Champion Day 16th March 2027 – Cheltenham Festival Day One

Race 1 - Supreme Novices' Hurdle - 13:20

That famous Cheltenham Roar we mentioned before is how you know that the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is well under way. This Grade 1 race is run on the Old Course and lasts for two miles and eighty-seven yards (2m, 87y). It features eight hurdles and, as the name suggests, is for novice hurdlers.

The race is for horses aged four or over and they should have a weight of ten stone, eleven pounds. Horses of five or older see that shift to eleven stone, seven pounds, whilst both fillies and mares have a seven pound allowance.

The leading jockey in this race is Ruby Walsh with six wins and the leading trainer is Willie Mullins, with eight wins - although Nicky Henderson is just two behind with six wins spanning 40 years (first win 1896, last 2026).  In terms of what field to expect last year 11 ran.

For 2025 the race was called the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle in honour of the 24 year old Irish jockey who sadly died at Thurles the previous month.

Race 2 - Arkle Challenge Trophy - 14:00

Named after one of the most famous horses in the history of the Festival, this Grade 1 race also takes place on the Old Course. In fact, all of the first day’s races are run on the Old Course and they’re all run left-handed, so you can just assume both of those things for the rest of this page.

Open to novice chasers aged five years and up, the weight allowance is eleven stone seven pounds with a seven pound allowance for mares.  It isn't the biggest field of the Festival, six running last time, but it is still a thrilling spectacle and always closely run.

The race is typical run at a tremendous pace, which is not to be sniffed at considering it’s run over one mile, seven furlongs and one hundred and ninety nine yards (1m, 7f, 199y) and features thirteen fences. Prior to 1980 it was run on Day Two of the Festival, but it was moved in that year and has remained on Day One ever since.

Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh are the leading jockeys with four wins each, whilst Nicky Henderson’s eight victories make him the leading trainer.  Willie Mullins is just one behind now with 7 wins so don't expect that record to last too long.

Race 3 - Juvenile Handicap Hurdle - 14:40

The Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle was established back in 2005 when the Festival was extended over four days rather than the previous three. The Premier Handicap event is open to novice horses aged four and up and it is a handicap race. Run over two miles and eighty-seven yards (2m, 87y), it has eight jumps that need to be cleared if a horse is hoping to be crowned the victor.  It is a big field race too with 22 going off most years, that being the maximum field.

The race is named in honour of Fred Winter, a man who picked up seventeen wins as a jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and who then went on to win twenty-eight times as a trainer. In terms of jockeys to win it only Mark Walsh and JJ Selvin have won the Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle on more than one occasion.  JJ has won it twice but it is Mark Walsh with the record at present with four wins.

Joseph O'Brien, Paul Nicholls and Gordon Elliot are the only trainers to win more than once, picking up three, three and four wins respectively each during their careers.

In 2020 the Fred Winter moved from Ladies Day to Champion Day to accommodate a new Mares' Chase on Gold Cup Day.  In 2026 it was moved up the order to be the third race of the day to give me of showcase for younger horses.

Race 4 - Ultima Handicap Chase - 15:20

Though the Gold Cup might be the most prestigious race of the entire week and the Champion Hurdle is the race Day One is centered around, the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase might be the most competitive one run at the Festival.

It is open to horses aged five and older and typically features quite a large field (22 ran last year - two less than the maximum field). The Premier Handicap (formerly Grade 3) race takes place over a distance of three miles and one furlong (3m, 1f), during which the horses must jump twenty fences.

Owing to both its length and the number of jumps, it can often turn into something of a war of attrition between the horses that take part in it. Usually the winner will enter the Grand National as a favourite, such is the ferocity of the race. Weight-wise it is a handicap race, so the handicapper will assign different amounts in order to make it as level a playing field as possible.  The last horse to win both this and the National was Corach Rambler in 2023.

Records of winners only go back as far as 1946, but since then Robert Thornton, Tom Scudamore and Richie McLernon have been the most successful jockeys with three wins each and both Fred Rimell and Fulke Walwyn have achieved four wins as trainers.  Jonjo O'Neill has also now won four times as a trainer, although the last time (2026) was as joint trainer with AJ O'Neill.

