Cheltenham Festival 2022: Dates, Races, How to Watch, Tickets, Gold Cup and All You Need to Know

Cheltenham Festival 2022, which is one of the biggest horse racing competitions of the year, is rapidly approaching and we have all the details you need to know around this great event.

Arguably the only other competition in the sport which is bigger than Cheltenham is the Grand National, and thousands flock to the event every year to witness some great races.

The festival features some of the best horses and jockeys in the sport, and there are always some big surprises as well as some dominating races from some of the best in the sport.

No doubt many are very excited for Cheltenham Festival this year due to the fact that it wasn’t held in 2021 due to the pandemic.

Here is everything you need to know about Cheltenham Festival 2022:

Dates

Cheltenham Festival 2022 is a four day festival which takes place annually in March.

In 2022, the horse racing event will start on Tuesday 15th March 2022 and will end on Friday 18th March 2022.

Typically, the horse racing on each day starts at 13:30 PM BST.

Races

The festival hosts 28 races across four days and obviously there are some races which are more interesting and highly anticipated than others.

Here is the schedule in full:

Cheltenham 2022, Tuesday 15th March, Champion Day: Day 1 Races

13:30 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 2m 87y Hurdle
14:10 The Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase 1m 7f Chase
14:50 The Ultima Handicap Chase 3m abt 1f Chase
15:30 The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy 2m 87y Hurdle
16:10 The Mares’ Hurdle (for the David Nicholson Trophy) 2m 3f 200y Hurdle
16:50 The National Hunt Challenge Cup Chase 4m Chase
17:30 The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase 3m 7f 147y Chase

Cheltenham 2022, Wednesday 17th March, Ladies Day: Day 2 Races

13:30 The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race 2m 5f Hurdle
14:10 The RSA Insurance Novices’ Steeple Chase 3m 80y Chase
14:50 The Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle 2m 5f Hurdle
15:30 The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase 1m 7f 99y Chase
16:10 The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase 3m 6f 37y Chase
16:50 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race 2m 87y Hurdle
17:30 The Weatherbys Champion Bumper (A Standard Open NH Flat Race) 2m 87y Bumper

Cheltenham 2022, Thursday 18th March, St Patrick’s Day: Day 3 Races

13:30 The JLT Novices’ Chase 2m 3f 166y Chase
14:10 The Pertemps Network Final (A Handicap Hurdle Race) 2m 7f 213y Hurdle
14:50 The Ryanair Chase 2m 7f 213y Chase
15:30 The Sun Racing Stayers’ Hurdle 3m Hurdle
16:10 The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate (A Handicap Steeple Chase) 2m 4f 127y Chase
16:50 Trull House Stud Mares Novices’ Hurdle 2m 179y Hurdle
17:30 The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase (0-145) 3m 2f Chase

Cheltenham 2022, Friday 18th March, Cheltenham Gold Cup Day: Day 4 Races

13:30 The JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 139f Hurdle
14:10 The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle Race 2m 179f Hurdle
14:50 The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle Race 2m 7f 213y Hurdle
15:30 The Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup 3m 2f 70y Chase
16:10 The St. James’s Place Foxhunter Steeple Chase Challenge Cup 3m 2f 70y Chase
16:50 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase 2m 62y Hurdle
17:30 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4f 56y Hurdle

How to Watch

The races are all being televised, but they are split between two TV Companies. Racing TV (Sky Channel 426) will be showing all of the races at Cheltenham; however, the first five races each day will be on ITV. Coverage starts at 1pm each day.

The races on ITV will be free to watch, but Sky Racing TV is part of a Sky subscription. It costs £10 on top of your subscription a month.

Tickets

Tickets for Cheltenham are already available to purchase and depending on the type of ticket you get, the price varies from £40-110. You can buy these tickets off of the JockeyClub Website.