The Cheltenham Festival is fast approaching, and we have you covered with a guide on everything you need to know about the big event.
What is the Cheltenham Festival?
The Cheltenham Festival, commonly referred to as just ‘Cheltenham’, is the most prestigious horse racing event in the National Hunt (jumps racing) calendar.
Each year over 250,000 people attend across four days of racing, with a total of 28 races taking place across the week:
Cheltenham Festival Week
Tuesday – Champion Day
Wednesday – Ladies Day
Thursday – St. Patrick's Day
Friday – Gold Cup Day
You can bet on all the Cheltenham Festival action across all 4 days courtesy of the latest Cheltenham odds at BoyleSports.
What date is the Cheltenham Festival?
The 2024 Cheltenham Festival will take place over four days from Tuesday the 12th of March to Friday the 15th of March.
Where is the Cheltenham Festival?
The festival is held at Cheltenham Racecourse in Prestbury Park near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Cheltenham Festival Daily Race Times
Race One: 13:30
Race Two: 14:10
Race Three: 14:50
Race Four: 15:30
Race Five: 16:10
Race Six: 16:50
Race Seven: 17:30
How to watch the Cheltenham Festival
There are several options if you’re planning on tuning into the festival from the comfort of your home. Broadcasters in the UK and Ireland include ITV Racing, Virgin Media, and Racing TV.
How many courses are there at the Cheltenham Festival?
Three distinct courses will be on display at the festival, the Old Course, and the New Course will be the primary two along with the Cross Country Course which is used for the Cross Country Handicap Chase.
The Old and New Course are similar in that they’re both left-handed with stiff fences before a climb up the famous “'Cheltenham Hill'. However, the Old Course covers a shorter and gentler trip compared to the New Course which finishes with more climbing to do.
The Cross Country Course goes along the outside of Prestbury Park with turns to the left and right along with a variety of different natural and man-made obstacles including banks, ditches, hedges, water, and timber rails.
History of the Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival was originally the National Hunt Meeting held the National Hunt Chase a four-mile event for amateur jockeys first taking place in 1860 at Market Harborough
The race regularly changed venues held at Prestbury Park in 1904 and 1905 it finally settled there in 1911, where it has remained ever since.
Cheltenham is seen as the most prestigious event in the jumps racing calendar. It features several Grade I races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, and Stayers' Hurdle.
Cheltenham is acclaimed for its atmosphere, including the famous "Cheltenham roar" which refers to the massive amount of noise created by the crowd at the beginning of each race.
What is the Prestbury Cup?
One of the most prominent features of the Cheltenham Festival is the rivalry between the best horses from Great Britain facing off against the best horses from Ireland.
The Prestbury Cup was introduced in 2014 and is awarded to the area which has the most winners across the four days at the Festival. In 2023 Ireland won the event 18-10 which means the Irish have won every Prestbury Cup since 2020 after drawing 14-14 in 2019.
Ireland has won the Prestbury Cup 7 times, they have drawn once, and the UK have won the cup on 2 occasions.
Ireland are massive 1/8 favourites to win the 2024 Prestbury Cup per the latest Cheltenham betting odds at BoyleSports.
Who is the Cheltenham Festival's most successful jockey?
Ruby Walsh has ridden the most winners at the Festival with 59 including with the likes of Hurricane Fly and Kauto Star.
Since Walsh’s retirement in 2017, the “Top Jockey” prize has been more competitive although Paul Townend is starting to dominate having won it in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Davy Russell landed the prize in 2018, Nico de Boinville won it in 2019 and Rachael Blackmore became the first female winner in 2021.
Paul Townend is expected to win this prize again this year at the Festival where he is the 1/3 favourite in the Top Jockey Cheltenham betting market at BoyleSports.
Who is the Cheltenham Festival's most successful trainer?
Willie Mullins has trained a sensational 94 winners from 1995-2023. Given that, it is no surprise that he has also been the leading trainer at the meeting 10 times including in 9 of the last 11 festivals.
All eyes will be on Mullins this March to see if he can reach a century of successes at the festival.
Willie Mullins is a commanding 1/5 favourite for Top Trainer honours per the latest horse racing odds at BoyleSports.
What To Look Out For On Day 1 Of The Cheltenham Festival
The feature event on Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival is the Champion Hurdle. It is a 2-mile contest that is considered to be the most prestigious hurdle race in the National Hunt racing calendar. The Champion Hurdle has been won in the past by great horses like Istabraq.
Nicky Henderson has trained 9 Champion Hurdle winners and with Constitution Hill currently 1/3 with BoyleSports to retain his success from last year, another success is looking likely.
Other races to feature on the opening day include the annual curtain raiser the Supreme Novices Hurdle, The Arkle Novices' Chase and the Mares' Hurdle which are all highly anticipated races.
What To Look Out For On Day 2 Of The Cheltenham Festival
The feature on Day 2 of the Festival is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. This race is run over a 2-mile trip between some of the best jumpers in the sport. One of the most famous winners of the event was Sprinter Sacre who won the event in 2013 and 2016.
Last year's Queen Mother Champion Chase winner was Energumene who won for Willie Mullins for the second successive year. Energumene can be backed at 20/1 with BoyleSports to become just the second three-time winner of this race. Willie Mullins trained El Fabiolo is the 4/5 favourite.
Also featured on Day 2 is the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle and the Champion Bumper which is the only Festival race without jumps. There will also be keen interest in The Cross Country Chase.
What To Look Out For On Day 3 Of The Cheltenham Festival
Day 3 of the event has 2 feature races which are the Ryanair Chase and the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Sire Du Berlais won the Stayers’ Hurdle last year for Gordon Elliot and team at 33/1. The current favourite for the event is another trained by Elliott, Teahupoo at 9/2.
Other races on the day include the Turners Novices Chase and the Mares Novices Hurdle. The last race on Thursday is the Kim Muir Challenge Cup, one of three races at the festival restricted to amateur riders.
What To Look Out For On Day 4 Of The Cheltenham Festival
Day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival is the big one known as “Cheltenham Gold Cup Day”. The fastest steeplechase horses battle it out for the 2nd most coveted prize in the National Hunt calendar (behind only the Grand National). Notable past winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup include Kauto Star and Best Mate.
Last year it was the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs who won the feature event, and the horse is the early favourite to make it 2 on the spin at 11/10 in the latest Cheltenham Gold Cup betting at BoyleSports.
Other races to feature on the final day of Cheltenham include the Triumph Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
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