2027 race details

The 2027 Cheltenham Gold Cup is scheduled for TBA at Cheltenham — the closing afternoon of the four-day Cheltenham Festival.

Detail	Value
Race date	TBA
Off time	TBA
Going	TBA
Field size
Distance	3m 2½f
Obstacles	22 fences
Prize fund	~£650,000

Trials and build-up

The road to the Gold Cup runs through three tiers of trial races:

• King George VI Chase (Kempton, 26 December) — the premier winter staging post. Not every King George winner wins the Gold Cup, but most Gold Cup winners have at least contested it.
• Savills Chase (Leopardstown, 28 December) — the Irish equivalent; Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott's stable-stars typically use this over the King George.
• Irish Gold Cup (Leopardstown, early February) and Cotswold Chase (Cheltenham, late January) — the final prep races before the Festival itself.

Five-day entries for the Gold Cup close in early March. Final declarations (48-hour) are published on the Wednesday of Cheltenham Festival week. This page reflects the confirmed declared runners once they're posted — check back on Gold Cup morning for the final field.

Ante-post markets

Gold Cup ante-post books open in the summer after the Cheltenham Festival for the following year. Early prices react to King George and Savills Chase results in December. Short-priced favourites have a good recent record — Galopin Des Champs (2023, 2024), Al Boum Photo (2019, 2020), Sizing John (2017), and Native River (2018) all won at single-figure odds. Each-way value improves with the big-field editions that 14+ runners give you.

History and notable winners

The Cheltenham Gold Cup was first run in 1924 as the championship race of the still-young Cheltenham Festival. It has run every year since (bar 1931, 1937 and the 1943-44 wartime gaps, and the 2001 foot-and-mouth cancellation), making it the oldest continuously run Grade 1 chase in Britain.

The legends

Golden Miller (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936) won the Gold Cup five times — still the record, untouched for ninety years. He also won the Grand National in 1934, the only horse ever to complete the Aintree-Cheltenham double in the same season.

Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966) is the consensus "greatest chaser of all time" — three Gold Cups, carrying weights and beating fields in a way that rewrote the handicapping book. His Timeform rating of 212 remains the highest ever awarded to a chaser.

Best Mate (2002, 2003, 2004) won three in a row in the modern era — Henrietta Knight's stable star who defined Cheltenham for a decade. His career at a time when the Festival was becoming a global event made him the most photographed racehorse in Britain.

Kauto Star (2007, 2009) pulled off the unique feat of regaining the Gold Cup — runner-up in 2008 and 2011, winner of the King George five times. He and Denman (2008) staged the most famous Gold Cup rivalry of the modern era under the same trainer, Paul Nicholls.

Al Boum Photo (2019, 2020) gave Willie Mullins his long-awaited first Gold Cup wins — two-in-a-row at a time when the Irish dominance of the Festival was becoming impossible to deny.

Galopin Des Champs (2023, 2024) — Mullins again — is the current-era flagbearer, winning back-to-back Gold Cups at age 7 and 8 and establishing himself as the defining staying chaser of the decade.

What wins the Gold Cup

The Cheltenham New Course at 3m 2½f rewards:

• Stamina AND pace — the Gold Cup is not a grind-them-down race; the pace is genuine from the off
• Class — top-weight 11-10 is the championship weight; you need Grade 1 form to even be competitive
• Good-ground tolerance or bottomless-ground specialist — the Festival is soft or good-to-soft most years
• Jumping fluency under pressure — the fences are fair but the pace is relentless and tired horses make mistakes three out

Recent roll of honour

This section updates after each year's running — see /racing-news/ for the most recent race result article.

TV coverage and how to watch

The 2027 Cheltenham Gold Cup is live on ITV1 (free-to-air in the UK).

UK terrestrial — ITV1 / ITVX

ITV Racing's Gold Cup Friday coverage is the network's flagship National Hunt broadcast of the year. Coverage typically runs from approximately 1:00pm on Gold Cup Friday, carrying all seven races from Cheltenham plus extensive build-up programming. The Gold Cup itself is traditionally race 4 or 5 on the Friday card, off around 3:30pm; the exact off-time for 2027 is TBA once confirmed.

