What Date Is The Cheltenham Festival 2025 And What Day Does It Start?

Undoubtedly one of the biggest racing weeks in the UK, the Cheltenham Festival 2025 is going to be a huge event.

Held over four days in March every year, the best trainers, jockeys and horses compete for the biggest prizes and the prestige that comes with being a Cheltenham winner.

So, what date will the Cheltenham Festival begin in March 2025?

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, 11th March 2025, through to Friday, 14th March 2025.

If you are not familiar with the set-up, each day has its own themed day and set of races. Opening Day is always on a Tuesday, and in 2025, it will be no different.

There has also been a change to the times that each race begins at 13:20pm, allowing six of the seven races to be aired live on ITV.

Plus, the feature races each day have been pushed back by half an hour to 4 pm – including the Gold Cup on Friday.

Cheltenham Festival 2025 Opening Day

The lead up to the Cheltenham Festival is huge. This is where the best chasers and hurdlers are aimed for most of the season.

By the time the opening day rolls around, 70,000 will have made their way to Prestbury Park.

As the first race gets underway, the Cheltenham roar goes up, the starting tape comes down, and Champion Day begins.

At 13.20pm, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race is first up and with £135,000 in the prize fund, it’s all to race for.

That is followed by The Arkle, named after the great horse that won three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups in 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Following The Arkle is the Ultima Handicap Chase. This is where a lot of the runners test the waters over a longer distance before making a decision on the Grand National. So expect plenty of dual runners in those two races.

In a schedule change for 2025, the Mare’s Hurdle will now be the fourth race of the day, starting at 15.20pm.

The feature of the day takes place at 4pm and that is the Champion Hurdle. With a prize fund of £465K up for grabs, this is a Grade 1 race run on the old course.

Two more races – the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race and the National Hunt Novices’ Chase – round off the day.

Day 2 of the Festival

Known as Ladies Day, Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival is a celebration of women in racing.

In 2025 it will take place on Wednesday 12th March.

In between the racing action are competitions for the ‘best dressed’ as well as style awards with incredible prizes for the women who win.

As for the racing, that doesn’t slow down. The first race of the day is The Turners Novices’ Hurdle.

That is followed by the prestigious Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, which was won by Willie Mullins’ Fact to File in 2024.

40 minutes later, the Coral Cup gets underway before the Glenfarclas Chase, which, incidentally, was cancelled in 2024 due to a water-logged course.

Then it’s 4pm and time to turn our attention to the feature race of the day which is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. With £400K in the prize pot, this is the biggest race of the day.

Captain Guinness from Henry De Bromhead is the current champion as of 2024, putting Rachael Blackmore in the history books as the first female jockey to win the race.

Day 2 is then rounded off with the Grand Annual Handicap Chase and the Champion Bumper.

Day 3 Of The Cheltenham Festival

This is the day known as ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ at the festival. It was so named to celebrate the huge impact that the Irish have on the festival.

Boosting the Irish connection even further is the fact that the feature race is the Ryanair Chase.

But before that race takes place, the action begins with the Grade 2 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at 13:20pm.

After that is the Novices’ Handicap Chase, followed by thePertemps Network Final before the big line-up for the Ryanair Chase.

The race itself has only been going since 2005 when jockey Ruby Walsh won it on Thisthatandtother. He is also the most successful jockey in the race with four wins.

In keeping with the Irish theme of the day, the next race is the Stayers’ Hurdle which is sponsored by Paddy Power. With £375K in the prize pot, it is the second most valuable race of the day.

Rounding off Day 3 of the festival in 2025 will be the Stable Plate and the Kim Muir Challenge Cup.

2025 Festival Day 4

The Cheltenham Festival in 2025 will come to a close on Friday 14th March. By far the biggest day of racing, this is when the Gold Cup winner will be crowned.

Al Boum Photo became the first back-to-back winner of the £625,000 Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup since Best Mate in 2002, 2003 & 2004.

Mullins came back and equalled that with Galopin Des Champs in 2023 and 2024 and no doubt the team will be back in 2025 with a treble in their sites.

But before the big event there are still some great races to look forward to. Racing gets underway with the JCB Triumph Hurdle and is followed by the County Handicap Hurdle.

The incredibly popular Mares’ Chase and Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle get underway as the third and fourth race of the day.

And then it’s on to the Cheltenham Gold Cup at 4pm.

And while for some, this will mark the end of a terrific race meeting, it’s not actually the last race of the day.

Two more races take place and they are the Festival Hunters Chase and the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

All in all, it looks like it will be another spectacular Cheltenham Festival in 2025.

There will be plenty of big winners and outsiders who rock up as winners, and we can’t wait.