Cheltenham Festival: Course guide and key statistics

Timeform's Cheltenham course guide

The races on the first two days (apart from the Cross Country which has its own course) take place on the Old Course; the races on the final two days take place on the New Course.

Left handed, undulating. Stiff fences that place a premium on sound jumping. The finish is uphill, although the lead changes hands on the run-in less frequently than might be expected. Prominent-racers often fare well on the chase course, especially in races up to 3m. On the New Course, the hurdles track has just two flights in the last six furlongs, resulting in more emphasis on stamina; large-field races over two miles often go to hold-up horses, as there can be a tendency to go for home too soon.

Leading active jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival

Sorted by strike rate across last ten Festivals (minimum 20 rides)

• Keith Donoghue 19.1% (4-21)
• Paul Townend 17.1% (27-158)
• Rachael Blackmore 16.1% (14-87)
• Nico de Boinville 16.0% (16-100)
• Jack Kennedy 14.3% (10-70)

Other points to consider

• Paul Townend has been the leading rider at the Festival in three of the last four years (including the last two), each time with a total of five winners and all of them supplied by Willie Mullins.
• Following the retirement of Davy Russell, Paul Townend is now also the leading active jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with 28 career winners placing him behind only Ruby Walsh (59), Barry Geraghty (43) and Sir Anthony McCoy (31).
• All four of Keith Donoghue's Cheltenham Festival wins have come for the Gordon Elliott stable in the Cross Country Chase, partnering Tiger Roll in each of his three wins in the race as well as last year's winner Delta Work.
• Rachael Blackmore has ridden at least one winner at each of the last five Festivals and won the Leading Rider Award in 2021 with a total of six winners.
• Jack Kennedy (40.72), Nico de Boinville (35.16), Paul Townend (28.73) and Rachael Blackmore (12.64) are among the jockeys whose mounts have posted a level-stake profit at the Cheltenham Festival in the last ten years.

Leading active trainers at the Cheltenham Festival

Sorted by strike rate across last ten Festivals (minimum 20 runners)

• Gavin Cromwell 14.3% (4-28)
• Willie Mullins 11.4% (65-568)
• Gordon Elliott 11.2% (34-305)
• Henry de Bromhead 10.8% (18-166)
• Tony Martin 10.7% (3-28)

Other points to consider

• Fielding multiple runners in races has harmed Willie Mullins' strike-rate, but he is out on his own in terms of winners. Out of his record 94 Festival winners, 65 have come in the last ten years.
• Mullins was leading trainer at the Festival for the tenth time in 2023 (and fifth year running) and sent out a record ten winners in 2022.
• Nicky Henderson is second on the all-time list with 73 winners, while a couple of winners for Paul Nicholls at last year's Festival, following two blank years, takes his total to 48.
• Backing Gordon Elliott's Festival runners in the last ten years (34 winners from 305 runners) would have resulted in a level-stake profit of 67.39.

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