Cheltenham Festival betting guide: every race day, explained

The complete guide to betting on jump racing's biggest week - the four-day structure, the races that actually matter each day, and the specific protections worth understanding before you bet on a field this large

The Cheltenham Festival is the single biggest week in National Hunt (jump) racing - four days of the highest-class hurdle and chase competition in the sport, held every March at Cheltenham Racecourse in England. This guide covers exactly how the four days are structured, which races carry genuine championship weight, and the specific betting mechanics - each-way terms, non-runner protection, and ante-post risk - that matter more at Cheltenham than at an ordinary racing fixture, given how much larger these fields typically run.

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The basics: when and what

The 2027 Cheltenham Festival runs Tuesday 16 March through Friday 19 March, delivering four full days of racing with 28 races in total - seven races each day. The Festival is held at Cheltenham Racecourse, which features two distinct tracks: the Old Course and the New Course, the latter longer and wider, specifically suited to the stronger, more stamina-reliant horses that contest the Festival's biggest staying races.

Day by day: the races that actually matter

Day One - Tuesday, "Champion Day." The Festival opens with the Champion Hurdle, the sport's premier two-mile hurdle championship, testing speed, sharp jumping, and tactical positioning over the shorter championship distance. The Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Arkle Challenge Trophy are also run this day - both genuine Grade 1 contests in their own right, giving the opening day considerably more depth than just its headline race.

Day Two - Wednesday, "Ladies' Day" (also called Style Wednesday). The featured race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase - the two-mile chase championship, run at genuine speed over the smaller obstacles that define this specific discipline. Also featured: the Turners Novices' Hurdle (2 miles 5 furlongs, a genuine stamina test for horses new to Grade 1 company), the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase (an even more demanding 3-mile stamina test), and the Coral Cup - specifically noted as one of the Festival's strongest each-way betting opportunities given its typically large field.

Day Three - Thursday, "St Patrick's Day." This day showcases the Stayers' Hurdle, the championship for the sport's best long-distance hurdlers over three miles, where stamina matters more than raw speed. The Ryanair Chase also runs this day, alongside the genuinely unique Cross Country Chase - run on a separate cross-country course situated inside the main track, a completely different discipline from conventional hurdle or chase racing. This specific race was made famous in recent seasons by Tiger Roll, who won it three times.

Day Four - Friday, "Gold Cup Day." The Festival's blue riband event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, closes the meeting - run on the New Course over 3 miles 2.5 furlongs, jumping 22 fences, open to five-year-olds and above, and carrying a prize fund around £625,000, making it the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain. The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle and the JCB Triumph Hurdle also feature on the closing day.

Two different protections. Non-runner no bet refunds your FULL stake if YOUR horse is withdrawn. Rule 4 applies a DEDUCTION to winnings when a DIFFERENT horse in the race is withdrawn. Don't confuse the two - the section below breaks both down.

Recent Gold Cup history worth knowing

Willie Mullins has been the dominant training presence in recent Gold Cups - his horse Gaelic Warrior won in 2026, and Galopin Des Champs delivered back-to-back victories in 2023 and 2024, a genuinely significant recent pattern worth factoring into how you read the current field's likely strength. Rachael Blackmore's 2022 victory aboard A Plus Tard, trained by Henry De Bromhead, remains a genuinely notable milestone - the first female jockey to win the race. Inothewayurthinkin, trained by Gavin Cromwell, took the 2025 renewal, and Henry De Bromhead also trained 2021 winner Minella Indo, ridden by Jack Kennedy.

Recent Gold Cup winners

History and records worth knowing

Festival timeline

• 1860 - the origins of the meeting
• 1911 - the Festival settles at its permanent home, Prestbury Park
• 1924 - the first Cheltenham Gold Cup, won by Red Splash
• 1927 - the first Champion Hurdle, won by Blaris
• 1959 - the Queen Mother Champion Chase is introduced
• 2005 - the Festival expands from three days to four
• 2010 - a world-record racing attendance of 236,000+ across the week

The Cheltenham Festival's origins trace back to 1860, with the meeting formally established at its current home, Prestbury Park, in 1911. The Cheltenham Gold Cup itself was introduced in 1924 - Red Splash was its first winner - with the Champion Hurdle following in 1927, first won by Blaris. The Queen Mother Champion Chase joined the roster considerably later, in 1959. The Festival expanded from three days to its current four-day format in 2005, the structural change responsible for the modern 28-race, four-championship format covered throughout this guide.

