Without a shadow of a doubt, the Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the National Hunt season. Spanning four thrilling days and with 12 Grade One races in the mix, the best runners, riders and trainers will head to Prestbury Park for March’s meeting.
Here at 888sport, horse racing betting novices and aficionados alike can access the latest Cheltenham Festival betting, odds and tips, as well as news on every race at the meeting. With so many quality horses competing in every race, the Cheltenham Festival is always full of drama – you won’t want to miss a single minute.
The inaugural Cheltenham Festival took place in 1860 but the meeting found its permanent home at Prestbury Park in 1911. Since then, it has been a staple fixture on the racing calendar.
As previously mentioned, the Cheltenham Festival features 12 Grade One races every year – these four are viewed as the biggest and most prestigious at the meeting:
The 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup is the headline race of the Festival. The Grade 1 race features 22 fences and is contested over a stamina-draining 3 miles, 2 1/2 furlongs. It’s the most prestigious of all steeplechase action during the season.
Approximately 250,000 spectators will head to Prestbury Park for the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, however millions of punters will place online bets from all across the UK and Ireland.
Willie Mullins once again could have a strong hand in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Galopin Des Champs had continued to look impressive in his build-up to the meeting. His stalemate Stattler could raise a challenge too.
Mullins has seen more Cheltenham Festival winners home than any other trainer in the history of the meeting. Backers of the ante-post favourite Galopin Des Champs will be hoping that he can take his tally of Gold Cup wins to three this year.
Noble Yeats steps up from last year’s Ultima to take on the 2023 Gold Cup. 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard is back for a title defence and will pose a threat. The Henry De Bromhead-trained 9-year-old scored the Cheltenham Gold Cup success last year by a massive 15 lengths from Minella Indo.
Others hoping to write their name into the history books could include Bravemansgame, Ahoy Senor, Conflated and Protektorat.
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The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival begins with the thrilling Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, which boasts a big field. The big race of the opening day of the Festival is the Champion Hurdle.
Wednesday’s action moves on to Ladies’ Day and the Queen Mother Champion Chase is the headline act of the day. It’s one to watch as well with a potential high-class clash between Shishkin, Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi.
Thursday is when the St Patrick’s Day celebrations consume the Cheltenham Racecourse. It’s a big party day with the Ryanair Chase and the Stayer’s Hurdle championship races taking centre stage.
Then on Friday at the Cheltenham Festival, it is Gold Cup day. It’s what punters have all been waiting for, the renewal of the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Cheltenham Festival celebrated annually at Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire, is regarded by many as the jewel in the crown of the English National Hunt racing calendar. It is a combination of hurdle, chase and flat (bumper) races over 4 days in March of every year. It attracts huge crowds of over 250,000, including nearly 69,000 on Gold Cup day - the final day of the festival. The biggest trainers, jockeys and horses in the UK, France and Ireland are involved in the scintillating racing with huge volumes of money gambled throughout the festival.
The festival runs from Tuesday to Friday during the final week of March every year. The 2023 festival will take place on 14-17th March. After the Cheltenham Festival has finished, the National Hunt season will still rumble on until the end of April 2023.
One major horse racing event to look forward to after the 2023 Cheltenham festival is the Punchestown Festival based at Naas racecourse, County Kildare. This is widely regarded as the Irish equivalent event of Cheltenham and attracts a wealth of home-based talent.
The Cheltenham Festival is held over 4 days. Each day consists of 7 races in total. Cheltenham Gold Cup is March 17th, 2023.
| Cheltenham Festival First Event | 1834 |
| Maximum Capacity of Cheltenham Racecourse | 68,000 |
| Local Economy Yearly Worth | £100,000,000 |
| Amount of Races in Course of 4 Days | 28 |
| Amount of Grade 1s Races | 14 |
| Maximum Number of Gold Cup Horses | 24 |
| Cheltenham Racecourse Owner | Jockey Club Racecourses |