Cheltenham gold cup festival – what a party!

Race horses jumping over fences

It won’t be long until this great racing festival at Cheltenham is underway. It’s one of the highlights of the National Hunt season and crowds of 250,000 converge to enjoy the buzz. You don’t have to be a seasoned race goer to take part in the fun and tickets are still available (at a discounted price until 31st January).

With 4 days of great racing from 10th – 13th March 2020 it will bring together some of the best horses and jockeys of the jump racing season.  The prize money runs to an eye watering £4.5m for owners and jockeys to battle over.

Set in the beautiful Cotswolds, Cheltenham racecourse lies in a scenic amphitheatre below the Cotswold Hills and makes a fabulous backdrop to some great racing.

The course has a wide range of facilities and tickets are still available for most of the enclosures.  Dining in one of the course side restaurants makes it a very special day, but needs to be booked in advance. New for 2020 is “The Park”, set in The Club and Tatersalls enclosure, with live music, entertainment and bars showing live racing all day.

Enjoy the Shopping Village too, particularly if you’ve had some luck on the horses. It has a large variety of trade stands to suit most tastes.

History

The Hall of Fame is definitely worth a visit, with winners’ silks and trophies from years gone by, fascinating information about the history of Cheltenham and a hologram of the great horse Desert Orchid.

Champion Day

The first day of the meeting and features the Stan James Champion Hurdle, with prize money of £450,000.

Ladies Day

A great excuse for the ladies to dress up and have a good time with your friends.  There’s even a best dressed ladies competition! With 7 races to watch, there’s never a dull moment.

St Patrick’s Day

Celebrate the day with plenty of Guiness on tap and live music flowing.  Maybe watch some Irish winners too.

Gold Cup Day

This is the famous Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run over 3 miles 2.5 furlongs, with 22 jumps and is the most prestigious of the calendar. In 2020 the total prize money for the race will be £625,000.

Scene of Arkle’s historic 3 consecutive wins in the 60’s, this race is the highlight of the fixture list.

Make a break of it and stay in one of our big houses to hire

Why not make an occasion of it, get all your friends together and stay locally for the whole of the racing week. Staying a week would enable you to explore some of the beautiful countryside and wonderful towns of the Cotswolds.

Cheltenham House is a 12 minute drive (5 miles) away from the course. It’s an elegant party house that’s got character, plus all the mod cons of super stylish kitchen and high spec bathrooms. A lovely dining room to celebrate together at the end of the race day and a hot tub for relaxing and chatting over the highlights of the festival.

Cotswold Manor is only 30 minutes away from the course.  It’s a wonderful, quintessential country manor house, a superb retreat to enjoy after a day at the races. Full of character and a very popular party house with our guests.