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Paul Nicholls has slammed the ‘shambolic’ false starts which have again blighted races again at the Cheltenham Festival. A thorough BHA review before this year's fixture was meant to ensure there was no repeat of the issues which led to several false starts at the 2025 fixture.

But problems have continued with stewards having to dish out bans to jockeys for misconduct at the start. The most contentious so far was the start to the Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle on Wednesday in which Irish amateur rider Declan Queally and professional Nico de Boinville were involved in a heated exchange as they jostled for position before the tapes went up.

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That incident, after which Queally alleged he was the victim of abuse of a “racial nature”, is the subject of a separate stewards investigation.

Caught up in the chaos was the Nicholls-trained No Drama This End, who went off favourite and was his stable’s number hope for the week, only to be pulled up.

Betfair ambassador Nicholls said: “I don’t think the ground was No Drama This End’s undoing on Wednesday, as we have seen him win on good ground.

“Some of the starts at Cheltenham have been embarrassing this week but nobody seems to listen and the opinions of top racing professionals fall on deaf ears.

“It was unfortunate, No Drama This End missed the break from a standing start and was always on the back foot, never in a position to be competitive and got into all sorts of traffic problems. The only thing we can do is put a line through the race and move on.

“Going back to some of the starts at the Festival this week, though, they have been shambolic.”

In the meantime the BHA confirmed that a full review will take place into the starts of races at Cheltenham.

The regulator had worked with the Professional Jockeys’ Association and Jockey Club since last year to make improvements.

A statement said: “Measured alterations were subsequently made to some starting locations. At the same time, work was undertaken with jockeys to ensure that the rules and procedures were understood by all participants ahead of the start of the 2026 Festival.

“Following events this year it is clear that more needs to be done. As such the BHA has committed to launch a full review of the starts at the Cheltenham Festival.

“The review will be specific to the Cheltenham Festival. Away from the Festival the evidence is clear that starting procedures are working well, with approximately three in every 100 jump starts resulting in a false start.”

The review will consider “the configuration of the course, the perspectives of riders from differing jurisdiction and licence types, the process of starting the race including the preliminaries and starting process, technology, the penalties and deterrents for rule breaches” plus other factors unique to the Festival.

Brant Dunshea, Chief Executive of the BHA, said: “It has been a tremendous two days of racing so far at the Festival, but we share the frustrations of jockeys, trainers and punters regarding the starts.

“We have full faith in our teams of starters, many of whom are former jockeys, and the data shows that away from the Festival our starting procedures work well.

“However, there are clearly several factors unique to Cheltenham which make the starting of races at the Festival extremely challenging, despite the measured changes made ahead of this year in collaboration with the jockeys and racecourse.

“We will therefore carry out this review ahead of the next Festival. In the meantime, we will continue to speak to the riders competing this year to see what steps can be taken to improve the starts for the remaining two days”.