Cheltenham Festival
cheltenhamfestival.net is your complete guide to the Cheltenham Festival and an indispensable aid to finding the winners of some of the most prestigious and competitive horse races run anywhere in the world. Click here to bookmark this site.
The 26 races that make up the Cheltenham Festival are the most hotly contested of the entire racing calendar, with around 500 horses competing for in excess of £3.5 million of win and place prize money.
Whatever the weather, spring arrives in Gloucestershire on the first Tuesday of the Festival. Helicopters clatter in over Cleeve Hill, the first of 200,000 pints of Guinness are sunk and spectators roar off the start of the first race at the Festival. That now traditional roar is an outpouring of a range of emotions from the relief of the racing community that Cheltenham has finally come round again, to the exhilaration of the crowd at the thought of what lies ahead - four days of high drama, effort and excess that will test both wallets and livers.
The week climaxes with the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, while other highlights include Tuesday's Champion Hurdle, Wednesday's Queen Mother Champion Chase and the World Hurdle on Thursday.
The clash between the top English and Irish horses is what makes the Festival for many 
and Ireland went away with nine winners this year. The Festival would certainly not be the same without the Irish punters, who revel in taking on Cheltenham's bookmakers in their great annual pilgrimage to the Gloucestershire countryside.
Most spectators have their own precious memory of a favourite Festival race. Perhaps the older ones were there for the epic Gold Cup contests in the 1960s between the incomparable Arkle and brave Mill House. More recently others may have witnessed the popular grey Desert Orchid’s triumph in 1989, Best Mate’s third Gold Cup in 2004 or Moscow Flyer's second Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2005. Kauto Star's triumphant second Cheltenham Gold Cup this year will also rank highly for many.
Our site contains everything you need to know about these four magical days in March, when the whole racing community converges on Prestbury Park for the Olympics of National Hunt racing.
Reviews: The 2009 Cheltenham Festival provided us with a memorable week of magnificent performances by horses, jockeys and trainers now etched into the history books. The major championship races produced drama and brilliance in equal measure, with Punjabi's neck defeat of Celestial Gold in the Champion Hurdle all that stood between an unprecedented clean sweep for trainer Paul Nicholls and jockey Ruby Walsh. Read our 2009 race reviews and thoughts from a Festival that will forever be remembered for Kauto Star's demolition of the opposition to make history and reclaim his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown.
Previews: Check out our Cheltenham Festival betting previews for all the Festival races every year, with an in-depth analysis of each contest - providing invaluable guidance on finding the Cheltenham Festival winners. In 2009 we tipped 7 winners from the 26 races - a strike rate of 27% which included 22-1, 8-1 and 7-1 winners. And, best of all, our Cheltenham Festival tips are completely free.
Of course, you can then decide whether to follow our advice or use your own intuition to make your final selections. However, we have enjoyed some remarkable success in recent years and here are just a few of the pointers you could have found:
2007 Champion Hurdle – "Sublimity has a good combination of speed and stamina and will be suited by the way the race is run…Afsoun could prove best of the outsiders." Sublimity won comfortably at 16-1 and Afsoun was third at 28-1.
2007 Brit Insurance Hurdle – "Wichita Lineman looks like being many people’s banker of the Festival and he is hard to oppose. He seems to have all the attributes necessary to land this event...it is not hard to see an outsider making the frame and the one to follow could be Air Force One." Wichita Lineman won by 12 lengths at 11-8 and Air Force One was second at 25-1.
2007 Jewson Handicap – "L’Antartique’s trainer Ferdy Murphy had an excellent Festival last season...this looks like his trip and if the stable’s horses are again showing signs of form at the Festival he could be worth an interest at a big price". L’Antartique won at 20-1.
2008 Triumph Hurdle – "It is hard to look beyond the market leaders here, and with significant stable confidence behind him, Celestial Halo’s is the selection." Celestial Halo won at 5-1.
2008 Queen Mother – "Master Minded looks like a star in the making and is a confident selection". Master Minded routed the field to win by 19 lengths at 3-1.
2008 Arkle – "Noland definitely looks the one to beat….Tidal Bay would be the biggest danger to the selection if running here in preference to the Sun Alliance, whilst the front running Kruguyrova won’t be easy to peg back and could hold on for a place." The result? 1st Tidal Bay 6-1, 2nd Kruguyrova 9-1, 3rd Noland 7-4!
2008 Coral Cup – "Ferdy Murphy is better known for the exploits of his chasers at recent Festivals, but Naiad Du Misselot has a big chance here...He is only lightly raced, and should have plenty of improvement in him". Naiad Du Misselot won at 7-1.
2009 Champion Hurdle - "Whilst Binocular is worthy favourite, Punjabi seems to save his best for the spring and will be hard to keep out of the frame". Punjabi won at 22-1.
2009 David Nicolson Hurdle - "Quevega is our confident selection". Quevega won at 2-1, by 14 lengths!
2009 Ballymore Properties - "Mikael d’Haguenet is a potential superstar and is held in the highest regard by his jockey. Who are we to disagree!" He won at 5-2.
2009 RSA Chase - "Cooldine is the selection as he should have a bit more speed and class than his main rivals". He won at 9-4.
2009 Weatherbys Champion Bumper - "We prefer Dunguib over favourite Rite Of Passage". Dunguib won at 9-2 (Rite of Passage finished 3rd).
2009 Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle - "Pride Of Dulcote looks pick of the fancied runners, but Weapon's Amnesty is our choice". Weapon's Amnesty won at 8-1 (Pride of Dulcote finished second at 3-1).
2009 Gold Cup - "Kauto Star will surely take all the beating as he is clearly the best staying chaser around at the moment and thus a bet at around 2-1 is good value". He won at 7-4.
Don’t forget, the prices above are the SPs, but some of the previews are posted on the site in advance of the relevant contests at a time when even more rewarding ante 
post odds are available. For example, Sublimity was available at 50-1 when we highlighted his chances in February 2007.
Trends: In making our selections, we pay special attention to the patterns that have developed over the years, as Cheltenham is such a unique course and the races at the Festival have their own special characteristics. Certainly, history repeats itself here more than at any other meeting and our careful analysis of these trends enables us to whittle down large fields to a few prime contenders.
Our Big Race Trends section highlights the trial races run throughout the season that throw up most winners. There are also Key Trends highlighted for each individual race which can help you find big-priced winners overlooked by others. For example, in 2007 we identified the fact that: "Jonjo O’Neill trained horses have won 3 of the last 5 runnings of the National Hunt Chase - so it’s well worth considering his entries in that race". Butler’s Cabin then went on to win that year’s renewal for Jonjo at odds of 33-1!
Statistics: We also list statistics for both Jockeys and Trainers, with Ruby Walsh and Nicky Henderson currently heading their respective fields. However, it is emerging trainers that are often worth following and we were one of the first tipping services to recognise the ability of Ferdy Murphy to prepare horses to run the race of their lives at the Festival. To prove the point, Joes Edge then won the 2007 William Hill Trophy Handicap Chase at 50-1, L´Antartique won the 2007 Jewson Novices Handicap 
Chase at 20-1 and Naiad Du Misselot won the 2008 Coral Cup at 7-1.
Blog: Our Cheltenham Festival Blog gives you up to date news, views and opinions on the performances of the horses, trainers and jockeys in the run up to the Festival, the action at the Festival itself and the aftermath. The blog is also the place to find our latest tips and insight directly from the course.
Tickets and Enclosures: Finally, for those wanting to join in the pilgrimage to the Mecca of National Hunt racing, we have all the information you’ll need to make the most of your visit, including ticket details and information on all of the enclosures and facilities at the racecourse.