Cheltenham Racecourse

This article is about the racecourse in the United Kingdom. For the racecourse in Australia, see Cheltenham Park Racecourse.

Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Racing at Cheltenham took place in 1815, but comprised only minor flat races on Nottingham Hill. The first racing on Cleeve Hill was on Tuesday 25 August 1818 when the opening race was won by Miss Tidmarsh, owned by Mr E Jones. It was a year later when the results were printed in the Racing Calendar when a programme of flat racing was watched by the Duke of Gloucester who donated 100 Guineas to the prize fund. By 1831 races were being staged at Prestbury, although not on the present day course. In 1834 the Grand Annual Steeplechase was run for the first time.^[1] In 1839 Lottery won the Grand Annual having previously won the first Aintree Grand National. In 1840 the meeting transferred to Andoversford for a brief period, only to return to Prestbury in 1847. 1902 was a notable year in that racing moved to the present course at Prestbury Park. The new stands were completed in 1914 and the present day Festival races, as we know them, began to take shape. The Cheltenham Gold Cup, over 3 ¼ miles, was run for the first time in 1924, with the Champion Hurdle following in 1927.^[1]

Cheltenham Racecourse

Handicap chase, 2014
Location	Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Owned by	Jockey Club Racecourses
Screened on	Racing TV, ITV (TV network)
Course type	National Hunt
Official website

The course's most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase and the Stayers' Hurdle.

The racecourse has a scenic location in a natural amphitheatre, just below the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at Cleeve Hill, with a capacity of 67,500 spectators. Cheltenham Racecourse railway station no longer connects to the national rail network, but is the southern terminus of the preserved Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

The Racecourse, seen from Cleeve Hill

The main racecourse has two separate courses alongside each other, the Old Course and the New Course. The New Course has a tricky downhill fence and a longer run-in for steeplechases than the Old Course. Hurdle races over two miles on the New Course also have a slight peculiarity in that most of the hurdles are jumped early on in the race with only two hurdles being jumped in the last seven furlongs. The Old Course is the racecourse used for The Showcase, The November Meeting and the first two days of the Cheltenham Festival.^[2] There is also a cross-country course which is laid out inside the main racecourse and is used for cross-country steeplechases.

The racecourse is the home of The Centaur, one of the largest auditoria in the South West of England. This multiple-use complex seats over 2,000 people for conferences and around 4,000 standing for concerts. It is also home to the Steeplechasing Hall of Fame. From 1999 to 2013, the racecourse was the venue for the annual Greenbelt festival and remains the venue for the Wychwood Music Festival. The University of Gloucestershire holds its graduation ceremony and summer ball at the racecourse.

In 2001 during the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, the 2001 Cheltenham Festival was cancelled for the first time since 1943 due to World War II.

From 2008, the racecourse and The Jockey Club were in talks with Cheltenham Town F.C. about a possible move to the racecourse. This would have meant the building of a new stadium with a double-sided stand, one side in the stadium and the other for watching the races. In 2011, Cheltenham Town F.C. decided against the move for financial reasons.

In 2015, Cheltenham Racecourse opened the £45m 6,500-capacity Princess Royal Stand,^[3] which completed the redevelopment of the course.^[4]

