How to watch Cheltenham 2023: TV channel, ITV festival coverage, full schedule and when the Gold Cup is
Punters are descending on Cheltenham Festival this week, but for those staying at home ITV and Racing TV will have you covered.
The four-day festival starts on Tuesday 14 March and runs for four days, culminating in Gold Cup Day on Friday.
Each day features seven races, with the first race at 1.30pm and last race 5.30pm.
How to watch Cheltenham Festival 2023
The four-day Festival will be shown live on ITV and Racing TV. The opening five races of each day will be broadcast on ITV, with Racing TV – available through Sky and Virgin Media – providing full coverage.
ITV and Racing TV will both be live streaming the Festival, too, with the day-by-day coverage as follows:
- Tuesday 14 March: Day 1 – Champion Day – ITV 1 from 1pm to 4.30pm. Racing TV coverage starts at 1pm with a preview of the day’s racing from 10am.
- Wednesday 15 March: Day 2 – Festival Wednesday – ITV 4 from 1pm to 2.05pm, switches to ITV 1 from 2pm until 4.30pm. Racing TV coverage starts at 1pm with a preview of the day’s racing from 10am.
- Thursday 16 March: Day 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday – ITV 1 from 1pm to 4.30pm. Racing TV coverage starts at 1pm with a preview of the day’s racing from 12.30pm.
- Friday 17 March: Day 4 – Gold Cup Day – ITV 1 from 1pm to 4.30pm. Racing TV coverage starts at 12.30pm with a preview of the day’s racing from 10am.
Cheltenham Festival weather forecast
Rain is expected to heavily impact the Festival, with the going set to be soft each day according to clerk of the course Jon Pullin.
Check our day-by-day Cheltenham weather forecast here, with the Met Office predicting a 40 per cent chance of precipitation for Friday’s Gold Cup.
Cheltenham Festival 2023 schedule
All times GMT, with the day’s feature race in bold:
Tuesday 14 March: Day 1 – Champion Day
- 1.30pm: The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race
- 2.10pm: The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase
- 2.50pm: The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
- 3.30pm: The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
- 4.10pm: The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle Race
- 4.50pm: The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race
- 5.30pm: The National Hunt Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
Wednesday 15 March: Day 2 – Festival Wednesday
- 1.30pm: The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race
- 2.10pm: The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase
- 2.50pm: The Coral Cup Hurdle
- 3.30pm: The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase
- 4.10pm: The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase
- 4.50pm: The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
- 5.30pm: The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
Thursday 16 March: Day 3 – St Patrick’s Thursday
- 1.30pm: The Turners Novices’ Chase
- 2.10pm: The Pertemps Network Final
- 2.50pm: The Ryanair Steeple Chase
- 3.30pm: The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle
- 4.10pm: The Magners Plate
- 4.50pm: The Jack de Bromhead Mares Novices’ Hurdle
- 5.30pm: Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup (sponsored by the JRL Group)
Friday 17 March: Day 4 – Gold Cup Day
- 1.30pm: The JCB Triumph Hurdle
- 2.10pm: The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle Race
- 2.50pm: The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle Race
- 3.30pm: The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase
- 4.10pm: The St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase
- 4.50pm: The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeple Chase
- 5.30pm: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
The big storylines to look out for at Cheltenham
Friday’s coveted Gold Cup race takes place at 3.30pm, with Galopin Des Champs currently the favourite having won five of his six starts over fences to date.
Galopin Des Champs is trained by the formidable Willie Mullins, who also has hopes for Stattler in the showcase race.
Last year, Rachael Blackmore triumphed riding A Plus Tard, becoming the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup.
This time around Blackmore heads to Cheltenham on the back of three victories in the past fortnight, and she will be riding 2021 and 2022 Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle in the Mares’ Hurdle on Tuesday.
She will also hope to ride A Plus Tard once more, with Henry de Bromhead’s horse among the main challengers out to dash Galopin Des Champs’ prospects.
“It all comes back around very quickly. Things don’t really ever stop in this sport and it’s mad to think we’re getting close to Cheltenham again,” said Blackmore, who is booked in for nine races on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“You love to get on the board early. When you’re riding for such a powerful stable like Henry de Bromhead’s and have such good rides, you’re hoping to get at least one on the board, but it’s a very difficult place to ride winners. It’s extremely competitive, but we’ll be trying our best.
“The minute Cheltenham 2022 finishes, people are talking about 2023. That’s just the way Cheltenham is I think and you have to try to not get too wrapped up in it all and let it kind of creep up on you.
“This is a really enjoyable and exciting time of year. There’s incredible racing and it’s an enjoyable time when you’re getting to ride the horses that are competing at this level.”
