The origins of the festival date back to 1860, when it was first held under the name Grand National Hunt Meeting at various locations. It moved to Cheltenham in 1911, where it has remained ever since. Over the decades, the festival has grown in popularity, now featuring 28 races across four days, including four Championship Races:

• Champion Hurdle (Introduced in 1927)
• Queen Mother Champion Chase (1959)
• Stayers’ Hurdle (1912)
• Cheltenham Gold Cup (1924)

Each day of the festival is packed with thrilling racing action, and the Cheltenham race card features a mix of Grade 1 and Grade 2 races, showcasing the very best in the sport.

The 2026 Cheltenham Festival will deliver another year of breath taking action. The Cheltenham roar returned as the festival opened, setting the tone for an unforgettable week.

Champion Day (Tuesday, March 10, 2026): Cheltenham’s opening-day showcase brings the sport’s elite to the Festival stage, with the Grade 1 Unibet Champion Hurdle as the two-mile centrepiece.

Ladies Day (Wednesday, March 11, 2026): As the action heats up on the track, the crowd will bring its own spectacle, dressing to impress and turning the grandstands into a runway of sharp looks and Cheltenham flair. With the style awards in the mix, the day will carry an extra spark, and the sense that you will be right in the middle of a truly special occasion.

St. Patrick’s Thursday (Thursday, March 12, 2026): will bring an unmistakably Irish flavour to Prestbury Park, as the roar of the crowd rolls across a sea of green and gold, backed by music, dance and all-day camaraderie. The racing will take centre stage with the Ryanair Chase and the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle set to deliver the kind of performances that Cheltenham folklore is built on.

Gold Cup Day (Friday, March 13, 2026): The festival concluded in spectacular fashion as Galopin Des Champs successfully defended his Cheltenham Gold Cup title, cementing his place among the greats. Whichever day you decide to get involved, Cheltenham betting can add a little extra excitement to the action.

The 2026 Cheltenham Festival promises another action-packed edition, featuring some of the sport’s biggest stars alongside rising contenders.

• Unibet Champion Hurdle: Constitution Hill missed last year’s race, but came back this season to win the Christmas hurdle in cracking style, and has since easily defeated his rivals in the Unibet hurdle in January. Trained by Unibet ambassador Nicky Henderson, who has won this race a record breaking 9 times, and ridden by another Unibet ambassador in Nico de Boinville, Constitution Hill aims to become only the third horse in history to regain his title in the Unibet Champion hurdle on Tuesday.

• Queen Mother Champion Chase: Jonbon has twice tasted defeat at the Cheltenham finishing second in both the Supreme hurdle and the Arkle novice chase. He remains unbeaten this year and looks better than ever, and although he hasn’t won at this particular festival he has already bagged 11 Grade One events. Unibet ambassadors Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville once again join forces and this could be the year that Jonbon lays his Cheltenham Festival hoodoo to rest.

• Stayers’ Hurdle: Teahupoo seeks to retain his title but unlike last year he comes into the race having lost last time out in the Hatton’s Grace hurdle, a race he had previously won for the last two years. He remains a short priced favourite but faces some strong opposition  this time around including Nicky Henderson’s Lucky Place as well as Home By The Lee who has won his last races and looks like he is back to form despite  being ten years of age.

• Cheltenham Gold Cup: Galopin Des Champs is on course for a third Gold Cup victory and is one of the shortest priced favourites of the entire week such is his dominance in this staying chase domain. If he is successful he will be the first horse since Best Mate in 2004 to record three back to back successes in the Blue Riband of our sport.

With some of the best horses, jockeys, and trainers competing, there will be plenty of exciting betting opportunities at Cheltenham 2026. Expect enhanced odds, price boosts, and a variety of markets, including ante-post betting, each-way betting, and accumulators.

Additionally, Unibet will be offering exclusive Cheltenham Festival promotions, including free bets and money-back specials throughout the event.

Cheltenham week is built around depth: 28 races across four days, with Grade 1 and Grade 2 contests that pull in the strongest yards, the sharpest jockeys, and a serious amount of market interest. That variety is exactly why Cheltenham betting at Unibet UK tends to revolve around more than just picking a winner: you can approach each race in different ways depending on field size, confidence level, and how you think the race will be run. With competitive fields across the card, even small details like the likely pace, the ground, or where a horse prefers to sit in running can shape which market feels most suitable. It also means you can switch approach from race to race, keeping it simple in some contests and getting more specific when you have a stronger read.

A simple, low-noise way to navigate Cheltenham betting at Unibet UK is to start with the race card and decide what kind of question you are trying to answer. If you are confident on the winner, win betting is the cleanest route; if you think a runner is solid but might find one too good, each way can fit better, especially in fuller fields where place terms matter. If you have a strong read on the shape of the race, forecasts and tricasts can reflect that view, but they are naturally less forgiving. The key is matching the bet type to your level of certainty, rather than forcing every race into the same approach. Keeping stakes sensible and sticking to a plan can also help you enjoy the meeting for what it is: four days of top-class racing.