Genuinely remarkable historical performances worth knowing: Golden Miller won five consecutive Gold Cups beginning in 1932, a record that remains a benchmark for sustained dominance in the race. Arkle - still commonly cited as the greatest steeplechaser in the sport's history - won three consecutive Gold Cups through the 1960s. More recently, Galopin Des Champs became the 29th Irish-trained horse to win the Gold Cup in 2023, before successfully retaining the title in 2024, part of the broader recent Irish and Willie Mullins-associated dominance covered earlier in this guide.

Prize money has grown substantially over time, worth knowing as context for the current Gold Cup purse covered earlier. The 2021 Festival set a then-record £6.1 million in total prize money across the week, with the Gold Cup itself worth £468,750 that year. By 2027, the Gold Cup's own prize fund alone has grown to around £625,000 - a meaningful increase in less than a decade, reflecting the Festival's continued growth in both prestige and the underlying betting revenue (partly channelled back into prize money through the horserace betting levy system) that helps fund it.

A genuine attendance record: the 2010 Festival set a Guinness World Record for the highest attendance at any horse racing event, with over 236,000 spectators across the four days. A 2019 renewal separately confirmed a record single-day opening crowd of 67,934. The meeting has earned the nickname "The Greatest Show on Turf" - a genuine reflection of its status as the season's defining jump racing event.

The Cheltenham Roar and Cheltenham Wave. Two specific, cherished traditions worth knowing if you're new to the Festival: the "Cheltenham Roar" is the thunderous crowd noise that erupts specifically as the field jumps the very first hurdle of the opening race - the Supreme Novices' Hurdle - on Tuesday, marking the genuine start of Festival week. The "Cheltenham Wave," a separate tradition, involves the crowd's synchronised reaction as the leaders approach the final stages of a race.

Why the betting market is genuinely different at Cheltenham

Over £500M is wagered across the Festival - and it's not always one-sided. Ladbrokes has publicly called a Festival its "worst in memory" after a run of favourites won. Line shopping matters more here than on an ordinary race day.

This is worth understanding directly, since it's a specific reason Cheltenham rewards careful line shopping - covered in general terms in this site's guide to reading betting odds - more than an ordinary race day does.

The scale is genuinely significant: over £500 million is reportedly wagered on the Cheltenham Festival in a typical year, a figure that reflects both on-course betting and the far larger volume placed online and through mobile apps across the week. This scale is precisely why bookmakers compete so aggressively on price and promotional offers specifically during Festival week - with every major operator fighting for a share of this volume, odds are sharpened and enhanced offers become more common than on a typical fixture, creating a genuine window of comparative value for bettors willing to shop around.

A real, honest example of the market genuinely swinging against bookmakers. This isn't always a one-sided contest in the bookmaker's favour - in at least one recent Festival, Ladbrokes publicly described the meeting as its "worst Cheltenham Festival in memory," specifically attributing this to an unusually high number of favourites winning across the week, alongside acknowledging that rival operators were pricing at levels the firm considered commercially unsustainable. Individual bookmakers have also gone on record naming specific horses as major liabilities during Festival week - one firm named a horse backed from 40/1 into 16/1 after positive trainer comments as its single biggest exposure in a specific race, illustrating how genuinely fluid and responsive Festival odds are to real money and information as the week progresses.

What this means practically: the combination of intense bookmaker competition and genuine, large-scale market movement makes checking odds across multiple operators - rather than accepting the first price you see - a more valuable habit during Cheltenham week specifically than during an ordinary racing fixture, consistent with the general line-shopping principle covered throughout this site's betting guides.

A note on Festival tipster terminology worth knowing if you follow racing media coverage during the week. A "nap" is a tipster's specifically nominated best bet of the day - the selection they're most confident in across an entire racing card, a term you'll see repeatedly across newspaper and online Cheltenham coverage throughout Festival week. Treat any individual tipster's nap as one opinion worth weighing rather than a guaranteed result - even a confident nap is still a single prediction among many, subject to the same genuine uncertainty covered throughout this guide.

Each-way betting: why it matters more at Cheltenham specifically

Big fields, better place terms. Cheltenham routinely runs larger fields than a standard fixture, so each-way coverage pays out on more finishing positions. Read each-way betting explained for the full mechanics before Festival week.

This is worth covering directly rather than assuming familiarity, since Cheltenham's typically large fields are specifically why each-way betting carries more genuine relevance here than at an ordinary race day. This site's dedicated guide to each-way betting covers the full mechanics - including how place terms scale with field size and the Rule 4 deduction mechanic - in complete depth; the Cheltenham-specific point worth making here is that with fields often running considerably larger than a typical race, the each-way option becomes a genuinely more attractive way to get a return even when your selection doesn't win outright. Races like the Coral Cup, specifically noted for its typically large, competitive field, are exactly the kind of Festival race where each-way coverage is worth serious consideration rather than backing purely to win.