Notable races

Month	Meeting	DOW	Race name	Type	Grade	Distance	Course	Age/Sex
January	New Year	1st	Fairlawne Handicap Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	2m 5f	New	5yo +
January	New Year	1st	Dipper Novices' Chase	Chase	Grade 2	2m 5f	New	5yo +
January	New Year	1st	Relkeel Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 4½f	New	4yo +
January	Trials	Saturday	Finesse Juvenile Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 1f	New	4yo only
January	Trials	Saturday	Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase	Chase	Premier Hcap	2m 4½f	New	5yo +
January	Trials	Saturday	Cotswold Chase	Chase	Grade 2	3m 1½f	New	5yo +
January	Trials	Saturday	Cleeve Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	3m	New	5yo +
January	Trials	Saturday	Classic Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 4½f	New	4yo +
January	Trials	Saturday	International Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 1f	New	4yo +
March	Festival	Tuesday	Arkle Challenge Trophy	Chase	Grade 1	2m	Old	5yo +
March	Festival	Tuesday	Ultima Business Solutions Hcap Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	3m ½f	Old	5yo +
March	Festival	Tuesday	National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup	Chase	Grade 2	3m 6f	Old	5yo +
March	Festival	Tuesday	Supreme Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m ½f	Old	4yo +
March	Festival	Tuesday	Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m 4f	Old	4yo + m
March	Festival	Tuesday	Champion Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m 110y	Old	4yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase	Chase	Handicap	3m 7f	Cross	5yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m 5f	Old	4yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Coral Cup	Hurdle	Premier Handicap	2m 5f	Old	4yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Brown Advisory Novices' Chase	Chase	Grade 1	3m 80y	Old	5yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Champion Bumper	N H Flat	Grade 1	2m 110y	Old	4yo-6yo
March	Festival	Wednesday	Queen Mother Champion Chase	Chase	Grade 1	2m	Old	5yo +
March	Festival	Wednesday	Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle	Hurdle	Premier Handicap	2m 110y	Old	4yo only
March	Festival	Thursday	Pertemps Final	Hurdle	Premier Handicap	3m	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Thursday	Stayers' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3m	New	4yo +
March	Festival	Thursday	Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup	Chase	Handicap	3m 1f 110y	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Thursday	Turners Novices' Chase	Chase	Grade 1	2m 4f	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Thursday	Ryanair Chase	Chase	Grade 1	2m 5f	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Thursday	Magners Plate Handicap Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	2m 4f	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Friday	St James's Place Festival Hunter Chase	Chase	Conditions	3m 2f 110y	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Friday	Triumph Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m 1f	New	4yo only
March	Festival	Friday	County Handicap Hurdle	Hurdle	Premier Handicap	2m 1f	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Friday	Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle	Hurdle	Handicap	2m 4f 110y	New	4yo +
March	Festival	Friday	Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3m	New	4yo +
March	Festival	Friday	Cheltenham Gold Cup	Chase	Grade 1	3m 2f 110y	New	5yo +
March	Festival	Friday	Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	2m 110y	New	5yo +
April	April	Wednesday	Silver Trophy Handicap Chase	Chase	Grade 2	2m 5f	New	5yo +
October	Showcase	Friday	Sharp Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 110y	Old	4yo +
November	November	Friday	Hyde Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 5f	Old	4yo +
November	November	Saturday	Paddy Power Gold Cup	Chase	Premier Handicap	2m 4f 110y	Old	4yo +
November	November	Sunday	Holland Cooper Handicap Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	3m 3f ½y	Old	4yo +
November	November	Saturday	Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	2m 110y	Old	3yo only
November	November	Saturday	Mares' Standard Open NH Flat Race	Flat	Listed	2m 87y	Old	4-6yo m
November	November	Sunday	November Novices' Chase	Chase	Grade 2	2m	Old	4yo +
November	November	Sunday	Greatwood Hurdle	Hurdle	Premier Handicap	2m 110y	Old	4yo +
December	Christmas	Friday	Dahlbury Handicap Chase	Chase	Premier Handicap	3m 1f 110y	New	4yo +
December	Christmas	Saturday	Bristol Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	3m	New	4yo +
December	Christmas	Saturday	December Gold Cup	Chase	Premier Handicap	2m 5f	New	4yo +

References

1. Sluser, John. "Cheltenham Racecourse". Greyhound Derby. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
2. "Cheltenham Racecourse Guide". British Racecourses. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
3. "The Redevelopment of Cheltenham Racecourse". Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
4. "History". Cheltenham Racecourse. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.

• ^ BBC (2011). "Cheltenham Town decide against racecourse move". Retrieved 4 March 2023.
• ^ BBC (2005). New developments at Cheltenham Racecourse Archived 2005-09-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 14, 2005.

External links

• Cheltenham Racecourse (Official website)
• Follow the National Hunt Festival '08 with BBC Gloucestershire
• Go behind the scenes with BBC Gloucestershire's Virtual Cheltenham Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Panoramic photos of Cheltenham Racecourse Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Map sources for Cheltenham Racecourse

51°55′13″N 2°3′28″W