The ‘greatest show on turf’ kicks off today with ‘Champion Day’, with non-stop action over the next four days as the best jockeys, trainers and horses descend on the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
Today’s opener will be followed by Style Wednesday, St Patrick’s Thursday and finally the showpiece event, Gold Cup Day, which brings the Festival to its close on Friday 14 March. Fans can look forward to 28 races across the four days and a compelling battle between British and Irish trainers as they vie for supremacy.
Last year, Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs took the Gold Cup honours and, with jockey Paul Townend, won the prestigious race for a second consecutive year. He’s the favourite to claim a hat-trick of three straight wins this year but, before then, Mullins has the chance to open his 2025 Festival account with Lossiemouth, who has made a last-minute switch from Tuesday’s Unibet Champion Hurdle to race the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on the same day.
The full race card and Festival schedule is here, and we’ll be bringing you all the action as the Festival unfolds.
Follow all the news, including previews, expert tips and the latest odds from Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival with our live blog below:
Cheltenham Festival weather forecast and ground prediction
The weather can be crucial to results, with punters studying the going days and hours out from each race. If the course is heavy, then expect a real test of the horse’s stamina, though the forecast currently suggests a quicker track due to a dry spell just before and throughout the festival.
The forecast looks good during the week: the BBC shows light cloud and a gentle breeze on day one, sleet and a gentle breeze on day two, sunny intervals and a gentle breeze on day three and day four for the Gold Cup.
Flo Clifford11 March 2025 07:30
Ruby Walsh’s tips for Day 1 at Cheltenham Festival
The legendary Ruby Walsh has shared his Cheltenham Festival Day 1 tips with Paddy Power:
4.00: Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1) Race conditions: £450,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course
Ruby Walsh – Brighterdaysahead (Champion Hurdle) – 15/8
She [Brighterdaysahead] blew me away in Leopardstown – I was watching it thinking, you’re going too fast, you’re going too fast, you’re going too fast the whole way, and all of a sudden, they were going too fast for the pacemaker, he falls in a hole going to the third last, King Of Kingsfield, the next minute the mare picks up, heads on to the second last and away with her off the bend again. It’s the one hurdle performance this year that you went ‘Jesus.’
4.40: Boodles Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) Race conditions: £80,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course
Ruby Walsh – Beyond Your Dreams (Fred Winter) – 6/1
“I’ll have to go for a price so I’ll go for Beyond Your Dreams [in the Fred Winter]. I think the obvious ones early in the card – Kopek Des Bordes [Supreme], Majborough [Arkle] but look if you’re going for something at some bit of a price.”
You can follow all the latest Cheltenham odds here:
Flo Clifford11 March 2025 07:15
Cheltenham Festival race card, dates, start times and full four-day schedule
With seven races per day the action is non-stop at Cheltenham. Fans will look out for 13 of the races run at Grade 1 standard, while five are run as Grade 2s, six Grade 3s and the other four are Listed.
Here’s the full race card, start times, and schedule for the Festival:
Flo Clifford11 March 2025 07:00
Cheltenham tips for day one
Our experts give their best bets and 10 horses to watch on day one:
Flo Clifford11 March 2025 06:45
Full schedule: Tuesday, 11 March – Champion Day
Here’s the full schedule for Day 1, with the first race of the Festival kicking off at 1.20pm.
1.20pm : Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m½f| 8 hurdles | Old Course
2.00pm: My Pension Expert Arkle Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) Race conditions: £200,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course
2.40pm: Ultima Handicap Chase (Grade 3) Race conditions: £150,000 | 3m1f | 20 fences | Old Course
3.20pm: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1) Race conditions: £120,000 | 2m4f | 10 hurdles | Old Course
4.00pm: Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1) Race conditions: £450,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course
4.40pm: Boodles Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) Race conditions: £80,000 | 2m½f | 8 hurdles | Old Course
5.20pm: National Hunt Chase Race conditions: £200,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course
Flo Clifford11 March 2025 06:30
