2024 Cheltenham Festival preview

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the UK’s top sporting events that will run from Tuesday, March 12th to Friday, March 15th. The annual four-day event takes place at the Cheltenham Racecourse and offers the second biggest prize purse, behind the Grand National.

Betting fans will have 28 top-class races to enjoy at the meeting, with bookie offers for the Cheltenham Festival making it one of the top betting events of the racing calendar. Punters will get excellent value for money, with bookies offering promotions such as non-runner money-back guarantees, money back as cash if your bet loses, extra places on certain races, and special markets such as top jockey and top trainer during the Festival.

This year’s event will feature seven races per day, so there’s plenty of opportunity for racing fans to take advantage of the many promotions on offer. The first two days, Champion Day and Ladies Day, are run on the Old Course with the final two days, St Patrick’s Day and Gold Cup Day taking place on the New Course, this ensures the best conditions for the world’s top thoroughbreds.

The Old Course is known for being the sharper of the two so horses will need speed as well as stamina. Because the course is run on the turn, it can also be challenging to regain position so horses with good pace and balance should prosper.

The New Course is better suited to strong stayers who can jump well. A slight downhill before rising after the second last jump has been known to cause horses to lose their footing in the past. Both courses have a slight uphill to the finish line, meaning horses and riders will have to give everything to win or place.

While there are many excellent races for spectators to enjoy, the big 4 races are the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle, and Cheltenham Gold Cup. These races take place at 3:30 on consecutive days, giving the crowds something to cheer about.

The Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy taking place on the opening day of the festival will be run over 2m 87y and bookmakers make State Man the current 1/2 favourite. Constitution Hill is the close second favourite at 4/5 with Lossimouth and Irish Point priced at 4/1 and 6/1 respectively.

The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase on Ladies’ Day is one of the shortest races of the weekend at 1m 7f 99y, only the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase on Champion Day is shorter at 1m 7f.

The bookmakers currently have El Fabiolo ahead of Jonbon as the 1/2 favourite compared to the 10/3 for JP McManus’s Jonbon. Edwardstone at 8/1 and Ferny Hollow at 9/1 make up the top four for this race.
St Patrick’s Day’s Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle looks like a three-way fight between 3/1 favourite Teahupoo, 7/2 second favourite Irish Point, and 5/1 Crambo.

The biggest race of the weekend takes place on the final day of the action, fittingly named Gold Cup Day. The Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase is run over 3 miles, 2 furlongs, and 70 yards with Audrey Turleys Galopin Des Champs the early even-money favourite.

Bookmakers also see Fasterslow and Shishkin as being in with a chance with both being priced around 9/2 for the race.

With so many top runners, it is set to be another great showcase for British horseracing, and with lots to see and do in the surrounding area, it is a great way to spend a few days.

Photo by Mike Kotsch on Unsplash