The Cheltenham Festival is back with the coveted Gold Cup the highlight of the four-day event. Cheltenham Festival is back as the horse racing season gathers pace with the four-day spectacle one of the highlights of the sport’s calendar. The Festival in March starts with Champion Day before Style Wednesday and then St Patrick’s Thursday, with Gold Cup Day bringing the event to a close on Friday. An action-packed festival last year saw trainer Willie Mullins dominate with jockey Paul Townend riding Galopin Des Champs to victory in one of the most prestigious races in the world.
![[Grey Dawning ridden by Harry Skelton on their way to winning the Turners Novices' Chase with Ginny's Destiny ridden by Harry Cobden]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/18/15/18/Cheltenham-Festival-2024-St-Patricks-Thursday-Cheltenham-Racecourse-2bk3e9d9.jpeg)
The trainer led Ireland to another prolific week overall, claiming the Prestbury Cup over the UK by an 18-9 scoreline. You can find all the latest Cheltenham odds and free bet offers with Independent Sport in the build-up to the big week, but here is the schedule and race card:. The Cheltenham Festival starts on Tuesday, 11 March and concludes on Friday, 14 March. Fans will be glued to 28 races over four days, with seven races per day, including 13 races run over fences across the week, 13 over hurdles plus a bumper (flat race) and a cross-country chase.
The shortest run is a little under two miles, while the longest races almost reach four miles. Fans will look out for 13 of the races run at Grade 1 standard, while five are run as Grade 2s, six Grade 3s and the other four being Listed. The first race is scheduled for 1:20pm GMT each day, with the final race starting at 5:20pm. You can watch the first six races of each day at the Cheltenham Festival with the ITV1 broadcast, while full coverage of the meet, including the final race of each day is only available through a Racing TV subscription.
Both ITV and Racing TV provide live streams for the coverage through their apps and websites, while fans can of course tune on via the traditional television broadcast. 1.20: Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1 )Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m½f| 8 hurdles | Old Course. 2.00: My Pension Expert Arkle Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)Race conditions: £200,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course. 2.40: Ultima Handicap Chase (Grade 3)Race conditions: £150,000 | 3m1f | 20 fences | Old Course.
3.20: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £120,000 | 2m4f | 10 hurdles | Old Course. 4.00: Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £450,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course. 4.40: Boodles Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)Race conditions: £80,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course. 5.20: National Hunt ChaseRace conditions: £200,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course. 1.20: Turners Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m5f | 10 hurdles | Old Course.
2.00: Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)Race conditions: £200,000 | 3m½f | 20 fences | Old Course. 2.40: Coral Cup (Grade 3)Race conditions: £100,000 | 2m5f | 10 hurdles | Old Course. 3.20: Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (Listed)Race conditions: £75,000 | 3m6f | 32 obstacles | Old Course. 4.00: Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)Race conditions: £400,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course.
4.40: Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Grade 3)Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m½f | 14 fences | Old Course. 5.20: Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1)Race conditions: £80,000 | 2m½f | 14 fences | Old Course. 1.20: Ryanair Mares Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)Race conditions: £105,000 | 2m1f | 8 hurdles | New Course. 2.00: Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase (Grade 2)Race conditions: £125,000 | 2m4f | 17 fences | New Course.
2.40: Pertemps Final (grade 3)Race conditions: £100,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course. 3.20: Ryanair Chase (Grade 1)Race conditions: £375,000 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course. 4.00: Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £325,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course. 4.40: TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase (Grade 3)Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course. 5.20: JRL Kim Muir Challenge Cup (Listed)Race conditions: £75,000 | 3m2f | 21 fences | New Course.
1.20: JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m1f | 8 hurdles | New Course. 2.00: BetMGM County Hurdle (Grade 3)Race conditions: £98,370 (2024) | 2m1f| 8 hurdles | New Course. 2.40: Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)Race conditions: £120,000 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course. 3.20: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)Race conditions: £150,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course. 4.00: Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)Race conditions: £625,000 | 3m2½f | 22 fences | New Course.
4.40: St James’s Place Hunter Chase (Listed)Race conditions: £50 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course. 5.20: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap HurdleRace conditions: £75,000 | 2m4½f | 10 hurdles | New Course. You can secure access to the first three days of the festival through a daily Club Enclosure ticket at £100.80, while Friday is more expensive at £117.90. Tattersalls tickets will cost you £71.10 on each of the first three days, but Gold Cup day is up at £84.60.
