Countdown to the 2026 Cheltenham Festival

If you're a follower of the sport of kings (that's surely a given since you're here), then there's few racing festivals that you'll be looking forward to that match the excitement of the Cheltenham Festival. Bundled up with so much history, rivalry and determination, it's both cemented and created a number of horses, jockeys and horse trainers into 'household name' territory. The likes of Badsworth Boy as a three time Champion Chase winner, Istabraq winning the Champion Hurdle three times and Pearlyman with two Queen Mother Champion Chase wins in the 1980s. With a focus on the Cheltenham Gold Cup we have the likes on Arkle and Best Mate as three time winners of this jewel in the crown race, and of course Galopin Des Champs had back to back wins in 2023 and 2024 and is in the running again in 2026 (currently at odds of 7-1). Current favourite is Fact to File at 4-1.

That's the beauty of the Cheltenham Festival really, each year this unmissable spectacle writes new stories that become part of the fabric of this four day event. This year the Festival takes place between Tuesday 10th March to Friday 13th March 2026. The Cheltenham Festival 2026 schedule can be found here and covers all four days of the event, along with race times, distance and details about each and every race at Cheltenham, to give you a feel of both what to expect on the day and some amazing moments from past years. 

Some greats of the Cheltenham Festival include the likes of Ruby Walsh with 59 Cheltenham wins, Rachael Blackmore, winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard along with other festival races, and trainer Willie Mullins with over 100 Festival wins. Be sure to tune in come 10th March and see where spellbinding moments the 2026 has in store for us!