Non-runner no bet: a distinct protection from Rule 4

This is worth distinguishing clearly, since it's a related but genuinely different protection from Rule 4, already covered in detail in this site's each-way betting guide.

Rule 4 applies a deduction to your winnings when a different horse in the same race is withdrawn after you've placed your bet, reflecting the improved chances of the remaining field. Non-Runner No Bet (NRNB), commonly offered by operators specifically around major Festival races, is a distinct protection: if your own selected horse is withdrawn before the race, your entire stake is refunded rather than lost outright. Many operators specifically extend NRNB coverage across all 28 Cheltenham Festival races, given how often the sheer number of entries at this level of competition leads to late confirmations and withdrawals as the Festival approaches. Checking whether your chosen operator offers NRNB specifically on the race you're backing is worth doing before you place an ante-post-adjacent bet close to race day.

Ante-post betting: genuine value, genuine risk

Cheltenham Festival ante-post markets - bets placed well in advance of the Festival itself - open months ahead of the meeting, and this site's guide to each-way betting covers the general ante-post risk and reward trade-off in detail: better odds in exchange for losing your stake outright if your selection doesn't make the final field, since standard NRNB protection typically doesn't extend to ante-post bets placed this far out. Cheltenham ante-post markets specifically can move considerably between an early-season price and the odds available once final declarations are confirmed - a horse trading at 2/1 defending a Gold Cup title months out, for example, is a genuinely different proposition than the same horse's final confirmed price on race week itself, once the actual field and recent form are fully known.

A practical approach to Festival week

Treat each day as its own distinct betting opportunity rather than trying to have a strong opinion across all 28 races - with four genuinely different championship disciplines on display (two-mile speed, staying tests, novice form, and the unique cross-country discipline), spreading your attention and stakes according to which specific days and race types you understand best is a more sustainable approach than betting heavily across the entire card.

Check each-way terms and NRNB availability specifically for the race you're backing, given how much both can vary by race size and by operator, rather than assuming identical terms apply across every one of the 28 races.

Treat ante-post value with appropriate caution, consistent with the general ante-post risk covered in this site's each-way betting guide, and the terminology in the horse racing terms glossary - a great price taken months out is only genuine value if your selection actually makes it to the final field in good order.

Frequently asked questions

How much money is bet on the Cheltenham Festival?

Over £500 million is reportedly wagered across the four-day meeting in a typical year, spanning on-course betting, online, and mobile wagering - a scale that drives genuinely intense bookmaker competition on pricing and promotional offers throughout the week.

What is the "Cheltenham Roar"?

The thunderous crowd noise that erupts as the field jumps the very first hurdle of the Festival's opening race, the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, on Tuesday - one of jump racing's most distinctive traditions, and the genuine starting signal for Festival week.

When is the Cheltenham Gold Cup?

The 2027 Cheltenham Gold Cup runs on Friday 19 March 2027, the final day of the four-day Festival, with a race time of 4pm UK time.

What is a "nap" in Cheltenham betting coverage?

A tipster's specifically nominated best bet of the day - their single most confident selection across an entire card. You'll see this term throughout newspaper and online Festival coverage; treat it as one informed opinion worth weighing, not a guaranteed outcome.

What's the difference between Non-Runner No Bet and Rule 4?

NRNB refunds your entire stake if your own selected horse is withdrawn before the race. Rule 4 is a different mechanic - it applies a deduction to your winnings (not a full refund) when a different horse in the same race is withdrawn after you've bet, reflecting the improved chances of the remaining runners.

How many races take place at the Cheltenham Festival?

28 races across four days - seven races each day, spanning Tuesday through Friday.

What is the Cross Country Chase?

A genuinely distinct race run on a separate cross-country course situated inside Cheltenham's main track - a different discipline entirely from conventional hurdle or chase racing, run on Day Three (Thursday). It was made famous in recent seasons by Tiger Roll, who won it three times.

Why is each-way betting particularly relevant at Cheltenham?

Cheltenham Festival races typically run considerably larger fields than an ordinary race day, making each-way coverage a genuinely more attractive way to secure a return even when your selection doesn't win outright - this site's dedicated each-way betting guide covers the full mechanics of how place terms scale with field size.

This guide is for educational purposes and does not guarantee any betting outcome. All horse racing wagering involves risk of loss. Gambling problem? In the UK: BeGambleAware.org | 0808 8020 133. In the US: 1-800-GAMBLER. Information correct as of September 2026.