This week sees one of the biggest sporting festivals of the year taking place in the United Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of people will attend the four days of outstanding jump racing action that is known far and wide as the Cheltenham Festival.

Arguably the first big horse racing meeting of the calendar year, Cheltenham sees a total of 28 races, 7 per day, including some of the biggest and best jumps races of the year, including the eponymous Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Cheltenham also marks the time of the year when many semi-regular punters will first consider opening their wallets, or logging into their online betting sites to enjoy a bet on one of the many Group 1 and Championship races that take place at the meeting.

Over the last few years bet365 Sport has come up with some special offers for Cheltenham and this year, you have been able to bet on many of the races with the Non Runner No Bet guarantee in place, which means if you back a horse in a race, and the trainer and owner instead enter it into a different race, or it doesn’t run in the race for any reason, then you will get your money back.

Of course, once the declarations are made for each race and the field is known, these bets will be replaced by the pre-race betting, so it is a good idea to get your bet on now and you’ll likely get better odds than you would on the day of the race, or compared to the starting price.

Before we take a closer look at this year’s festival, let’s get your Cheltenham knowledge up to speed a little with some fantastic festival facts!

Cheltenham Festival 2024 Titbits

• The Cheltenham Festival meeting can trace its origins back to a first meeting held in Market Harborough in 1860.
• In between 1860 and 1911, the meeting was held at various points at Market Harborough, Warwick and Cheltenham.
• However, by 1912, the National Hunt Committee decided that since Cheltenham had invested greatly in the infrastructure around the track and the meeting itself, the course would be the permanent home.
• Initially, the meeting wasn’t called the Cheltenham Festival originally, but as the amount of races and events surrounding the meeting grew, the name quickly caught on.
• The Cheltenham Gold Cup, the signature race of the meeting, is not the oldest race at the meeting. It was first run in 1924, but the Stayers’ Hurdle was first contested 12 years earlier in 1912.
• Other big races were first run in 1927 (The Champion Hurdle) and 1959 (The Queen Mother Champion Chase).
• Originally, a three-day meet, the festival was expanded in 2005 to four days, with six races each day (24 in total). Additionally the Gold Cup was moved to the final day of the meeting which would be the Friday of Cheltenham Festival week.
• Just a few years later, the meeting was expanded to 28 races (7 per day) and there is at least one Championship race per day, plus a large number of Grade 1 races too.
• Willie Mullins is comfortably the leading trainer in the festival’s history with 94 winners, ahead of Nicky Henderson on 73 and Paul Nicholls on 48 (up to and including 2023).
• Ruby Walsh is the most successful jockey at the Festival with 56 winners, Barry Geraghty is next on 34 winners three ahead of Tony McCoy on 31.
• Some of the most famous horses to have competed at Cheltenham include Arkle, Golden Miller, Kauto Star, Denman, Istabraq, Big Buck’s, Quevega, Tiger Roll, Altior, Thistlecrack, Constitution Hill and Persian War.
• Horses can be double-entered into multiple races at the festival throughout January and February. They must be declared five days before the race and then 48 hours before the race, owners must decide which one of the races their horses are entered into, they will compete in.

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Schedule

Outlined below is the full list of the 28 races for the Cheltenham Festival 2024. Displayed with the times.

The most prestigious races on each day are shown in italics.

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day One – Champion’s Day – 12^th March

• 1.30pm – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
• 2.10pm – Arkle Challenge Trophy
• 2.50pm – Handicap Steeple Chase
• 3.30pm – Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
• 4.10pm – Mares’ Hurdle
• 4.50pm – Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
• 5.30pm – National Hunt Steeple Chase

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Two – Ladies Day – 13^th March

• 1.30pm – Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle
• 2.10pm – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase
• 2.50pm – Coral Cup Hurdle
• 3.30pm – Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase
• 4.10pm – Cross Country Steeple Chase
• 4.50pm – Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
• 5.30pm – Champion Bumper

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Three – St Patrick’s Day – 14^th March

• 1.30pm – Turners Novices’ Chase
• 2.10pm – Pertemps Network Final
• 2.50pm – Ryanair Steeple Chase
• 3.30pm – Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle
• 4.10pm – Magners. Plate
• 4.50pm – Jack de Bromhead Mares Novices Hurdle
• 5.30pm – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Four – Gold Cup Day – 15^th March

• 1.30pm – Triumph Hurdle
• 2.10pm – County Handicap Hurdle
• 2.50pm – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
• 3.30pm – Cheltenham Gold Cup
• 4.10pm – Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase
• 4.50pm – Mares’ Steeple Chase
• 5.30pm – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockey’s Handicap Hurdle

Who Are The Horses To Watch Or Back At This Year’s Cheltenham Festival?

