The Festival is the week the whole jumps season points at. Four days, 28 races, 14 of them Grade 1, and the best horses from Britain and Ireland in the same paddock. It is also an easy week to lose money, because every race looks bettable and the markets are as sharp as they get. Treat it as four separate days, not one long party.
When and where
Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury Park, on the edge of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The meeting has been held there since 1911 and became a four-day fixture in 2005.
The 2027 Festival runs Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March. The days are Champion Day (Tuesday), Ladies Day (Wednesday), St Patrick’s Thursday and Gold Cup Day (Friday). Gates open at 10:30. The first race is 13:20 and the last is 17:20 each day, seven races a day. The feature race each day goes off at 16:00. Timings are provisional until the course confirms the final cards.
Attendance in 2026 was 226,223 across the four days, up on 2025. It is busy. Plan to arrive early.
The big races
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Tuesday, 13:20). Grade 1 over 2m ½f, open to novice hurdlers aged four and up. It opens the whole meeting and the crowd noise at the off is the Cheltenham Roar. Winners are usually horses with a strong novice campaign behind them, often with one Grade 1 or Grade 2 win already. Kopek Des Bordes won it in 2025 for Willie Mullins.
Champion Hurdle (Tuesday, 16:00). Grade 1 over 2m 87y with eight hurdles, for horses aged four and up. First run in 1927. It wants pace, a good jumper and the ability to quicken off the final bend. Recent winners: Honeysuckle (2022), Constitution Hill (2023), State Man (2024), Golden Ace (2025), Lossiemouth (2026).
Queen Mother Champion Chase (Wednesday, 16:00). Grade 1 over roughly 2m (1m 7f 199y) with 13 fences, for five-year-olds and up. The fastest chase of the week. Fluent, quick jumpers win it. A single mistake at this pace usually ends a horse’s chance.
Stayers’ Hurdle (Thursday, 15:20). Grade 1 over about 3m (2m 7f 213y) with 12 hurdles. Older horses do well here. The last five winners were aged 7, 11, 7, 10 and 11: Flooring Porter, Sire Du Berlais, Teahupoo, Bob Olinger and Home By The Lee. Stamina and a strong finish up the hill matter more than speed.
Ryanair Chase (Thursday, 16:00). Grade 1 over 2m 4f 127y with 17 fences. First run in 2005 and a Grade 1 since 2008. It suits horses too quick for the Gold Cup trip and too slow for the Champion Chase. Allaho (2022) and Fact To File (2025) are recent winners.
Triumph Hurdle (Friday, 13:20). Grade 1 over 2m 179y, for four-year-olds only. Juvenile hurdlers, many of them ex-Flat or French imports. Willie Mullins trained all five winners from 2022 to 2026.
Cheltenham Gold Cup (Friday, 16:00). Grade 1 over 3m 2f 70y with 22 fences, for five-year-olds and up. Horses aged six and over carry 11st 10lb, with a 7lb mares’ allowance. First run as a chase in 1924. Golden Miller won five. Recent winners: A Plus Tard (2022), Galopin Des Champs (2023 and 2024), Inothewayurthinkin (2025), Gaelic Warrior (2026). The last five winners were aged seven or eight.
Trends worth knowing
Only two trends here are solid enough to print. First, every Gold Cup winner from 2019 to 2026 was trained in Ireland, with Willie Mullins responsible for four of the eight. Second, Mullins has won the last five Triumph Hurdles. That does not mean back every Mullins runner. It means you should not oppose his first string lightly in those two races.
Beyond that, be suspicious of trend lists. “No horse older than X has won since Y” is often one data point dressed up. Use the site’s form tools instead. Check official ratings against the race’s recent winners, check the going (Cheltenham in March can be anything from soft to good), and check whether a horse has handled the undulations and the final hill before. Our guide on handicaps and official ratings (/guides/handicaps-and-official-ratings) explains how to read the numbers.
Betting notes
Ante-post or day-of. Ante-post prices in the winter can look generous. The catch is that if your horse does not run, you lose the stake. Many horses are entered in two or three Festival races, and connections often do not pick a target until the week before. If you want to bet early, prefer offers that are non-runner no bet (NRNB). Those pay back your stake if the horse is declared a non-runner. See /guides/non-runners-and-your-bet.
Day-of. Prices on the morning are tighter but you know the horse is running, the going and the draw of the field. For most punters that trade-off is worth it.
Extra places. Festival handicaps often have 20-plus runners and firms compete on each-way terms. Check the number of places and the fraction before you compare. Our guide at /guides/extra-places-explained does the sums.
Rule 4. Late non-runners trigger deductions on the remaining horses. Expect them in the big handicaps. See /guides/rule-4-deductions.
Getting there and tickets
Tickets, enclosure details, travel advice and the race schedule are on the official site at https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/events-tickets/the-festival/. Book early; attendance topped 226,000 in 2026.
18+. Bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org.