The History of the Cheltenham Festival

With more than 280,000 attendees each year, the Cheltenham Festival is undoubtedly one of sport's great spectacles. Every March, Prestbury Park transforms into a place of wonder and excitement, delivering four straight days of National Hunt racing. But that’s how things are now.

Wind back the clock roughly 160 years, and you’d see something unrecognisable. And that brings us to the main purpose of this article: to take a fond look back through the Cheltenham Festival history books and detail how this event became what it is today.

When Did the Cheltenham Festival Start? The Early Years

The origins of the Cheltenham Festival can be traced back to 1860. That’s when the National Hunt Chase first took place at Market Harborough, although it had a different title then - the Grand National Hunt Meeting. Interestingly, the event didn’t have a fixed location either.

At first, Warwick Racecourse was a regular host, putting the festival on around the turn of the 20th century. However, competitive horse racing events in Cheltenham go back even further, all the way back to 1815 when races took place on Nottingham Hill.

It wasn’t until 1902 that Prestbury Park even entered the picture. That’s when the new course was built, yet the Cheltenham Festival was only held there for two consecutive years (1904 and 1905) before it was thrown right back to Warwick. Then again, the two years at Prestbury Park had everyone talking!

Fast-forward to 1911: after significant investment, the National Hunt Committee decided to give the Cheltenham Festival a permanent home at Prestbury Park. This is really when the modern-day Cheltenham Festival was born.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup and Defining Moments

You can’t talk about the Cheltenham Festival without discussing the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This magnificent event was first held in 1924, when a horse by the name of Red Splash came in as the winner, jockeyed by Dick Rees. The first Gold Cup wasn’t anywhere near as grand then as it is today.

So, what was the game-changer? Well, the real watershed moment came in 1928, which is when organisers repositioned the Gold Cup to be the main event of the Cheltenham Festival. Almost immediately, the famous Gold Cup transformed into a hugely popular and immensely competitive race.

Since then, the Cheltenham Gold Cup has played host to many legends. Standout triumphs include Golden Miller's five consecutive wins from 1932 to 1936 - close to 90 years later and this record is still intact! As for 1948, it delivered the first ever Irish winner in the form of Cottage Rake, which was a sign of things to come.

Expansion and Key Race Introductions

Naturally, new championship races appeared at the festival throughout the 20th century, and most of them remain to this day. The World Hurdle - now called the Stayers' Hurdle - first appeared in 1912, giving staying horses their own championship test.

Then came the Champion Hurdle in 1927, creating what's become one of the most competitive Cheltenham betting heats of the entire week. It’s hard not to get excited while watching two-mile hurdlers go head-to-head for championship honours. 1959 then brought the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. This was later renamed to the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1980, a name which still holds today.

A few decades later, in 2008, the Mares' Hurdle joined the programme. This race created a Grade 2 event for female horses, which was later upgraded to Grade 1 in 2015 due to the quality of the competition.

Lastly, in 2005, the Cheltenham Festival expanded from a three-day event into a four-day blockbuster. This expansion saw the introduction of six additional races, taking the tally from 18 to 24. In the decades since, this total has grown to 28 - including a Grade 1 championship on every single day.

Irish Influence and St Patrick's Thursday

Cheltenham Festival betting has many strong connections to Ireland and its culture. Irish trainers, jockeys and horses have absolutely dominated recent decades. And this dominance has turned competitive racing into something approaching a national obsession on both sides of the Irish Sea.

This reached its natural conclusion with St Patrick's Thursday becoming the official third day of the event - no longer just another race day but a full-blown cultural celebration. Two races in particular stand out on St Patrick’s Thursday, too - the Ryanair Chase and the Stayers' Hurdle.

When these races take place, the entire racecourse transforms into a sea of green. Irish fans wear their colours with pride, traditional folk music fills the air, and the legendary Guinness Village packs out. It's a big day for sports betting too. In the run-up to the 2018 festival, Irish bettors alone were expected to stake over €450 million on various Cheltenham betting markets!

Superstitions, Traditions and Cheltenham's Identity

Once you walk through the gates on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, it hits you immediately - that famous roar as the opening race kicks off. It’s one of the finest sounds in sports, and this alone has etched its place in the Cheltenham Festival history books.

Yet, expectations and anticipation extend far beyond just the noise of the crowd. As the event has scaled, so too has the tradition of betting on all kinds of markets. You needn’t look too far to find bettors hailing their talents for finding winners - often based on lucky names, favourite colours, birthdays, you name it.

But despite all the superstitions and speculative betting talk, the numbers paint a pretty clear picture. Analysis of Cheltenham betting trends from 2015 to 2024 confirms that independent race favourites won 31.4% of the time, and odds-on favourites succeeded in 54.35% of races.

How Cheltenham Became a Betting Powerhouse

Hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds are wagered on the Cheltenham Festival each year. But how does this event attract such extraordinary betting figures? Well, it helps that bookmakers get excited about the festival too, offering regular sports betting bonuses to the fans.

Adding to the excitement, many bookmakers pay out on extra places, while other community contests such as the ITV7 help increase betting interest.

The Modern Festival: Heritage Meets Contemporary Innovation

Over the years, Prestbury Park has undergone many serious modernisation projects. A prime example is the Princess Royal Grandstand, which upgraded its facilities and viewing areas to cater to the increasing crowd numbers. And it’s not just the facilities themselves that make the Cheltenham Festival so modern.

Broadcasting technology now beams Cheltenham races to viewers from all around the world, putting people up close and personal with the action, no matter where they are. Of course, the festival upholds its long-standing tradition of bettors betting at the track, which keeps a few welcomed traditions firmly intact.

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