While the Gold Cup is the main spectacle during the festival, there are many other great races that punters enjoy tuning into each and every year. Even people who do not really watch horse racing the rest of the year will often tune in and place bets.
Naturally, there are concerns in the lead-up to the 2022 Cheltenham festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the best horses will still be descending on the venue to be in with a chance of glory. This review will expand on everything you need to know about the Cheltenham Festival in 2022.
What are the dates for the Cheltenham Festival 2022?
The Cheltenham Festival 2022 will begin on March 15 (Tuesday) and will be run over a total of four days. Therefore, the finish date will be March 18 (Friday). The beginning times of the racing are the same each day, with the first event kicking off at 1:30pm and the last race of the day beginning at 5:30pm. The main race of the day will normally be at 3:30pm.
The venue is always the Cheltenham Racecourse, which is in England. For the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, fans were not able to attend in mass as a result of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. It appears that there will be fans able to attend the 2022 renewal. This will be in addition to the millions of people who will be watching through the likes of television, online, and over the radio.
Cheltenham Racecourse
There are two separate courses that you will find at the Cheltenham Festival. The Old Course is the venue for the Festival’s initial two days, while the New Course is the venue for the final two days of racing. Both of these tracks are left-handed and are seen as being stiff venues. Punters will take into account some of the minor contrasts that exist between these tracks.
The Old Course is generally seen as having a shorter run-in and will favour the speedier types of horses. For the New Course, you will see more of an emphasis placed on horses that have good stamina. Both venues make for an exciting race, no matter what horses are participating.
Cheltenham Festival 2022 Dates Schedule
Day 1
There is always a lot of fanfare attached to the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival each year. People are always looking ahead in the calendar to get the festival up and running.
As the initial race begins, you will hear the famous roar from the crowd as the horses take off. The biggest of the races on the opening day is the Champion Hurdle. The champion is deemed to be the best horse in the land when it comes to smaller hurdles.
- Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1:30pm)
- Arkle Challenge Trophy (2:10pm)
- Ultima Handicap Chase (2:50pm)
- Unibet Champion Hurdle (3:30pm)
- The Mares’ Hurdle (4:10pm)
- National Hunt Challenge Cup (4:50pm)
- Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase (5:30pm)
Day 2
Day 2 on Cheltenham 2022 will see a great range of quality races being on the card. It starts off with a bang, while everyone looks forward to the Queen Mother Champion Chase. This has been one of the most exciting spectacles of the Cheltenham Festival every year. Another big race for bettors will be the Coral Cup, with this handicap race being fiercely contested.
- Ballymore Novices Hurdle (1:30pm)
- RSA Steeple Chase (2:10pm)
- Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (2:50pm)
- Queen Mother Champion Chase (3:30pm)
- Cross Country Chase (4:10pm)
- Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4:50pm)
- Weatherby’s Champion Bumper (5:30pm)
Day 3
For the third day of Cheltenham races 2022, you will not have as much excitement as is seen with the three other days. However, this doesn’t mean that there are no exciting races on the course. The Stayers’ Hurdle is always a renewal that highlights how much stamina horses need while running over the New Course. There is always a high-quality field taking part in the Ryanair Chase each year.
- JLT Novices Chase (1:30pm)
- Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle (2:10pm)
- Ryanair Chase (2:50pm)
- The Stayers’ Hurdle (3:30pm)
- Brown Advisory Plate (4:10pm)
- Mares Novices Hurdle (4:50pm)
- Kim Muir Chase Cup (5:30pm)
Day 4
Everyone is already looking forward to the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2022, with this being the highlight of the entire festival. It is perhaps the biggest horse race that takes place anywhere in the world every year, with the best of the best fighting it out. The opening race of the day sees a lot of exciting talent taking part in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, many of which will go onto bigger and better things as time goes on.
- JCB Triumph Hurdle (1:30pm)
- County Handicap Hurdle (2:10pm)
- Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (2:50pm)
- Cheltenham Gold Cup (3:30pm)
- Foxhunter Challenge Cup (4:10pm)
- Grand Annual Chase (4:50pm)
- Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Hurdle (5:30pm)
Cheltenham 2022 Tickets
At the moment, it appears that the 2022 Cheltenham Festival is going to go ahead with fans in attendance. Currently, you are able to buy tickets online from all places where you can regularly buy tickets to sporting events and horse races, including through the Jockey Club website.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption with other sports in the UK over recent times, so people will be hoping that there will not be a repeat of 2021 when fans were unable to attend. It was only those people who were integral to the races that were going to be able to attend the festival of racing.
Cheltenham Festival History
There is a huge amount of history attached with the Cheltenham Festival, with the first renewal going all of the way back to around 1860. Every year, this festival is a major fixture on the National Hunt fixture list across the UK. The prize money that is on offer over the course of the festival is only smaller than that of the Grand National.
There is a great history of fans travelling from across the world to the festival, particularly from Ireland. This is helped by the fact that St Patricks Day usually takes place over the course of the festival. In recent years, Irish horses and trainers have tended to perform very well across the four days of racing.
The Stayers Hurdle is the longest-running race as part of the current calendar, having taken place in 1912 for the first time. There were three days of racing as part of the festival up until 2005. Compared to some of the other major races in the UK calendar, you will not find as many horses from outside of the UK and Ireland making the trip to Cheltenham for the festival.
Betting on the Cheltenham Festival
There are huge sums of money bet on the races in the Cheltenham Festival each year. Even casual bettors will like to get involved and place a flutter while they watch the races. While there is no guaranteed way for you to be profitable, here are some general tips that might come in handy when you are looking to place bets:
Make the Most of Promotions
The Cheltenham Festival is probably the best time of the year for taking advantage of promotions. Every leading bookie will have all sorts of deals, ranging from welcome offers to moneyback and boosted odds deals.
You should make sure to check out the different promotions that are on offer from different operators before betting on a race. Some of the best bookies for Cheltenham Festival promotions include Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, and Coral.
Place Bets at the Best Odds
There are often some great odds available to you when you do your research. A lot of bookmakers will be trying to stand out from the crowds during the festival and offering some odds that are better than competitors. You can use an odds comparison tool to see for each race which bookie is offering the best odds.
Do Your Homework
Even casual fans can do a bit of homework before placing bets on races. You often feel like you have gotten more of a reward when you pull off a winning bet after doing some homework. There are many variables to consider, including course form, recent form, jockey record, and the record of the trainer in that race over the years.
Conclusion
The Cheltenham Festival 2022 is something that racing fans across the world are keenly looking forward to. While there are concerns about how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will impact the festival, it appears that fans will still be able to attend.
With some top-quality races set to take place, you can make the race-watching experience even better by placing a few bets on the outcome of these spectacles.
