Cheltenham Festival races are listed below. Those highlighted have dedicated threads and can be accessed via the link provided Tuesday 16th March - Champions Day 1.20 The Skybet Supreme Novices' Hurdle Race 1.55 The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase 2.30 The Ultima Handicap Chase 3.05 The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy 3.40 The Close Brothers Mares Hurdle Race 4.15 The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (registered as The Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle) 4.50 The National Hunt Steeple Chase Challenge Cup Wednesday 17th March - Ladies Day 1.20 The Ballymore Novices Hurdle 1.55 The RSA Insurance Novices Steeple Chase 2.30 The Coral Cup 3.05 The Queen Mother Champion Chase 3.40 The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase 4.15 The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase 4.50 The Weatherbys Champion Bumper Thursday 18th March - St Patrick's Thursday 1.20 The Marsh Novices Chase (registered as The Golden Miller Novices Steeple Chase) 1.55 The Pertemps Network Final 2.30 The Ryanair Steeple Chase 3.05 The Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle 3.40 The Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate 4.15 The Festival Mares Novices’ Hurdle 4.50 The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase Friday 19th March - Gold Cup Day 1.20 The JCB Triumph Hurdle 1.55 The Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle 2.30 The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle 3.05 The Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3.40 The St James' Palace Foxhunters Steeple Chase 4.15 The Mrs Paddy Power Mares Steeple Chase 4.50 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle Cheltenham 2021 - Ante-Post Bets Cheltenham ’21 – 6 months to go… Cheltenham 2021 Bankers Cheltenham Nap/ Lay/ Ew Cheltenham Festival – Notes and Questions Virtual Cheltenham Festival preview nights: full list of events you can watch The 2021 Cheltenham Festival Betting Competition
It's going to be difficult. Safety has to come first but it won't be the same if it is held behind closed doors! I watched when it was televised in November and watching the horses running past empty stands was depressing! I suppose it depends how things are come March with the hospitals and new cases etc. Last year Cheltenham got a lot of stick for going ahead with 80,000 spectators on Gold Cup day. I think it was Mark Johnson who raised a good point when he said in comparison how many people used the London Underground on that day - a lot more than 80,000!
It will certainly happen and I expect on schedule, although chances of a crowd being in attendance are diminishing by the day. By mid March there will have been a lot of people vaccinated so the country will feel in a better place, although crowds won't be back in numbers for a while yet. It will certainly feel a bit different, but hopefully the level of racing will help. Still it will be better than 2001 when it was called off completely.
Our group have decided to cancel as we feel that even with around four weeks after lockdown tier 5 needs to reach tier 3 for anything like this. I had planned to attend Tuesday to Thursday travel back home and then fly out to Malta with the wife, we are looking at that break thinking....not happening. we will see.
Are Cheltenham trying to put people off attending on Gold Cup day in the future? I see that they have now moved the Grand Annual to the Wednesday and have put some new Mares race in its place So the festival will finish with that and then a race for conditional jockeys. One of the great things about Cheltenham was that it used to go out with a bang on the final day - now it will go out with a whimper! Wednesday strengthened even more though - it has always been my favourite day
For a while after it became a 4 day festival, I went regularly on the Thursday and Friday. On the Friday, the crowds started thinning out quite quickly after the GC. Tuesday was always my favourite day; the Supreme, the Arkle and the CH are probably my three favourite races of the week, though probably not for betting purposes. No chance of any crowds at all this year by the looks
Davy Russell misses Cheltenham through injury! Unlucky fella, you will be sorely missed. Best wishes for a full recovery.
Can anyone post in here if they see any Cheltenham preview night streams/tv shows on as we get nearer to the big day. Thanks.
Fatjockey are pretty good at finding these and I usually put a link to their thread. Here if you want it https://www.fatjockey.com/forum/fat...-cheltenham-festival-previews-2021#post272503
RUK have their preview night tomorrow (monday) 7pm on youtube and facebook starring the forums favourite trainer.
I've updated the first post here with the new race times - I was surprised by that, I must admit. So the first race each day is at 1.20 (as opposed to the traditional 1.30 slot) and the Championship races go off at 3.05 each day. ITV are showing the first six races each day (I believe on their main channel each day). The going is good-soft all over and is likely to stay that way given the forecast - some heavy showers tonight but largely dry thereafter. Currently no signs of Simon Claisse getting his hose pipe out.