The Cheltenham Festival Horse Racing Event

Updated: 15.08.2025

The Cheltenham Festival is a meeting of National Hunt racing, which includes several contests over fences and hurdles. The only National Hunt meeting that offers more prize money than the Aintree meeting is the Grand National, which is held every March at Cheltenham Racecourse. The Grand National is one of Britain's premier horse racing events and punters wager hundreds of millions of pounds on the outcome over its four-day run. Spectators flock to the event, and with good reason: few horse racing meetings in Britain can match the atmosphere created at the Cheltenham Festival.

The horses at the Festival are typically leading showjumping champions from Britain and Ireland, with very few international competitors. However, several French-trained horses are usually present most years. The greatest equestrian spectacle at the Cheltenham Festival is the Gold Cup, the first jumping championship race held at the meeting. Today there are two other jumping championship races, making a total of five championship rounds during the Festival.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup

The most prestigious race during the Cheltenham Festival, the Gold Cup, takes place on the Friday of the Festival and is regarded as one of the finest of the many National Hunt races held throughout the year. Horses run over a distance of 3 miles and 2.5 furlongs and jump a total of 22 fences. The Gold Cup has been run since 1924 and has an age limit that only allows horses 5 years and older to compete. The total purse for this quite significant race is around £500,000 and there have been many impressive equine champions who have won it: Arkle, Best Mate, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star to name a few.

Other Races at the Cheltenham Festival

As previously mentioned, each of the four days of the Cheltenham Festival includes a sort of apotheosis race, along with several others that are found at lower levels in the day's hierarchy. The headliner on the first day is the Champion Hurdle, open to horses approximately 4 years of age and older, at a mile and a tick, with a purse shared by the winners in excess of £350,000 - quite a sum for runners making the first race of their lives between hurdles whose names have long since faded into history.

The second day of the Cheltenham Festival features seven races. The first race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. It was established in 1959 and is run over 2 miles. Horses must be at least 5 years old to run. Two other races of note on the second day are the National Hunt Steeple Chase and the Champion Bumper. The headline race on the third day is the World Hurdle. The 3-mile course features a dozen fences. The field cannot be younger than 4 years old. The prize fund is in the region of £250,000.

Betting on the 2025 Festival

The Cheltenham Festival consists of four days of racing and 28 individual races, which means there are plenty of betting opportunities at the meeting. As with most National Hunt racing, the contests are often unpredictable; backing a horse in any given race is not always a sure thing. However, with some careful handicapping, punters can find some decent value bets, especially when betting each way.

Of all the many ways to bet on horse racing, probably the easiest is to use an online bookmaker. There are a plethora of online betting companies on the web, and most of them cover racing in a fairly thorough manner. The leading UK gambling sites, for example, will almost certainly offer a bevy of betting opportunities on the Cheltenham Festival. However, even among the better online bookmakers, there are a few that we think are slightly better when it comes to betting on horse racing.