Just four weeks until the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. 28 days before the roar for the Supreme reverberates around the natural amphitheatre of Prestbury Park. It has become a bit of a marmite fixture to some with so much attention through the season building to these four days but this is the pinnacle of National Hunt horse racing.
As always, the arrival of the Irish challenge add extra spice with a few French raiders thrown in for good measure. We’ll have more Cheltenham Festival 2023 content closer to the time but for now this BetConnect guide should get the juices flowing and give you the info you need.
Day 1 – Tuesday
1.30 – The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Facile Vega, Marine Nationale, Il Etait Temps. This looks a super start to the meeting.
2.10 – The Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase – Jonbon V El Fabiolo. Just a neck between them at Aintree last April.
2.50 – The Ultima Handicap Chase – A handicap dominated by the ‘home team.’ 2006 was the last Irish winner.
3.30 – The Champion Hurdle – Can Constitution Hill justify the hype as a new great of the sport?
4.10 – The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle – Honeysuckle to return to winning ways against her own sex?
4.50 – The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – One of the toughest races of the week, 6 of the last 10 winners have been 25/1+
5.30 – The National Hunt Steeple Chase – 3 of the top 6 in the betting all run in the Al Boum Photo silks of Mrs J Donnelly.
Day 2 – Wednesday
1.30 – The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race – Can Hermes Allen banish the poor recent record of Challow winners?
2.10 – The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase – Is there a future Gold Cup winner in the race this year?
2.50 – The Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle – Gaelic Warrior heads the market, one of 4 races where he’s 10/1 or shorter.
3.30 – The Queen Mother Champion Chase – A shaken up market after the Clarence House Chase.
4.10 – The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase – Delta Work looks to go back to back.
4.50 – The Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase – 11/1 the field, the longest price ante post favourite at time of writing.
5.30 – The Champion Bumper – 12 previous wins for Willie Mullins in this race.
Day 3 – Thursday
1.30 – The Turners Novices’ Chase – Mighty Potter heads the market after a pair of Grade 1 wins.
2.10 – The Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final – A change in the qualifying conditions this year but will a plot still emerge?
2.50 – The Ryanair Steeple Chase – With Allaho now a non-runner is the door open for Shishkin up in trip?
3.30 – The Stayers’ Hurdle – Flooring Porter is looking for a hat-trick in this contest.
4.10 – The Plate Handicap Chase – So Scottish the current favourite for trainer Emmet Mullins who won this contest in 2021 with The Shunter.
4.50 – The Mares Novices’ Hurdle – Harry Fry ended the Irish domination of this race last year.
5.30 – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup – Amateur riders and always a tricky contest to pick apart.
Day 4 – Friday
1.30 – The Triumph Hurdle – A tough test for young hurdles, a lot of winners end up over further.
2.10 – The County Hurdle – The last 8 renewals have seen 4 Willie Mullins winners and 3 for Dan Skelton.
2.50 – The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – 7 of the last 9 winners have been trained in Ireland.
3.30 – The Cheltenham Gold Cup – The feature of the entire meeting, Galopin Des Champs heads the market.
4.10 – The Hunters’ Steeple Chase – The last 8 winners have all been 10 or older following a run of 9 of the prior 10 being 9 or younger!
4.50 – The Mares’ Steeple Chase – Just 2 renewals of this contest so far, both won by Willie Mullins.
5.30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – 14 runnings, Ireland lead 8-6 with 4 for that man Willie Mullins!
FAQ’s
When is the 2023 Cheltenham Festival?
The Cheltenham Festival 2023 runs from Tuesday 14th March to Friday 17th March.
Where can I see Cheltenham Betting on BetConnect?
As with our normal horse racing offering, prices will be on the BetConnect site at 9am for each of the 4 days of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.
When is the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup is at 3.30pm on Friday 17th March.
Is the Cheltenham Festival good for matched betting?
Matched Betting hits a new level at the Cheltenham Festival. If you want to have a look over all the offers available and how to best utilise them then check out OddsMonkey who are the number 1 matched betting site out there!
Where can I watch the Cheltenham Festival?
The Cheltenham Festival is live on ITV Racing and Racing TV. The former shows 5 races from each day while you can get every single contest on RTV.
What to expect from the 2023 Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival 2023 looks like being another 4 days of top class action. There are 28 winners to be found and while they can be hard to come by in the big handicaps, the Grade 1 contests have been kinder to punters in recent years.
How do I travel to the Cheltenham Festival?
Cheltenham is a relatively easy place to get to, although tough to get away from. Visitors can drive, catch the train or even get special buses from cities around the country to the track.
Who are the top jockeys to follow at the Cheltenham Festival?
No surprise to see the Irish jockeys dominate in recent years. Paul Townend has won two of the last three years with Rachael Blackmore taking 2021’s title. Charlie Deutsch had a winner and a pair of seconds in 2022, riding for a yard who tend to pick off handicaps with regularity in Venetia Williams.
Who are the top trainers to follow at the Cheltenham Festival?
Once more, it will be no surprise to anyone to see Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead at the top of the table. Gavin Cromwell has had winners at three of the last 4 Cheltenham Festivals. Add to that a few places and he’s one to note.
Will you have Cheltenham Festival tips?
We will be having Cheltenham Festival tips on the site during the week. On Monday for the opening two days and then on Wednesday for the latter two.
Enjoy the rest of the build up to the four days and don’t forget to get involved in all sport discussions on our Twitter feed, follow us @betconnect