Cheltenham Festival Racecards For Every Race

The Arkle Challenge Trophy follows, won last year by the imperious El Fabiolo, while the Ultima Handicap Chase is first handicap of the Festival.

The feature race, however, is the Champion Hurdle. The unbeaten Constitution Hill looks almost certain to defend his title come March, but will anyone be able to stop him?

This does not conclude the action though, as the Mares Hurdle, won by Honeysuckle on her swansong last term, is the fifth on the card. The last two races are the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle for four-year-olds and the National Hunt Chase, the longest race for novices and the first for amateur riders.

The day opens with the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, won in brilliant style by Impaire Et Passe in 2023. The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase follows, with likely principles in 2024 being Classic Getaway and Stay Away Fay.

The Coral Cup is the big handicap prize of the day and usually plays host to the most runners with a maximum field size of 26. Following the Champion Chase is the Cross Country Chase, in which Delta Work will be seeking a hat-trick.

The one race without obstacles, the Champion Bumper, is the sixth race on the card while Day 2 concludes with the Grand Annual Handicap Chase, the oldest race at the Festival.

The Turners Novices’ Chase is the opener, while the second is the only qualifying race at the Festival, the Pertemps Qualifier Handicap Hurdle over three miles.

Day three is the only day in which there are arguably two feature contests. In the Ryanair Chase in 2023, Envoi Allen won his third separate race at the Cheltenham Festival. Thereafter, 11-year-old Sire Du Berlais won the Stayers’ Hurdle, the traditional highlight of the day.

Two of the last three races are handicaps in the form of the Plate and the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir, while the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, one of the newest races at the Festival, is sandwiched between the two.

The day opens with the JCB Triumph Hurdle, the big Grade 1 prize for four-year-olds. It is followed by the County Hurdle, another race which traditionally attracts a big field.

The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle is often for horses with future Gold Cup aspirations and precedes the big race itself.

The Festival begins to wind down with the Foxhunters Chase, often seen as the “Gold Cup for amateur riders” as it is over the same course and distance. The final two races are the newly-introduced Mares’ Chase and the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle.