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ITV extends Cheltenham Festival coverage in 2025

February 4, 2025

The Cheltenham Festival is the most important meeting of the year in horse racing in the UK. The four-day event at Cheltenham Racecourse features the championship races in each division of Jumps racing.

ITV will once again cover the Cheltenham Festival on terrestrial television, and this year, racing fans will benefit from 24 of the 28 races being shown in the channel, an increase from the 20 it had previously been contracted for.

One Extra Race Per Day

The new agreement means ITV will show six races per day, with the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (day one), Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (day two), Trustatrader Plate (day three) and St. James Place Festival Hunter Chase (day four) added to their schedule. The latter is the gold cup for amateurs and Its On The Line is the 5/2 favourite in the Cheltenham odds.

Those placing a horse race bet on the 2025 Cheltenham Festival should also consider there has been a change to the running order this year. The feature race on each day of the meeting has been pushed back on the card. The Gold Cup, where Galopin Des Champs is 4/5 to complete his hat-trick in the race, will take place at 16:00, 40 minutes later than it did in 2024.

ITV have also announced they will be broadcasting a morning preview on every day of the Cheltenham Festival. Their popular Opening Show programme has been extended to 90 minutes to give them plenty of time to preview their six daily races.

Racing TV Will Show Final Race of The Meeting

Subscribers to Racing TV will have the opportunity to watch all 28 races at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, which includes the final contest on each day. The meeting will conclude with Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

Racing TV have hired former Cheltenham Festival leading jockey Ruby Walsh as a pundit for this year’s meeting, while Nick Luck, who is part of NBC’s Breeders’ Cup coverage, will head up their broadcast.

The subscription channel is the only place to watch replays of the races later in the evening, while their channel will also broadcast preview shows on every morning of the Festival.

Ireland Fancied to Defend Prestbury Cup

The big talking point going into this year’s Cheltenham Festival is whether Britain can win back the Prestbury Park from Ireland. The team competition has been dominated by Ireland, as they have ended up with more winners than the hosts in each of the last five renewals of the meeting.

Nicky Henderson, a leading contender for the Trainers’ Championship this season, is going to be key for Britain this year if they are to win the Prestbury Cup for the first time since 2015. The Seven Barrows trainer will saddle Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle, Jonbon in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Lulamba in the Triumph Hurdle. Those three horses are some of the biggest stars at the meeting and will have strong chances in their respective races.

The 2025 Cheltenham Festival takes place between March 11th – March 14th, in what is the penultimate month of the Jumps season.

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