Last Updated on July 22, 2026 by Maurya
The roar that greets the first race of the Cheltenham Festival is one of the most famous sounds in sport, and it will echo around Prestbury Park once again from Tuesday 16 March to Friday 19 March 2027. For punters, though, the Festival never really ends. The moment the 2026 renewal wrapped up, ante-post markets for 2027 opened, and the shape of next spring’s championship races is already coming into focus.
When Is the 2027 Cheltenham Festival?
The 2027 Festival follows its traditional four-day format at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire:
- Day 1 – Champion Day: Tuesday 16 March 2027
- Day 2 – Ladies Day: Wednesday 17 March 2027
- Day 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday: Thursday 18 March 2027
- Day 4 – Gold Cup Day: Friday 19 March 2027
The first race, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, is due off at 1:20pm on the Tuesday, and the week builds to the Cheltenham Gold Cup at 4:00pm on the Friday. One structural note worth knowing: under the revised schedule, each day’s championship race has been moved to be the fifth race on the card, with the feature contest going off at 4:00pm each afternoon. That’s a meaningful change for anyone used to the old running order, and it affects how the betting day flows — the biggest market of each day now lands later in the afternoon.
All four days will be broadcast live on ITV and the ITVX streaming platform, an arrangement in place until at least 2030.
The 2027 Racecards: What Runs When
Twenty-eight races are spread across the four days, mixing Grade 1 championship contests, novice events, and fiercely competitive handicaps. Here’s how the week is expected to break down.
Day 1 – Champion Day (Tuesday 16 March)
The Festival opens with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the famous “Cheltenham roar.” The Arkle Challenge Trophy — the two-mile novice chasing championship — follows, along with the Ultima Handicap Chase and juvenile handicap action. The centrepiece is the Unibet Champion Hurdle, run over two miles and half a furlong on the Old Course, the final leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling.
Day 2 – Ladies Day (Wednesday 17 March)
Wednesday’s card features the Turners (formerly Ballymore) Novices’ Hurdle, the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase over three miles, the Coral Cup, and the unique Cross Country Chase. The feature is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the two-mile chasing crown and arguably the purest test of speed and jumping the sport offers.
Day 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday (Thursday 18 March)
The Irish invasion peaks on Thursday, with the card headlined by the Stayers’ Hurdle over three miles and the Ryanair Chase over two miles five furlongs — the intermediate-trip chasing championship that increasingly attracts genuine Gold Cup-class horses. The Pertemps Final and Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle round out a deep day of betting opportunities.
Day 4 – Gold Cup Day (Friday 19 March)
Everything builds to Friday. The Triumph Hurdle for juveniles, the County Hurdle, the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, and the Mares’ Chase all precede the main event: the Cheltenham Gold Cup, run over 3 miles 2½ furlongs and 22 fences on the New Course, with a prize fund that makes it the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain. The Hunters’ Chase and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle close the meeting.
Early 2027 Ante-Post Odds: The Championship Races
To understand the 2027 markets, you need to know what happened in 2026 — because the winners and hard-luck stories from last March are the horses dominating the early betting.
Cheltenham Gold Cup 2027
Gaelic Warrior delivered for the Willie Mullins–Paul Townend–Rich Ricci axis in the 2026 Gold Cup, winning at 11/4 as an eight-year-old. Unsurprisingly, he heads the early 2027 market, generally available at around 9/4 to defend his crown. He’ll still only be nine next March, which historically is prime Gold Cup age, and the Mullins yard has shown with Al Boum Photo and Galopin Des Champs that it knows how to bring a champion back to the well.
The obvious counterargument is history itself: repeat winners are rarer than the market often prices. Galopin Des Champs was odds-on for a third straight Gold Cup in 2025 and was beaten by 15/2 shot Inothewayurthinkin. Dual winners exist — Best Mate famously won three, and Kauto Star regained the crown in 2009 — but backing a defending champion eleven months out at a short price requires conviction.
Among the alternatives, Jango Baie is attracting support from shrewd judges as a progressive type who could bridge the gap, and Majborough — beaten as the 5/6 favourite in the 2026 Champion Chase — is widely expected to step up in trip, with the Ryanair or the Gold Cup the logical targets given his jumping frailties were exposed at two-mile tempo.
Champion Hurdle 2027
The 2026 Champion Hurdle produced one of the performances of the season: Lossiemouth, the “Queen of Cheltenham,” cruised home by six and a half lengths at 7/5 for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend — her fourth consecutive Festival win and tenth Grade 1. If she returns sound, she sets a formidable standard, and she’ll top most early lists.
