Cheltenham Festival 2026: Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch

The 2026 National Hunt season will reach its climax when the Cheltenham Festival commences in five weeks’ time.  

Four days of action will stage some of the finest racing across every discipline that National Hunt racing has to offer, be it over hurdles, fences or even on the flat.

Headlining the event is the clash between the UK and Ireland’s most renowned yards, as they return for their annual head-to-head for supremacy in the Gloucestershire countryside. 

From the anticipation and excitement to the thunderous hooves and roaring cheers, the iconic Cheltenham Festival is rivalled by no other in the sport. 

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When is the 2026 Cheltenham Festival?

As always, the show kicks off with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, due to run at 1:20pm on Tuesday, March 10. 

It raises the curtain on four days that play host to one of the most hotly-anticipated events on the sporting calendar. 

Each day of the meeting boasts a feature race, with the opening day playing host to the Champion Hurdle – due off at 4pm. 

Day two is all about the Queen Mother Champion Chase, before the Stayers’ Hurdle takes centre stage on Thursday, March 12. 

Friday, March 13 brings a close to proceedings, hosting the last seven of the 28 races due to run at the meeting. 

Its racecard is highlighted by the meeting’s showpiece event and Britain’s most valuable non-handicap chase – the Gold Cup, due to run at 4pm. 

Trainers to watch

Leading Irish trainer Willie Mullins is synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival, having been crowned the meeting’s champion trainer 12 times – including in all of the last seven years. 

His star-studded stable will be out in force again in March, with protagonists set to challenge in almost every race. 

Only one other trainer has been crowned the meeting’s Champion trainer since 2016 and that was fellow Irishman Gordon Elliott. 

He won the award in consecutive seasons after training six winners in 2017 and eight winners in 2018, respectively. 

England’s leading hopes seem to be carried by Dan Skelton who, over the last five seasons, has recorded the same number of course winners (40) as Mullins. 

Skelton went toe-to-toe with Mullins in the 2025 Champion Trainer title fight until the very end of last season, when he was pipped to glory by the Irishman. 

Over the last five seasons, his Cheltenham win rate (15%) is better than Mullins’ (13%), whilst the former’s is equalled by Nicky Henderson, despite having had nine fewer winners. 

Henderson trails Paul Nicholls for all time winners at the course, though the pair have trained more Cheltenham winners than any other trainer and record identical win rates. 

For more recent form, Skelton leads the way for course winners so far this campaign (12), with Joe Tizzard training him having had four winners. 

Emma Lavelle, Martin Keighley and Anthony Honeyball have each had three winners at Cheltenham this season. 

Jockeys to watch

When there is a Mullins winner, there is usually Paul Townend in the saddle and that has been the case since the retirement of Ruby Walsh. 

Townend is looking to win his fifth consecutive Cheltenham Festival Champion Jockey crown, his sixth overall. 

He records a course win rate of 30%, which is better than any other jockey in the top five at Cheltenham over the last five seasons. 

Harry Skelton is almost always in the plate for his brother Dan and he leads the way for course winners both this season and across the last five. 

Eleven of his 42 Cheltenham rides so far this season have ended in wins, whilst he has recorded 36 course winners over the last five seasons. 

The latter is eight more than owner JP McManus’ new man Harry Cobden and 12 more than Henderson’s stable jockey Nico De Boinville. 

The former is tied with Sean Bowen in pursuing Skelton for course winners this season, with the pair having ridden five Cheltenham winners each. 

How to watch the 2026 Cheltenham Festival

ITV will screen the action live and for free – on terrestrial TV – on their ITV Racing programme. 

This will show five of the seven races each day, with coverage ending after the feature race of the day. 

Racing TV is the place to see every race live, but their programming is for their subscribers only.

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