2026 Cheltenham Festival: Order of Running

Excitement is high for the action at Cheltenham, and here you can take a look at the running order for the 2026 renewal of this prestigious event.

The Cheltenham Festival has been amongst the most enthralling and prestigious race meetings in the world of horse racing, and all eyes on Cheltenham Racecourse for the this highly prestigious event

Enthralling racing takes place over the course of the four days, getting underway on Tuesday 10th March before the action then comes to a close with Cheltenham Gold Cup Day on Friday 13th March 2026. This is the day that brings with it the most excitement on an annual basis, with the famous and historic Cheltenham Gold Cup, taking place on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival each year.

Inothewayurthinkin, ridden by Mark Walsh and trained by Gavin Cromwell, are the most recent winners of the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in 2025, fending off competition from the likes of runner-up Galopin Des Champs and Gentlemansgame in third place. The former won the previous two editions of this race back in 2024 and 2023, and was the favourite again in 2025, but lost out in the end.

Paul Townend and Pat Taaffe are the jockeys with the most wins in this race to date with four, Townend did so with Al Boum Photo in 2019 & 2020, and then with Galopin Des Champs in 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, Taffee’s wins came with Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966) and Fort Leney (1968),

Willie Mullins is only one behind Tom Dreaper, who is the trainer with the most Cheltenham Gold Cup wins with 5 in total with Prince Regent (1946), Arkle (1964, 1965 & 1966), and Fort Leney (1968).

Mullins is though the only trainer to have on this race more than once with two or more horses as of the time of writing.

The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is the traditional curtain raiser.

The most recent winner of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle was crowned back in March 2025, with Paul Townend’s Kopek Des Bordes, coming out on top ahead of Sean Flanagan’s William Munny in second place, and Jack Kennedy’s Romeo Coolio in third. Kennedy also came in third in 2024 with Firefox.

Below, we take you through the new confirmed order of running for the next Cheltenham Festival in March 2025. The first two days will have races taking place on the Old Course, whilst the remainder of the races on Thursday and Friday take place on the New Course.

Note that the race times are subject to change.

Cheltenham Champion Day (Tuesday 10th March) – Day One

• Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (13:20)
• The Arkle Novices’ Chase (14:00)
• Ultima Handicap Chase (14:40)
• Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (15:20)
• Unibet Champion Hurdle (16:00)
• The Hallgarten and Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (16:40)
• National Hunt Chase (17:20)

Cheltenham Ladies Day (Wednesday 11th March) – Day Two

• Turners Novices’ Hurdle (13:20)
• Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (14:00)
• Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (14:40)
• Glenfarclas Cross Country Limited Handicap Chase (15:20)
• BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase (16:00)
• The Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (16:40)
• Weatherbys Champion Bumper (17:20)

Cheltenham St. Patrick’s Thursday (Thursday 12th March) – Day Three

• Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (13:20)
• Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap (14:00)
• Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (14:40)
• Ryanair Chase (15:20)
• Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (16:00)
• Trustatrader Plate (16:40)
• Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase (17:20)

Cheltenham Gold Cup Day (Friday 13th March) – Day Four

• JCB Triumph Hurdle (13:20)
• William Hill County Handicap Hurdle (14:00)
• Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (14:40)
• Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (15:20)
• Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (16:00)
• St James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase (16:40)
• Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (17:20)

Hype for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival is high, with horse racing fans across the globe enjoying the enthralling action at this highly prestigious event to Cheltenham Racecourse.

The action will then return next year in 2026, with this spectacular event once again set to take place over four days, from Tuesday 10th March to Friday 13th March 2026.

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