress. I paired this with classic black ankle boots from Fairfax and Favor, and one of the exclusive Joules Cheltenham hats. I then used the Poppy coloured coat to add bright colour and complete the look. I fell completely in love with this outfit and I can’t wait to show you more ways to style these pieces.

Shop the look:
Walton Crombie Coat in Poppy
Genevieve V Neck Button Through Dress in Black Spot
Laura Short V Neck Cardigan in Oat
Ashdown Sunglasses in Tortoiseshell
Langton Mini Heritage Leather Everyday Bag
Hat – Exclusively for Cheltenham Races
All from Joules
Boots – Fairfax and Favor – The Kensington in Black (Friends of Joules)

Day Three – St Patrick’s Thursday
A tense first race as Samcro, Melon and Faugheen battle out for first place, I was gutted for Faugheen who I was hoping would take it. Min won the Ryanair Chase at 2.50pm. I had very little success with my betting on Paddy’s Day, but there’s always tomorrows races! The Guinness Village is always very lively on St Patricks Thursday, so it’s a great day to check out that area of the racecourse!

What I Wore
St Patrick’s Thursday is always one of my favourite days of the Festival, with it’s social feel, and I picked an outfit to go with the vibe of the day. I teamed the brand new Hoxton Jacket from Welligogs, with additional navy clothing and accessories. This jacket pulls through perfect spring colours of coral, blue and navy. Teaming with a classic fedora, bold stalemate hat pin and over the knee boots created the perfect Paddy’s day look.

Shop the look:
Hat/Pin – High Bird Designs
Jacket – Welligogs
Jumper – Holland Cooper Clothing
Belt – Holland Cooper Clothing
Skirt – Teddy Edward Clothing
Boots – Fairfax and Favor
Watch – Morris Richardson
Clutch – Salthouse England

Day Four – Gold Cup Day
The highlight of the week is day four, which hosts the Gold Cup, one of the most prestigious races on the calendar, consisting of 22 fences over a 3mile, two and a half furlong distance. There is still a full race card of seven races on Gold Cup Day, with the Gold Cup itself being held at 3.30pm. There was absolute heartbreak in race one where favourite, Goshen, unseated Jamie Moore at the last, having cleared nearly 10 lengths ahead of the rest.
It was success again in the Gold Cup for last years winner, Al Boum Photo, who has now won back to back, and is the first horse to do so since Best Mate. The popular backed Santini came in second and Lost in Translation came third.
The thrills and spills of Gold Cup day are absolutely worth the experience, even if you aren’t horsey!

What I Wore
Gold Cup day always calls for a special outfit, and here I pieced together a timeless black outfit, with a statement jacket and hat, to create the ultimate race day outfit. I think you’ll agree the simplistic black dress and boots allow the jacket to speak for itself. The Harris Tweed jacket is brand new from Eton Taylor, and is a really flattering fit, you can see the video of this on my Instagram page (@countryclassiclucinda). The jacket will be available on their website shortly, and will be available in several different colour ways.

Shop the look:
Hat – Joules (exclusive to Cheltenham)
Dress – Holland Cooper Clothing
Cardigan – Joules
Belt – Mackenzie and George
Jacket – Eton Taylor (coming soon online)
Boots – Fairfax and Favor
Bag – Grays 1922
Necklaces – Hiho Silver
Sunglasses – Joules