Cheltenham Festival 2024 TV channel and live stream: How to watch races in UK, full horse racing schedule

It's almost that time of year again, as Prestbury Park prepares for a huge influx of horse racing fans to celebrate the beginning of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. Watched and revered by equestrian fans the world over and attended by thousands at a time, Cheltenham Racecourse will play host to 28 events over the next four days, culminating with the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, March 15.

Starting with the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle Race on Tuesday, March 12, the 2024 event marks 164 years since the National Hunt Challenge Cup was first held in 1860. The intertwining years have seen the Cheltenham Festival become one of the most popular gatherings on the entire racing circuit, although thanks to the leap year, the 2024 Gold Cup won't quite overlap with St Patrick's Day.

Last year's edition did though, and was fittingly won by a horse bred to succeed on the Emerald Isle. With thousands of Irish fans watching on from the stands, Galopin Des Champs stormed home to win the Gold Cup, ridden and trained by Irishmen Paul Townend and Willie Mullins respectively.

We're all set for another bumper crowd at Cheltenham as the festivities get underway and The Sporting News has a full guide to the dates, timings and TV details to ensure you don't miss a second of the action.

When is Cheltenham Festival 2024?

The 2024 Cheltenham Festival will be held over four days between Tuesday, March 12 and Friday, March 15, and takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse Prestbury Park in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Gates will open at 10:30 a.m. on each day of the Festival, with races beginning at 1:30 p.m. and concluding at 5:30 p.m. 

Cheltenham Festival 2024 full race schedule

All dates below are listed to start at local time (GMT), with championship and feature races — taking place at 3:30 p.m. each day — highlighted in bold.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024: Champion Day

• 1:30 p.m. The Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle Race
• 2:10 p.m. The My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase
• 2:50 p.m. The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
• 3:30 p.m. The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
• 4:10 p.m. The Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle Race
• 4:40 p.m. The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race
• 5:30 p.m. The Maureen Mullins National Hunt Novices’ Chase

Wednesday, March 13, 2024: Style Wednesday

• 1:30 p.m. The Gallagher Novices' Hurdle Race
• 2:10 p.m. The Brown Advisory Novices' Steeple Chase
• 2:50 p.m. The Coral Cup Hurdle
• 3:30 p.m. The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase
• 4:10 p.m. The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase
• 4:40 p.m. The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
• 5:30 p.m. The Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Thursday, March 14, 2024: St. Patrick's Thursday

• 1:30 p.m. The Turners Novices' Chase
• 2:10 p.m. The Pertemps Network Finak
• 2:50 p.m. The Ryanair Steeple Chase
• 3:30 p.m. The PaddyPower Stayers' Hurdle
• 4:10 p.m. The TrustATrader Plate
• 4:50 p.m. The Ryanair Mares Novices Hurdle
• 5:30 p.m. The Fluke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase

Friday, March 15, 2024: Gold Cup Day

• 1:30 p.m. The JCB Triumph Hurdle
• 2:10 p.m. The BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle Race
• 2:50 p.m. The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle Race
• 3:30 p.m. The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase
• 4:10 p.m. The St. James' Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Steeple Chase
• 4:50 p.m. The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Steeple Chase
• 5:30 p.m. Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle

Cheltenham Festival 2024 TV channel live stream

As one of the biggest events in the UK's horse racing calendar, anticipation is high ahead of the Cheltenham Festival as fans flock to Prestbury Park from all corners of the country and beyond. 

For fans not attending the festival itself but are still keen to follow all the action on TV, ITV is the home of the Cheltenham Festival and are providing wall-to-wall coverage of all the races across each of the four days.

ITV1's flagship racing programme is the place for viewers to watch on terrestrial TV, while fans can also stream the action for free using ITVX. Racing.tv are also providing coverage for their subscribers, albeit only for the final two days of races on Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15.