ITVX carries the coverage live and on demand after the event, free to UK viewers. The Gold Cup-day broadcast regularly attracts over 1 million UK viewers.

Racing TV

Racing TV carries the full Cheltenham Festival card every afternoon (all four days, ~28 races total) with dedicated parade-ring cameras, extended post-race analysis, and the longest pre-and-post-race windows of any Festival broadcaster. Subscription or Festival day-pass required — the Festival Pass is the popular option.

Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing does not hold rights to Cheltenham Festival — Cheltenham is on Racing TV and ITV for the full four days. Sky Sports Racing will show the complementary Festival-week fixtures (typically Stratford, Bangor and smaller evening meetings).

International

• Ireland: RTÉ Sport and Racing TV carry the Festival live; Irish bookmakers' apps also stream.
• US: NBC Sports often carries the Gold Cup and flagship Festival races; Racing TV's American feed for the full card.
• Australia: Sky Thoroughbred Central carries the Festival highlights; confirm with your provider.

Replays

ITVX (free) and Racing TV (subscriber archive) keep the race available on-demand. The Racing Post, ITV Racing and official Cheltenham YouTube channels post the race video within hours of the result.

Off-time reminders

Gold Cup Friday runs on tight TV discipline because of the seven-race card and the end-of-Festival schedule. Expect the advertised TBA to move by no more than 1–2 minutes unless a stewards' delay or weather break intervenes.

Raceday at Cheltenham (Gold Cup Friday)

Getting there

Cheltenham Racecourse is at Prestbury Park, Evesham Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4SH — on the northern edge of Cheltenham, 90 minutes by train from London Paddington. The nearest station is Cheltenham Spa with a free shuttle-bus service to the racecourse during Festival week.

Drivers: Junction 10 or 11 of the M5, follow Festival-week AA signage. On-course and off-course car parks (Cleeve Hill, showground) with shuttle buses. Allow significant extra time on Gold Cup Friday — Festival traffic is heavy and parking fills by late morning.

The enclosures

Three main tickets for the Festival:

• Club Enclosure — best viewing from the Princess Royal Stand, access to parade ring and winner's enclosure. Dress code applies; sells out first.
• Tattersalls — main public enclosure with excellent paddock and rails access. The heart of the Festival crowd.
• Best Mate Enclosure — budget option on the far side of the course, with big-screen viewing and a more relaxed feel.

Gold Cup Friday tickets sell out within hours of on-sale each autumn — book through cheltenham.thejockeyclub.co.uk as soon as the sale opens.

On the day

• Gates open around 10:00am.
• First race is at 1:30pm.
• The Gold Cup is race 4 or 5 on the card, typically off around TBA.
• Parade ring is mobbed 30 minutes before each Festival race — if you want a spot for the Gold Cup, stake your claim early.
• The Roar — the traditional opening cheer when the tapes go up on race 1 (the Triumph Hurdle on Gold Cup Friday) is one of the most famous moments in sport. Don't miss it.

Dress code

Club Enclosure: smart business dress (collared shirt, jacket for men; smart-casual for women). Tattersalls and Best Mate: no strict dress code but the Festival crowd is well-dressed. Layered warm waterproof clothing is essential — Cheltenham in March can be anything from mild spring sun to horizontal sleet within an hour. Sturdy footwear is non-negotiable.

Food and drink

Extensive food and drink offering across the Festival: champagne bars, gastropubs, the famous Guinness Village, street-food traders, and multiple hospitality marquees. Prices are Festival-level — premium. The Guinness Village is the social centre of Tattersalls.

Betting

Tote facilities and on-course bookmakers throughout. Festival-day cash demand is high — bring plenty and/or rely on the app-based alternatives. Our bookmaker comparison guide covers online options if you'd rather place from your phone.