With 28 races and a host of fantastic horses set to take part in this year’s meeting, let’s take a look at some of the runners to watch in this year’s Cheltenham Festival.

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day One

• 1.30pm – Supreme Novices Hurdle – Jeriko Du Reponet (7/1)
• 2.10pm – Arkle Challenge – Gaelic Warrior (7/2)
• 2.50pm – Ultima Handicap Chase – Meetingofthewaters (11/2)
• 3.30pm – Champion Hurdle – State Man (1/3)
• 4.10pm – Mares Hurdle – Marie’s Rock (14/1)
• 4.50pm – Boodles Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle – Ndaawi (9/1)
• 5.30pm – National Hunt Chase – Embassy Gardens (9/4)

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Two

• 1.30pm – Gallagher Novices Hurdle – Ballyburn (4/7)
• 2.10pm – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase – Fact To File (Evens)
• 2.50pm – Coral Cup – Sa Majeste (9/2)
• 3.30pm – Champion Chase – El Fabiolo (1/2)
• 4.10pm – Cross Country Chase – Minella Indo (15/8)
• 4.50pm – Grand Annual Chase – Calico (20/1) – Each Way
• 5.30pm – Champion Bumper – Quebecois (16/1) – Each Way

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Three

• 1.30pm – Turner’s Novices’ Chase – Ginny’s Destiny (10/3)
• 2.10pm – Pertemps Handicap Hurdle – Cuthbert Dibble (12/1)
• 2.50pm – Ryanair Chase – Envoi Allen (7/2)
• 3.30pm – Stayers’ Hurdle – Teahupoo (2/1)
• 4.10pm – Festival Plate Handicap – Theatre Man (5/1)
• 4.50pm – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle – Jade De Grugy (9/4)
• 5.30pm – Kim Muir Challenge Cup – Amirite (10/1)

Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Day Four

• 1.30pm – Triumph Hurdle – Majborough (3/1)
• 2.10pm – County Hurdle – Absurde (12/1)
• 2.50pm – Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle – Shanagh Bob (9/1)
• 3.30pm – Cheltenham Gold Cup – Galopin Des Champs (5/4)
• 4.10pm – St James’s Palace Hunter’s Chase – Secret Investor (28/1) – Each Way
• 4.50pm – Mares’ Chase – Dinoblue (Evens)
• 5.30pm – Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle – Waterford Whispers (7/1)

This year promises to be a hugely exciting event and with almost 70,000 racegoers set to attend on each of the four days! Consequently, the famous Cheltenham Roar should be in full voice when that first race of the Festival gets underway on Tuesday next week!

Current Cheltenham Festival 2024 Bookmaker Promotions

Each year, betting providers come up with a range of different offers for the Cheltenham Festival, seeing as it is one of the premiere horse racing weeks of the season.

For the Cheltenham Festival 2024, the following offers are available at our partner betting sites.

Bet365

• There’s lots of Non-Runner, No Bet offers on a wide range of races for the Cheltenham Festival 2024.
• Also, you can also enjoy betting at bet365 Sport on a range of Cheltenham Festival Specials.
• Additionally, Bet365 Live Casino is running a special eight-days of Cheltenham Festival 2024 True or False Quizzes, twice per day at 7pm and 10pm GMT.

Ladbrokes

• Ladbrokes are offering a special bet £5, get £20 in Free Bets Welcome Offer for new customers signing up during Cheltenham Festival 2024 Week. 
• Additionally, there are Cheltenham themed promotions for Ladbrokes other popular free promotional offers, the Lucky Dip and Instant Spins promotions.

William Hill

• New and existing customers can claim one Free Bet of £5 each day of the Cheltenham Festival provided that they log in each day to the promotional page at William Hill and click the Opt In button. 

Coral

• At Coral you can get a free bet of up to £10 when you back a winner at odds of 5/1 or more with the bookmaker.  Additionally, you can also play the Rewards Shake Up Game for free daily rewards .

Betfair

Betfair are offering their customers a completely free bet on Racing Multiples for each day of the Cheltenham Festival 2024, with one bet per day allowed from 12th to the 15th March 2024.