by Heralding spring and the flagship of the National Hunt season, the Cheltenham Festival remains the highlight of the British horse racing calendar.
Cheltenham Festival 2023 dates
This year’s festival started on March 14th and will last until Friday 17th March. Plans to add a fifth day on Saturday have been put on hold amid concerns over damage to the circuit and Britain’s uncertain economic base. For fans who think it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, this was welcome news.
What TV channel are the races on?
British TV viewers can watch each race live on ITV 1 or stream online via ITV X. Racing TV also shows the festival in full. Talksport will moderate the radio commentary.
Betting on the Cheltenham Festival? Check out the best Cheltenham betting offers and free bets.
The full race schedule for Cheltenham 2023
Feature Race in bold
13:30 Ballymore Novices’ hurdle
14:10 Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase
14:50 Coral Cup Hurdle
15:30 Queen Mother Champion Chase
16:10 Cross-Country Steeple Hunt
16:50 Grand Annual Handicap Chase
17:30 Champion bumper
13:30 Turner’s novice hunt
14:10 Pertemps Network Last hurdle
14:50 Ryanair pursuit
15:30 hurdle of stayers
16:10 County Plate Chase
16:50 hurdle of the mare candidates
5:30pm Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup
13:30 Triumph Hurdle Jump
14:10 Country Handicap Hurdle
14:50 Novices’ hurdle by Albert Bartlett
15:30 Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase
16:10 Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunter Hunt
16:50 mare hunt
17:30 Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle
Marcus Armytage’s horses at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival
Publisher Du Gite (Betway Champion Chase)
Has already bagged the scalps of Energumene and Edwardstone (twice) yet still trades as the third favorite behind them in the bets. Full marks for the ties to young up and coming jockey Niall Houlihan on the frontrunner who loves Cheltenham a great chance for him to break into the big time.
Gold Tweet (Paddy Power Stayers Hurdle)
Trained in the Loire Valley, better known for its châteaux, by relatively unknown (here anyway) Frenchman Gabriel Leenders, hence his generous prize, based on his recent win at Cheltenham. He trains 90 horses and knows the time of day, so don’t dismiss him lightly. Great chance for experienced French jockey Jonny Charron to top off a long career.
Noble Yeats (Boodles Gold Cup)
One of the smallest clubs in racing is horses that have won a Gold Cup and Grand National. Only Golden Miller and L’Escargot are currently in contention, but with newly fitted cheek pieces, no horse in Friday’s race has the depth of endurance of last year’s Aintree hero. Unless he’s overtaken early, he’ll fly up the hill.
Who won the Prestbury Cup in 2022?
The Prestbury Cup is the competition between British and Irish coaches held during the Cheltenham Festival. Ireland dominated last year’s competition, winning 18 races versus the UK’s 10 races. With the Mullins at the helm, Ireland are 1-20 wins this year so it has to be said that the home team needs snooker.