Behind her, The New Lion (third in 2026) and Brighterdaysahead remain high-class operators, while the division has proven repeatedly that it can throw up chaos — Golden Ace won this race at 25/1 in 2025 when Constitution Hill and State Man both departed. That history is a useful reminder: the Champion Hurdle market can look settled in July and be unrecognisable by March.
Queen Mother Champion Chase 2027
Il Etait Temps capitalised on Majborough’s errors to win the 2026 renewal impressively and is the horse to beat in early 2027 lists, trading around 5/2. Recent history offers encouragement for followers of defending champions here — Energumene and Altior both won this race in successive years — and if Majborough does indeed head up in trip, the two-mile division could open up further for the reigning champion.
Stayers’ Hurdle & Ryanair Chase 2027
These markets are typically the last to crystallise, because so many contenders are cross-entered — Gold Cup possibles drop into the Ryanair, Champion Hurdle types stretch out for the Stayers’. Early prices are speculative, and most seasoned ante-post players wait for the autumn Grade 1s (the Betfair Chase, Fighting Fifth, and the Christmas meetings at Kempton and Leopardstown) before committing serious money.
How Ante-Post Betting Works — And Where It Bites
Ante-post betting means striking a bet on a race weeks or months before final declarations. The appeal is obvious: prices available in summer can dwarf the SP. Il Etait Temps was 33/1 for the Champion Chase a year before he won it at 5/2 on the day. Get one of those right and you’ve beaten the market by a mile.
The catch is equally important: in standard ante-post markets, if your horse doesn’t run, you lose your stake. No refund. Horses get injured, change targets, or get rerouted to a different race at the same meeting — and Festival week is notorious for late plot twists.
Ways to manage that risk:
- Look for Non-Runner No Bet (NRNB) concessions. Bookmakers typically roll out NRNB on the championship races from early spring. The prices are shorter than pure ante-post, but your stake is safe if the horse skips the race.
- Bet the horse, but respect the trainer’s patterns. Big yards like Mullins, Henderson, Elliott, and de Bromhead keep options open. If a horse holds entries in multiple Festival races, that’s a red flag for ante-post purposes.
- Time your bets around trials. The Dublin Racing Festival in early February and Cheltenham’s own Trials Day are the last major form clues. Odds compress sharply afterwards, so the value window is before those meetings — if you’re willing to carry the risk.
- Shop around. Odds comparison across bookmakers routinely reveals meaningful price differences on the same horse, and enhanced each-way place terms during Festival week can transform a bet’s expected value.
Festival Betting Trends Worth Knowing
- Favourites hold up better in championship races than handicaps. Five of the last ten Gold Cup favourites have won — a roughly 50% strike rate, well above the Festival-wide favourite success rate of around 29%.
- The Champion Hurdle is kind to market leaders — favourites have won the majority of recent renewals — but its shocks are seismic when they come (Golden Ace at 25/1 being the freshest example).
- The Mullins–Townend combination remains the dominant force. Willie Mullins is the winning-most trainer in Festival history, and his stable’s spring targets shape every ante-post market.
- Course form matters at Cheltenham more than almost anywhere. The undulations and the famous uphill finish find horses out. Previous Festival winners are respected by the market for good reason.
FAQs
When do full racecards with declared runners come out? Final declarations land 48 hours before each race day. Until then, “racecards” for 2027 mean the race schedule and entry lists rather than confirmed fields.
Can I get my money back if my ante-post pick doesn’t run? Only under Non-Runner No Bet terms. Standard ante-post bets are lost if the horse is withdrawn, so always check which terms apply before you strike the bet.
Which race carries the biggest prize? The Cheltenham Gold Cup, run at 4:00pm on Friday 19 March 2027, is the Festival’s most valuable and prestigious contest.
How can I watch? All four days are live and free-to-air on ITV and ITVX in the UK.
Final Thoughts
Eight months out, the 2027 Cheltenham Festival already has genuine narrative pull: can Gaelic Warrior join the pantheon of repeat Gold Cup winners? Does Lossiemouth defend her hurdling crown or is a new star emerging? Will Majborough’s move up in trip reshuffle two divisions at once? The early ante-post markets offer big prices on all of those questions — but the smart approach is patience, selective stakes, NRNB terms where possible, and a close eye on the autumn Grade 1s.
Above all, treat Festival betting as entertainment. Set a budget before you bet, never chase losses, and only wager what you can comfortably afford to lose. 18+. Please gamble responsibly. If betting stops being fun, free and confidential support is available from GamCare (0808 8020 133) and BeGambleAware.org, or GAMSTOP for self-exclusion.
