The Cheltenham Festival is the biggest week of national hunt racing in Britain and, in 2022, we are once again going to see the best of British on show, as horses, jockeys and trainers all aim to win at this prestigious meeting.
Interest from fans is strong, especially with the four Championship races that take place at the meeting. The biggest of those is the Gold Cup, and the latest Cheltenham Festival 2022 betting shows that Galvin is the current 4.5 favorite to win the race.
One of the main reasons why the festival is so strong and well-loved by fans is because the action does not center around just one race and one day. Each of the four days are special, such as Ladies Day, which comes on the second day of the meeting. Here you will find the Queen Mother Champion Chase headlining the action, and that race is home to Shishkin, a banker of the meeting for some and a horse that will feature heavily amongst Cheltenham Ladies Day tips at the meeting.
The opening day of the meeting features the Champion Hurdle, while the third day features the Stayers Hurdle, showing that all four days have something special for fans to look forward to. When the names of the horses are being confirmed for these races, and the picture builds, it really is time for horse racing fans to get excited.
Who are the Big Names Heading to Cheltenham?
Big races bring big name horses, and you will certainly see those at Cheltenham. In the Champion Hurdle on the first day, Honeysuckle returns to defend the title she won in 2021 and since then, if anything, she has been even more impressive on the track. Many believe she is unbeatable, and the race is hers to lose.
Honeysuckle heads 10 declarations for Tuesday’s Unibet Champion Hurdle! pic.twitter.com/EJC8mYhHHQ
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 13, 2022
In the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday, we will see a clash between Shishkin and Energumene, which should be brilliant to watch. These two met at Ascot earlier in the year, a race which was won by Shishkin.
On the same day, Tiger Roll is set to run his last career race in the Cross Country Chase. He won the 2021 renewal and is a previous two-time Grand National winner, as well as being a legend of the festival.
Rounding off the meeting, the Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place on Friday, with the kind of field you would expect for a race of this quality. Last year’s winner Minella Indo is back, as is Al Boum Photo who won the race in both 2019 and 2020, while the second from last year, A Plus Tard, is back to try and go one better.
Galvin is the new horse on the scene, after winning the National Hunt Chase in 2021, he is looking to show he can move up from novice company and take one of the biggest prizes in racing. Across the week, we will see some huge names on the track, with the Gold Cup, in particular, looking stacked full of stars.
Image: “Handicap chase” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Carine06
