Held over four days once a year, this highly prestigious competition pits some of the finest names in horse racing against one another across almost 30 different races – most notably the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The Cheltenham Festival is considered the pinnacle of horse racing with each race steeped in tradition and drama. Come mid-March, every horse, jockey, trainer and breeder will look to entertain and put on a show on the grandest stage.

Every year is a spectacle that attracts the attention of the thousands in attendance and the millions watching from around the world. Cheltenham 2024 will be no different, following last year’s record-breaking event.

Here, the greats make history and become legends of the sport. Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend did it last year by winning the Gold Cup – who rises to the occasion this time around is for you to predict at BetMGM.

History of Cheltenham Festival

The festival traces its history back to the 1800s, with Cheltenham hosting flat race meetings on Nottingham Hill as early as 1818. For the next decade, horse racing soared in popularity and thousands began to descend upon Cleeve Hill to experience the annual two-day meeting, which included a three-mile Gold Cup flat race.

The Cheltenham we know today first took place in the 1860s when the National Hunt Chase was held at Market Harborough. Originally named the Grand National Hunt Meeting, the event took place across several locations before finding its current home at Prestbury Park in Cheltenham from 1911.

The festival was traditionally held over three days but was changed in 2005 with the addition of a fourth to allow for one championship race on each day, culminating with the Gold Cup race on Friday.

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most important events in the National Hunt racing calendar with race prize money second only to the Grand National.

Historic moments at the Cheltenham Festival include:

1860 – The Grand National Hunt Meeting takes place at the Market Harborough
1911 – The Cheltenham Festival is established at Prestbury Park
1924 – The prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup is introduced with Red Splash its first-ever winner
1927 – Blaris wins the inaugural Champion Hurdle
1932 – Golden Miller begins a spectacular sequence of five Gold Cup victories in a row
1949 – Hatton’s Grace wins the Champion hurdle three consecutive times
1950 – Cottage Rake completes a successful hat-trick in the Gold Cup
1954 – Four Ten is the first locally-trained winner, trained in Prestbury by John Roberts
1959 – The Queen Mother Champion Chase is established
1966 – Arkle becomes a legend with a hat-trick of Gold Cup victories
1983 – Caroline Beasley becomes the first female jockey to win at the festival, partnering Eliogarty to victory in the Foxhunters’ Chase
1985 – Badsworth Boy completes a hat trick in the Queen Mother Champion Chase
1990 – Norton’s Coin wins the Gold Cup at odds of 100/1, the biggest outsider to win it to date
2000 – Istabraq becomes the fifth horse to win three Champion Hurdle races in a row
2004 – Best Mate earns Cheltenham great status with three consecutive Gold Cup wins
2005 – The Cheltenham Festival is extended from three days to four
2019 – The festival confirms a record opening day crowd with 67,934 people in attendance
2020 – The magnificent Al Boum Photo wins the Gold Cup for a second consecutive year
2023 – Galopin Des Champs becomes the 29th Irish-trained horse to win the Gold Cup

Major races at Cheltenham Festival

There are almost 30 races in total at each Cheltenham Festival, headlined by the Champion Hurdle on day one and the Gold Cup on day four.

The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race and is one of the most prestigious hurdling events in the National Hunt calendar. The race takes place on the Old Course at Cheltenham with each horse jumping eight hurdles over two miles of track.

The past five Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winners and their jockeys are:

2023 – Constitution Hill (Nico de Boinville)
2022 – Honeysuckle (Rachal Blackmore)
2021 – Honeysuckle (Rachal Blackmore)
2020 – Epatante (Barry Geraghty)
2019 -- Espoir d’Allen (Mark Walsh)

In the Cheltenham Gold Cup, each competitor travels 3m 2½f with an uphill finish. Its toughness is matched only by the level of excitement it brings as the horses reach the final stretch, with only the best of the best claiming victory.

The past five Cheltenham Gold Cup winners and their jockeys are:

2023 – Galopin Des Champs (Paul Townend)
2022 – A Plus Tard (Rachael Blackmore)
2021 – Minella Indo (Jack Kennedy)
2020 – Al Boum Photo (Paul Townend)
2019 – Al Boum Photo (Paul Townend)

Types of bets to place during the Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham betting at BetMGM presents you with a number of unique options across all races over the four days.

Popular Cheltenham bets include:

Win Bet – Betting on a specific horse to finish first
Place Bet – Betting on a specific horse to finish in first or second place
Show Bet – Betting on a horse to finish in the top three
Each-Way Bet – Combination of a Win Bet and a Place Bet
Exacta Bet – Betting on the exact order of the first two horses to finish
Quinella Bet – Betting on the first two finishers regardless of order
Trifecta Bet – Betting on the exact order of the first three finishers
Superfecta Bet – Betting on the exact order of the first four finishers
Accumulator Bet – Combination of multiple bets in the same betslip

You can get all your insight, news and expert betting tips for this years Fabulous Cheltenham in our dedicated insight section.