Cheltenham Festival: Highlight of 2013 Horseracing Season

Cheltenham Festival: Highlight of 2013 Horseracing Season

Every year, rain or shine, hundreds of thousands of elated horseracing fans gather at Prestbury Park to mark the beginning of the Cheltenham Festival. This year will be no different, as Cheltenham festival 2013 kicks off on Tuesday, March 12, and runs through Friday, March 15. Cheltenham Racecourse will be home to Champion Day, Ladies Day, St Patrick’s Thursday, and Gold Cup Friday; the top-notch races on each of those days are the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the World Hurdle, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, respectively.

When the the gates open and the horses fly out at the start of the William Hill-sponsored Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the first race of Cheltenham Festival 2013,  a unique sound will echo from the park. This resonating bellow, known as the Cheltenham Roar, will reverberate around the world, as online punters and horseracing fanatics will join those present at the festival in cheering on the horses and riders. This is a tradition as legendary as the races themselves, and no self-respecting racing fan will remain silent on this auspicious occasion.

Every year, the greatest horses to come out of the UK and Ireland meet at the festival and thrill audiences everywhere. Due to the wonders of modern technology, the races can be streamed to online viewers in real time, which means every punter can feel like he or she is right there, trackside. The Irish are particularly fond of the festival and St Patrick’s Thursday revolves around a theme so thickly Irish that attendees are likely to start talking with a brogue by the end of the day.

Well in advance of the start of the festival, sites like William Hill feature Cheltenham betting markets with ante-post prices. Punters who are thirsty for even more information will be happy to drink in the latest news regarding the history of the horses, their current form, and the predictions of resident experts. On all the best sites, the pundits will weigh in with advice and tips to make your Cheltenham punting experience as enjoyable – and lucrative – as possible.