CHELTENHAM Racecourse

A practical guide to CHELTENHAM Racecourse, including its track layout, jumping test and the courses most likely to provide useful form clues.

About CHELTENHAM Racecourse

Cheltenham is arguably the most famous jumps racecourse in the World. Every March they host what is the World Cup of National Hunt racing with championship race after championship race. Culminating on the Friday in the Cheltenham Gold Cup which ultimately decides which racehorse is the greatest chaser in the world. Going to the Cheltenham festival is one of those things everyone should do at least once. Believe me you wont be disappointed it's just as good as the hype suggests. Apart from the Festival, Cheltenham hosts plenty of high quality race meetings, and set in a natural amphitheatre the racecourse is just an amazing place. With the facilities to match what you would expect from the worlds number one jumps racecourse.

Key Characteristics

There are two courses at Cheltenham, called the old course and the new course. They are both left handed. The old course is about a mile and a half and the new course just a shade longer. Both courses are extremely testing with a steep uphill finish of half a mile and some of the hardest fences in the country. The hurdle races on the new and old courses are quite different though with the new course tending to suit the more flat bred horse, as their are only two hurdles in the last three quarters of a mile. Their is also a cross country course in the middle of the track, although this is only used a couple of times a year.

Course Summary

Track: Galloping left handed track with lots of undulations and a steep finish.

Fences: Very Difficult.

Interesting Facts

Cheltenham is arguably the most famous jumps racecourse in the World.
Every March they host what is the World Cup of National Hunt racing with championship race after championship race.
Culminating on the Friday in the Cheltenham Gold Cup which ultimately decides which racehorse is the greatest chaser in the world.
Going to the Cheltenham festival is one of those things everyone should do at least once.
Racing at Cheltenham can be traced back to 1815, with early meetings staged on Nottingham Hill before moving to Cleeve Hill in 1818.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup was first run in 1924, followed by the Champion Hurdle in 1927.
In the 1820s the course faced fierce opposition from a local parish priest, and the grandstand was mysteriously burnt down before the 1830 meeting.
Racing has taken place at the present Prestbury Park course since 1902.
In 1990, Norton's Coin, a 100/1 outsider trained by a part-time Welsh dairy farmer, produced one of the greatest shocks in racing history by winning the Gold Cup.

Similar Courses

Form from the following courses may be particularly relevant when assessing runners at CHELTENHAM:

Hexham
Newcastle