Race 5 - The Champion Hurdle - 16:00

The Champion Hurdle is absolutely the most exciting and looked-out-for race of Day One at the Cheltenham Festival. It is, of course, a Grade 1 race and is open to four year old and over with a weight of eleven stone two pounds.

If the horse is over five then that shifts to eleven stone ten pounds and both fillies and mares get a seven pound allowance. Run over two miles and eight-seven yards (2m, 87y) and featuring eight hurdles, this race decides on the champion of the hurdles division for the year.

The Champion Hurdle comes after The Fighting Fifth Hurdle, which is run at Newcastle Racecourse, and The Christmas Hurdle, run at Kempton Park Racecourse, as the final leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling. Only a horse named Kribensis has won all three, an achievement accomplished with Richard Dunwoody on his back in the 1989-1990 season.

Tim Molony, Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh have won this four times as jockeys, whilst Nicky Henderson is once again the leading trainer with nine wins.  Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to win the race in 2021 with Honeysuckle and then went on to claim back-to-back wins thanks to her win on the same horse in 2022.

This race has an astonishing record for favourites winning at a huge 54% since 2000.  Indeed, Constitution Hill was the shortest priced winner ever in 2023 at 4/11 and State Man wasn't far off that when he won for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend at 2/5 on in 2024.  State Man and Constitution Hill fell in 2025 allowing a surprise 25/1 win for the mare Golden Ace, so sometimes it can be worth not just looking at the favourite.  Then again in 2026 it was Lossiemouth for Mullins at 7/5 again so it doesn't happen often.

Race 6 - Plate Handicap Chase - 16:40

This race is also known as the Mildmay of Flete Challenge Cup, named in honour of the 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete, who rode three different winners at the Cheltenham Festival over the years, this Premier Handicap race is run over two miles, four furlongs and forty-four yards (2m, 4f, 44y).  The race has a pretty decent field, with 20 running last time out.

The five-year-old and upward horses who run it will need to navigate their way over sixteen fences, complete with handicaps to ensure a level playing field. It was sponsored for the first time in 2006 and has had numerous sponsors since then, so don’t be surprised if it’s on the race card under a different name.

The race was moved from day three to day one in 2025 and changed from the new course to the old course as a result.  This resulted in the race having one less fence and becoming 83 yards shorter so bear that in mind when looking back at past results for insights.

The race was inaugurated in 1951, a year after the death of the 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete. It was intended to be run in March but the track was waterlogged so it was moved to April instead. In spite of the race’s age few jockeys have managed to win it more than once. In fact, Fred Winter is the moat successful of all the jockeys thanks to his three victories. Interestingly three different trainers have managed to win it four times; namely Bobby Renton, Nicky Henderson and Martin Pipe.

Two horses have won this race more than once, although a while ago now.  The Tsarevich (1985 & 1986) and Elfast (1992 & 1993).  The average odds of the winner in this race since the turn of the millennium is over 18/1 with only 23% of favourites winning, which shows this is a race where value can be found.

Race 7 - The Princess Royal National Hunt Chase - 17:20

The Princess Royal National Hunt Chase is the last race of the first day of the Festival.  It was formerly a Grade 2 race open to novice chasers that are ridden by amateur jockeys, however, as part of a raft of changes in 2025 the race is now a 0-145 novice handicap.  The stipulation that only amateurs can ride has also been removed meaning professional jockeys can now enter this race.

The race features twenty-three fences jumped over a gruelling three and three quarter miles (3m, 5f, 201y). As well as being a novice the horses must also be over five years of age and weight eleven stone four pounds, or eleven stone six pounds if they’re over six years of age. Having said that, there is a seven pound allowance for mares.

Though the Gold Cup is now the most important race at the Festival, the meeting would never have been the event that it is if the racecourse hadn’t persuaded the National Hunt Committee to allow the National Hunt Chase to be moved to Cheltenham permanently back in 1911. It is the longest race of the week and from 2005 to 2007 was actually run on the New Course. Interestingly, no horse has won the race twice and only two amateur jockeys, Jamie Codd and Patrick Mullins, have won it three and four times respectively (since 1946).  Jonjo O'Neill is the leading trainer with 6 victories.

In 2025 the race was renamed permanently after The Princess Royal, an accomplished horsewoman and former amateur jockey.  Princess Anne (the late Queen's younger sister) is the Royal who has visited and supported Cheltenham more than any other in the family, so very fitting.