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The History of Cheltenham National Hunt Festival

16 March 2011

The Cheltenham National Hunt Festival is an extremely well known and high class horse racing event, which takes place annually in Cheltenham in March. Today some of the finest British and Irish horses race against one another, and the event therefore attracts many affluent spectators. Many of the spectators are Irish due to the Irish horses racing and the fact that it often falls on or around St Patrick’s Day.

The official name of the festival is the ‘National Hunt Meeting’, and it started in 1860 at Market Harborough. At this time it was called the Grand National Hunt. Then in 1861 the event was held in Cheltenham for the first time. The following few years the National Hunt Meeting was held at various locations, before finally returning to Cheltenham again in 1904 for two years. After this time, the National Hunt Meeting was held in Warwick until 1910, and the following year it returned to Cheltenham where it has been held ever since.  Prestbury Park in Cheltenham is the grounds where the festival takes place every year.

In 1924, the Cheltenham Gold Cup began, which was the first championship race event. Three years later the Champion Hurdle was established, and then 32 years after this the Queen Mother Championship Chase was introduced. In 1972 the first Stayers Hurdle took place.

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