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.
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.
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