The Cheltenham Festival History

The Cheltenham Festival takes place only over four exciting days in mid March. Cheltenham Festival is simply the climax of the National Hunt season.We have pulled together the Cheltenham Festival History as we think it makes some great reading to understand the history behind this great sporting event. The Cheltenham History is rich!

Horse Racing at Cheltenham in Gloucstershire dates back to nearly 200 years when in 1815 the very first meeting was held on a place called Nottingham Hill. Three years later, in 1818 the first races on Cleeve Hill took place in August. The popularity of Horse Racing jumped massively over the next 10 years or so with crowds of 30,000 for the annual two day meeting in July featuring the Gold Cup.

The first horse to win the Gold Cup was called Spectre. Back then the course was a three-mile Flat race. The race meeting in 1830 was disrupted by Cheltenham’s Parish Priest, a Reverend Francis Close had preached the evils of horseracing and created such a strong feeling amongst the congregation. Due to this action it was decided that the races were to be moved to Prestbury Park which is its current racing venue. Since 1831 the venue has grown from 'three fields' for flat racing into a site that consists of 500 acres and has become the home of National Hunt racing. Steeplechasing was first staged at Prestbury Park in 1898.

The very first Cheltenham Festival took place in 1902 and has continued to gain importance within the racing calendar. It's widely recognised as one of the United Kingdoms best sporting events.The Cheltenham Festival generates a massive estimated £50m for local amenities including hotels, shops, pubs and clubs. In 2005 the first four day Festival with six races on each day took place.