Cheltenham Festival: Hurtle Toplime Novaces renamed in honor of former winner Michael O’Sullivan for 2025. | Racing news
The opening of the Cheltenham Festival in 2025 was renamed in memory of the late Michael O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan died earlier this month, at the age of 24, from injuries suffered in the fall at the Thurles racetrack.
An extremely talented rider, O’sullivan won the obstacle of supreme recruits on the ship of Marine Nationale 2023 and sponsors of that race, in partnership with Jockey Club, decided to change their name this year to Hurdle Michael O’Sullivan.
In a statement on Thursday, O’Sullivan’s family said: “We are deeply proud of Michael’s incredible talent and heritage he left in the race world.
“The renaming of the race that marked the culmination of his career is appropriate to honor his skill, dedication and passion for sports.
“As a family, we have always admired Michael’s achievements both on and off the path, and means so much to us that we see his talent recognized in this way. The pouring of the days over the past week testified about the influence he had on so many lives.
“We would like to honestly thank Jockey Club and Sky Bet for giving us this opportunity to respect Michael’s memory and celebrate his extraordinary career.”
Guy Lavander, Executive Director of the Cheltenham Race Trail, said: “Michael was an extraordinary jockey, and everyone recognized him as a wonderful young man.
“When you read the cordial honors that have paid him over the past days, you can see how highly he is appreciated in the race community on both sides of the Irish sea and beyond.
“Given that he enjoyed his greatest success in Cheltenham Michael as a rider in that magical Tuesday afternoon in 2023, we thought it was just right to pay tribute to Michael this way.
“Our sincerely thanks to our sponsors of this race, Sky Bet for making it possible. All our thoughts are still with Michael’s family, friends and colleagues for weighing in this difficult time and that allows us to pay tribute in this way.”
