Cheltenham Festival Guide: Race times, feature races and why the world watches

For four days each March, the centre of the racing world shifts to a small town in Gloucestershire. The Cheltenham Festival is the pinnacle of jumps racing, where the best horses from Britain and Ireland collide across four days of elite steeplechasing and hurdling.

While Australian punters are more familiar with the flat racing carnivals of Melbourne and Sydney, Cheltenham occupies a similar place in the Northern Hemisphere calendar. It is their version of a championship week where prestige, prize money and history collide. The meeting features 28 races across four days, including some of the most famous contests in world racing such as the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and the legendary Cheltenham Gold Cup.

One thing that may surprise Australian racing fans is the strength of jumps racing as a wagering product in the UK and Ireland. Unlike in Australia, where jumps racing is a niche product, betting turnover on jump racing in Britain continues to thrive. Cheltenham in particular becomes a global betting event, with punters from around the world looking to land a winner during the sport’s biggest week.

The festival is also defined by its great rivalries, particularly between Britain and Ireland. Irish trainers have dominated in recent years, led by powerhouse stables such as Willie Mullins. Australian punters know that name well. Mullins has regularly targeted the Melbourne Spring Carnival with his stayers. At Cheltenham, his runners are among the most powerful forces of the entire week.

The atmosphere is unlike almost anything in racing. Around 60,000 people pack into the course each day, with the famous “Cheltenham roar” erupting as the tapes rise for the opening race. It is one of the iconic moments in world racing and sets the tone for four days of relentless betting, drama and celebration.

UK punters still use fractional odds, so it can sound a little different to Australian ears. For example, 5/1 (five-to-one) equates to $6.00 in decimal odds, 2/1 (two-to-one) is $3.00, and 6/4 (six-to-four) works out to $2.50. One other term you’ll hear regularly during the festival is “NAP”, which is simply UK racing slang for a tipster’s best bet of the day.

For Australian racing fans willing to stay up late or rise early, the festival is well worth the effort. The racing is elite, the storylines are compelling and the betting reaches fever pitch as punters everywhere try to find a winner at Cheltenham.

Exclusive Cheltenham Mail for Betsy Readers

Cheltenham week is one of the great spectacles in world racing. The roar of the crowd, the famous hill, and four days where fortunes are made or lost in the jumping game’s biggest theatre. The betting reaches fever pitch as well. Punters from around the globe pile in hoping to find a winner at Cheltenham, where landing a result can be as satisfying as it is lucrative.

For the festival this week we are leaning on a source who is right in the thick of it on the ground in Old Blighty. Their mail at recent festivals has been outstanding and comes from someone who lives and breathes the UK and Irish jumps scene. Consider this genuine Cheltenham intelligence, not recycled form, delivered to Betsy readers straight from the source.

When is it on?

The Cheltenham Festival kicks off in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, with the opening race jumping at 12:20am AEDT. Each day starts at the same time.

For Australian punters, that means four late nights or early starts as jump racing’s biggest carnival rolls through the early hours. The feature races are staged at either 3:20am AEDT or 4:00am AEDT, depending on the day, giving local fans a clear window to tune in for the headline acts.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4