The Cheltenham Festival is four days of atmosphere, anticipation and action, played out on a beautiful sporting arena and is the greatest jump race meeting in the world – it is quite simply the Olympic Games of National Hunt racing. It features the best and the bravest horses and jockeys, and is where the nervous and excited trainers, owners and a huge gathering of race goers have the time of their lives.
The Cheltenham Festival will run from 11th to 14th March 2025 with the Cheltenham Gold Cup taking place on Friday 14th March. The course can expect to welcome over 200,000 racegoers from all over the world, with it believed that more than £500 million will be gambled throughout the week.
Cheltenham Champion Day is the first event of the Cheltenham Festival Meeting. It will be held on Tuesday 11th March 2025. The first race will begin at 13:30 pm.
Cheltenham Style Wednesday is a highlight of the Cheltenham Festival and is held on Wednesday 12th March 2025. The first race kicks off at 13:30 pm.
Irish racegoers will descend in their thousands for the third day of the festival on Thursday 13th March 2025. Racing on Cheltenham St Patricks Day will kick off at 13:30 pm.
The highly anticipated Cheltenham Gold Cup Day will end the Cheltenham Festival in true style on Friday 14th March 2025. The unmissable jump racing action will begin at 13:30 pm.
The opening of the Cheltenham Festival is Champion Day, and arguably one of the best days of the whole year. There are four Grade One contests including the Champion Hurdle – one of the biggest races of the season.
The meeting opens with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the atmosphere is amazing as the famous ‘Cheltenham roar’ echoes from the stands. The race starts the four-day bonanza and makes it a hard event to miss with our fantastic Cheltenham Festival tickets and hospitality packages. It is always a fascinating contest and has been won in recent years by the likes of Vautour, Douvan and Brave Inca.
But the undisputed feature of the day is the Champion Hurdle. The premier two-mile has been won by legends like Istabraq, Hurricane Fly Sea Pigeon and Buveur D’Air. In 2020, the title was taken by Epatante, giving Nicky Henderson his eighth win in the Cheltenham race.
The other major Cheltenham races on opening day include The Arkle Challenge Trophy and The Mares’ Hurdle.
Cheltenham Festival Style Wednesday is one of the most popular days of the meeting. It is a stylish and glamorous event, and with high-quality racing on the card, it’s one of the most highly anticipated days of the season.
The main event of Style Wednesday is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. It’s run at a good pace with horses requiring both speed and great jumping ability. The list of winners includes Master Minded, Sprinter Sacre and Flyingbolt. These are some of the greatest horses in the history of this division so getting your hospitality packages and Cheltenham races tickets is a must!
They say that the best horses never come back from injury, but they aren’t all Sprinter Sacre. The 10-year-old rolled back the years to take the Queen Mother Champion Chase for a second time. After being written-off just 12-months earlier, this victory meant there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle is the race where so many champions make their mark. The Grade One event has been won by the likes of Istabraq, Faugheen, Hardy Eustace and Simonsig.
Other majors on the Cheltenham Style Wednesday include the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (formerly the RSA Chase), The Coral Cup, and The Champion Bumper.
Expect the Guinness to flow as we celebrate Cheltenham St Patricks Day with our Irish neighbours. This day has a fantastic atmosphere and makes for a very special day at the races.
The Stayers’ Hurdle is a true test of stamina for three-mile hurdlers. The hurdle has been the scene of several history-making performances. Inglis Drever became the first three-time winner of the race in 2008. Big Bucks crushed that record by winning in four consecutive Stayers’ Hurdles.
Aidan Coleman on Paisley Park stunned the masses in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. It was a fairy tale win for the pair who had been stuck in traffic for much of the race. 2020 saw, however, saw a surprise win by Lisnagar Oscar, following a misstep by Paisley Park.
The Ryanair Chase is another superb Grade One contest and was introduced to The Festival in 2005. It has been won by popular horses such as Cue Card, Albertas Run and Imperial Commander.
Other fantastic contests on day three include The Novices’ Chase, Novices´ Hurdle and Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. This is a perfect day to experience a great atmosphere with our VIP hospitality and tickets.
The final day of the meeting is Cheltenham Gold Cup Day and it’s one of the biggest events in racing today. The feature race will be the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, formerly known as the Magners Gold Cup. This is always the premier race at the Cheltenham Festival and the most prestigious chase in the world.
So many horse racing icons have cemented their legacy in this endurance test. Best Mate, Kauto Star and Arkle were all winners of the race highlighting the class of the contest. In 2018 Native River broke his Cheltenham Festival duck as he romped to victory. He was the hot favourite in 2019 too but was beaten 3 lengths by Al Boum Photo to give Willie Mullins his first Gold Cup victory. 2020 also saw Al Boum Photo take the crown once again.
The Triumph Hurdle is the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup Day. The hurdle is the biggest race of the season for juveniles. That is followed by The County Hurdle, Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle and The Grand Annual Chase.
Don’t miss out on any races at Cheltenham – book our fantastic Cheltenham Gold Cup hospitality packages and tickets now before they’re all gone!
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