The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day and is particularly popular with Irish visitors.
Barry Geraghty is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online betting company Betway, the race is now known as the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Clarence House Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in January.
The Desert Orchid Handicap Chase is a Grade 2 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are twelve fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in late December during the course's Christmas Festival.
The Celebration Chase is a Grade One National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 1 mile 7½ furlongs, and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in late April.
Paul Frank Nicholls is a British National Hunt horse trainer with stables at Ditcheat, Somerset. A relatively successful jump jockey, Nicholls has become the leading National Hunt trainer of his generation in Britain, finishing the 2007–08 season with 155 winners and a record £4 million in prize money. As of April 2023, he has trained over 3,500 winners, won the 2012 Grand National, four Cheltenham Gold Cups and has been crowned British jump racing Champion Trainer fourteen times.
Nicholas John Henderson is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times.
Aidan Coleman is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey. During a seventeen-year career based in Great Britain, he rode four winners at the Cheltenham Festival and a total of 13 Grade 1 winners. In June 2023 he sustained a serious leg injury in a fall at Worcester and was unable to return to race-riding. He announced his retirement on medical advice in April 2024.
Sprinter Sacre, is a French-bred, British-trained Selle Français racehorse. He currently has the third highest ever Timeform steeplechase rating of 192p, behind only Arkle on 212 and Flyingbolt on 210 as their highest in the modern era.
Coneygree is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career which ran from November 2010 to February 2019 he ran in eighteen races, winning nine times. In March 2015, he became the first novice chaser to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for more than forty years. His subsequent career was hampered by injury and he did not run again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after winning it.
Noel Fehily is a retired Irish professional horse racing jockey. Throughout his professional career, he has enjoyed substantial success including the King George VI Chase and Champion Hurdle, despite enduring significant injuries.
Altior is an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt races. After winning one of his three National Hunt Flat races he was unbeaten in five hurdle races including the Sharp Novices' Hurdle and Supreme Novices' Hurdle. In the 2016/2017 National Hunt season he won six consecutive steeplechases including the Henry VIII Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, Game Spirit Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Celebration Chase.
Buveur d'Air is a retired French-bred British-trained AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning twice in his native France he moved to England and won the Top Novices' Hurdle in 2016. In the following season he won two steeplechases before reverting to hurdle races to win the Contenders Hurdle and then recording his biggest success in the Champion Hurdle. In the 2017–18 season he was unbeaten, winning the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Christmas Hurdle and a second Champion Hurdle, so becoming the second horse, after Kribensis, to win the Triple Crown of Hurdling. The 2018-19 season saw him win both the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Contenders Hurdle for the second time. In November 2019 he sustained a freak injury in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and did not race for the rest of the season.
Rachael Blackmore MBE is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in the 182-year history of the race. She also became the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival with six victories, including the Champion Hurdle, in 2021. The following year she became the first female jockey to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Henry de Bromhead is an Irish horse trainer who specialises in training horses for National Hunt racing. He has trained a number of Grade 1 winners including Sizing John and Honeysuckle, and is based at stables in Knockeen, County Waterford
Might Bite is a retired Irish-bred, British trained thoroughbred racehorse. He won four Group 1 races before being retired in 2021.
Constitution Hill is a British Thoroughbred racehorse that competes in hurdle racing. He recorded his biggest victory when winning the 2023 Champion Hurdle and has been acclaimed as one of the best hurdlers of all time.
Shishkin was an Irish-bred British-trained thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. A dual Cheltenham Festival winner, he won 14 of his 21 races including six Grade 1s with his best performance generally regarded as the Clarence House Chase victory over Energumene. He was trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Nico de Boinville.
Ireland
