The Cheltenham Festival is the biggest week in National Hunt racing, staged annually at Cheltenham Racecourse and attracting the best jump horses, trainers and jockeys from Britain and Ireland.
The meeting is run across four days with seven races per day (28 races in total), each day centred around a championship contest.
And looking ahead to next season, the Cheltenham Festival dates 2027 are Tuesday 16th March to Friday 19th March.
Racing typically begins at 1:20pm and ends with the final race at 5:20pm each afternoon.
With the first six races each day shown on the ITV Racing schedule.
Below is a full guide to the 2027 Cheltenham Festival dates and schedule, followed by a look back at the 2026 championship race winners and their performances.
Cheltenham Festival Dates 2027 – Full Schedule and Race Times
DAY 1 – Champion Day, Tuesday 16th March 2027
Champion Day traditionally opens the Festival with a bang – with the famous ‘Cheltenham Roar’ for the first race – the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
The atmosphere around Prestbury Park is electric as punters, trainers and jockeys gather for the opening roar before the first race.
The day’s highlight is the Champion Hurdle, the premier race for two-mile hurdlers.
As Tuesday usually sets the tone for the week, often revealing future stars of the sport in the novice events before the elite hurdlers take centre stage.
Cheltenham Festival Race Schedule
- 1:20 – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
- 2:00 – Arkle Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
- 2:40 – Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
- 3:20 – Ultima Handicap Chase
- 4:00 – Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)
- 4:40 – Festival Plate Handicap Chase
- 5:20 – National Hunt Challenge Cup Chase
2026 Champion Hurdle Result
🥇Winner: Lossiemouth (7/5 fav)
🥈 Brighterdaysahead (7/2)
🥉 The New Lion (3/1)
The 2026 renewal of the Champion Hurdle produced a brilliant performance from the Lossiemouth, who justified favouritism with a commanding victory.
Trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, the grey mare travelled strongly throughout the race before moving into contention turning for home.
Once asked to quicken, she surged clear of her rivals to win by six and a half lengths.
The victory was hugely significant as it marked her fourth consecutive win at the Cheltenham Festival, confirming her reputation as one of the meeting’s modern greats.
Brighterdaysahead chased her home in second, while The New Lion ran a solid race to finish third behind a clearly superior winner.
DAY 2 – Ladies Day, Wednesday 17th March 2027
Often the most glamorous day of the meeting, Ladies Day combines high fashion with top-class racing.
The highlight is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the premier race for two-mile chasers.
This day also features the famous Champion Bumper, where future jumping stars often first announce themselves.
A prize trainer Willie Mullins has won a staggering 14 times in his career.
Cheltenham Festival Race Schedule: Wednesday
- 1:20 – Turners Novices’ Hurdle
- 2:00 – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase
- 2:40 – Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
- 3:20 – Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
- 4:00 – Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)
- 4:40 – Grand Annual Handicap Chase
- 5:20 – Champion Bumper (Grade 1)
2026 Champion Chase Result
🥇Winner: Il Etait Temps (5/2)
🥈 Libberty Hunter (50/1)
🥉L’Eau du Sud (13/2)
The 2026 running of the Queen Mother Champion Chase delivered a dramatic and high-quality contest.
Victory went to the Il Etait Temps, another star from the Willie Mullins yard.
Ridden by Paul Townend, the grey gelding produced a superb round of jumping and travelled strongly through the race before striking the front two fences from home.
Although he made a slight error at the final fence, the horse quickly recovered and powered clear up the hill to secure a decisive success.
Libberty Hunter ran a huge race at long odds to claim second, while L’Eau du Sud filled third place in a competitive field.
The victory gave Mullins and Townend yet another championship success at Cheltenham and confirmed Il Etait Temps as one of the leading two-mile chasers of his generation.
DAY 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday, Thursday 18th March 2027
St Patrick’s Thursday celebrates the huge Irish presence at the Festival. The day typically sees thousands of Irish fans descend on Cheltenham, creating a lively atmosphere.
Two major Grade 1 races headline the afternoon – the Stayers’ Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase.
Cheltenham Festival Race Schedule: Thursday
- 1:20 – Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
- 2:00 – Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
- 2:40 – Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
- 3:20 – Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
- 4:00 – Ryanair Chase (Grade 1)
- 4:40 – Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle
- 5:20 – Kim Muir Handicap Chase
2026 Ryanair Chase Result
🥇Winner: Heart Wood (9/2)
🥈Jonbon (2/1 fav)
🥉Banbridge (3/1)
The 2026 Ryanair Chase produced a surprise outcome after several leading contenders were withdrawn shortly before the race.
The race was won in convincing fashion by the talented chaser Heart Wood, who capitalised on the absence of hot favourite Fact To File.
Heart Wood travelled strongly throughout the contest and jumped accurately, gradually asserting his authority over the field before drawing clear on the run-in.
His victory highlighted his stamina and consistency at Grade 1 level and gave connections one of the biggest wins of their careers at the Festival.
The race once again proved how unpredictable the Ryanair Chase can be, often rewarding horses stepping up from other divisions.
With the 2026 Stayers’ Hurdle won by the Joseph O’Brien-trained Home By The Lee at 33/1.
DAY 4 – Gold Cup Day (Friday 19th March 2027)
Gold Cup Day is the grand finale of the Festival and one of the most prestigious days in world horse racing.
The entire meeting builds toward the Cheltenham Gold Cup, widely regarded as the ultimate test for steeplechasers.
And has been won over the years by greats like Denman, Kauto Star and Galopin Des Champs.
Cheltenham Festival Race Schedule: Friday
- 1:20 – Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
- 2:00 – County Handicap Hurdle
- 2:40 – Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)
- 3:20 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
- 4:00 – Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)
- 4:40 – Hunters’ Chase
- 5:20 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup Result
🥇Winner: Gaelic Warrior (11/4 jfav)
🥈The Jukebox Man (11/4 jfav)
🥉Inothewayurthinkin (11/1)
The 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup delivered a memorable performance from the brilliant Gaelic Warrior.
Ridden by Paul Townend and trained by Willie Mullins, Gaelic Warrior produced a powerful staying performance to win the race by eight lengths.
The horse travelled smoothly through the contest before asserting after the final fence, pulling clear up Cheltenham’s famous hill.
The Jukebox Man ran a fine race to finish second, while the previous year’s winner Inothewayurthinkin stayed on for third.
The victory was a landmark moment for both jockey and trainer.
It gave Paul Townend a record fifth Gold Cup success and he’s now the winning-most jockey in the history of the race.
While trainer Willie Mullins added yet another triumph in the sport’s most prestigious jumps race – his fifth.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup betting odds seeing Gaelic Warrior put in as the favourite to win the race again.
Cheltenham Festival Dates 2027
The 2027 Cheltenham Festival (16th–19th March) promises another four days of elite National Hunt racing, with 28 races and four championship contests forming the backbone of the meeting.
With stars like Lossiemouth, Il Etait Temps and Gaelic Warrior dominating the 2026 edition, anticipation will already be building to see which horses emerge as the next legends of Prestbury Park when the Festival returns in 2027.
As top Irish trainer Willie Mullins also goes in search of more big winners at the Festival.
Mullins fired in EIGHT more winners in 2026, which took his overall Cheltenham Festival winners to 121.
