'World Cup' of Jumps Racing kicks off on Tuesday

The four-day Cheltenham Festival, which kicks off on Tuesday in Gloucestershire, is widely regarded in the racing industry as the 'World Cup' of jumps racing.

During the festival, the best National Hunt horses in the UK and Ireland head to Prestbury Park and compete in some of the most lucrative and prestigious races in the sport.

The four-day meeting sees seven races contested per day - of different lengths and challenges.

Each day has its own name. The opening day is Champion Day, Ladies Day comes up Wednesday followed by St Patrick's Thursday, and Gold Cup Day on Friday.

The feature race is always the fifth race of the day, which starts at 18:00 South African time, with the exception of Thursday, when there are two feature races at 17:20 and 18:00 respectively.

Cheltenham, a town in Gloucestershire in the southwest of England, has a population of around 120,000, but around 250,000 spectators attend the festival each year, equating to approximately 62,000 per day.

While Cheltenham is a jumps (or National Hunt as it is traditionally known) festival, there is actually one race, The Champion Bumper, that has no hurdles or fences It is a flat race. It is always the last race on Ladies' Day.

There is also the Cross Country Handicap Chase, often referred to as the Glenfarclas due to sponsorship reasons, which is a unique race at the festival, with a mixture of fences and obstacles on a cross country course before it finishes on the main track. It is also contested on Ladies' Day.

Fences and Hurdles

The other 26 races are either over fences or hurdles. Fences, which are used in steeplechase races such as the Gold Cup are at least 1.4m high and are rigid, while hurdles are typically much smaller at 1.1m and have a level of flexibility.

An interesting side-note is that Cheltenham is also synonymous with Guinness, the Irish stout. Last year an estimated 270,000 pints of Guinness was sold during the festival - enough to fill three Olympic swimming pools.

The horses

With Constitution Hill not running at Cheltenham after surprisingly continuing his career in flat races, the Champion Hurdle on the opening day seems a wide open affair.

The New Lion, trained by Dan Skelton, is a strong favourite having won the Novices' Hurdle last year. But 2025 champion Golden Ace, last year's Triumph Hurdle winner Poniros, and three-time Cheltenham winner Lossiemouth are all serious contenders, alongside Brighterdaysahead who finished fourth last year.

In the Champion Chase on Wednesday, Willie Mullins' Majborough, who disappointed as a 1/2 favourite in the Arkle last year, is strongly fancied once more over L'Eau du Sud after reigning champion Marine Nationale was pulled out.

Thursday sees big favourite Fact To File priced up at around even money in the Ryanair Chase, while Teahupoo is marginally preferred by the bookmakers over stablemate Honesty Policy and Dan Skelton's Kabral du Mathan in the Stayers' Hurdle.

Friday's Gold Cup is set to be hotly contested, with Gaelic Warrior, The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie long joint-favourites after 2023 and 2024 champion Galopin des Champs pulled out, while 2025 champion Inothewayurthinkin is also backed in an open field.

Full schedule

Tuesday - Champion Day

15.20 Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) - 3300m; 8 hurdles

16.00 Singer Arkle Novices' Chase (Grade 1) - 3200m; 13 fences

16.40 McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race - 3300m; 8 hurdles

17.20 Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) - 5000m; 20 fences

18.00 Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1) - 3300m; 8 hurdles

18.40 Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) - 4000m; 16 fences

19.20 National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase - 6000m; 23 fences

Wednesday - Ladies Day

15.20 Turners Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) - 4200m; 10 hurdles

16.00 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase (Grade 1) - 5000m; 20 fences

16.40 BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)- 4200m; 10 hurdles

17.20 Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase - 5900m; 31 fences

18.00 BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) - 3200m; 13 fences

18.40 Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) - 3200m; 13 fences

19.20 Weatherbys Champion Bumper (In Memory of Sir Johnny Weatherby) (Grade 1) - 3300m; flat race

St Patrick's Thursday

15.20 Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle (Grade 2) - 3400; 8 hurdles

16.00 Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (Grade 2) - 4100m; 17 fences

16.40 Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle (Grade 1) - 4100m; 10 hurdles

17.20 Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle (Grade 1) - 4800m; 12 hurdles

18.00 Ryanair Chase (Grade 1) - 4100m; 17 fences

18.40 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) - 4800m; 12 hurdles

19.20 Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Amateur Jockeys' Handicap Chase - 5300m; 22 fences

Friday - Gold Cup Day

15.20 JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1) - 3400m; 8 hurdles

16.00 William Hill County Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) - 3400m; 8 hurdles

16.40 Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (Grade 2) - 4100m; 17 fences

17.20 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) - 4800m; 12 hurdles

18.00 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1) - 5300m; 22 fences

18.40 The Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase - 5300m; 22 fences

19.20 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle - 4100m; 10 hurdles