CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE, Festival Tuesday

Course: Cheltenham racecourse - Cheltenham Festival Tuesday

🎫 Ticket & value: Club Enclosure £112

👀 Track view: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍔 Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍺 Guinness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭕️ Parade Ring: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🏇 Runners and riders: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎉 Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪩 Entertainment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭐️ Overall Experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

👍🏻 Best for: Atmosphere 🎉

We attended the magnificent Cheltenham racecourse, home of jumps racing in Britain, on the first day of the 2025 Cheltenham festival and wow, what a truly memorable experience. With the tragic loss to Micheal O’Sullivan still prominent across the sport, the Cheltenham Tuesday became even more poignant with the Supreme Novice Hurdle being renamed in Micheal’s honour. There was a beautiful round of applause observed before the festival kicked off, creating a stunning spectacle that raised hairs on the back of people’s necks. Additionally, ahead of the festival beginning the crowd were treated to some memorable ex-festival winners and runners being paraded including Bristol De Mai, Paisley Park and Melon to name just a few. It was a wonderful start to the festival, and this set the tone for what was a fantastic day at the racecourse.

Starting with the Track View at Cheltenham and the view from the stands overlooking Cleeve Hill is something every racing fan should experience. The racecourse is left-handed and encompasses 3 separate courses known as the Old Course, New Course and Cross Country. The famous Cheltenham hill tells you everything about the home straight, a steep and gruelling test of stamina that tests the best horses in the business, as the racing finishes in-front of the packed grandstands. From the rail you get a wonderful view of the racecourse, seeing large parts of the races whilst also having a good view of the big screens available. By far the best view however is up in the stands, with the grandstands perfectly positioned with a high vantage point it allows racegoers magnificent views of the racing and courses. Apart from a small section covered by trees at the bottom end of the track, racing fans experience exceptional views of the racecourse and can enjoy the remarkable entertainment and drama as it unfolds throughout the races. The final section of the home straight has the crowd on both sides with the best mate enclosure adjacent which is also a great spectacle.

Moving to the food section of our review and this has clearly been an area where both Cheltenham and The Jockey Club have really focused on to great effect. The racecourse has provided a multitude of various food options ranging from delicious shawarma’s to traditional stone-baked pizzas and mouth watering hog roast rolls. There was also a great emphasis on making meal options more affordable for racegoers, and in the Quavega’s restaurant they provided a brilliant array of meal deal options for £15 which included a main dish, side and a soft drink of choice. Some of the main options included the ‘Local Burger’, ‘50/50’ and the ‘Gloucester Smokey Dog’ which all looked fantastic and were made fresh to order. As for the sides there again was an excellent amount of choice on offer such as dirty fries, corn dogs and cauliflower bites demonstrating options for racegoers that are vegetarian or vegan. There were also cheaper meal deal options available on specific items for £10, which is fantastic value at any racecourse, nevermind at the Cheltenham festival! If none of these options tickled your fancy you can go and get the tastebuds tingling at the onsite Gaucho steakhouse. We opted on the day for a Lamb Shawarma at £11.90, which was packed full of succulent lamb and salad full of freshness. The taste of the shawarma was exceptional, packed full of flavour and seasoning with excellent sauce and salad to accompany the meat inside. At £11.90, the price is what we’d expect at most racecourses and shows how affordable this option was considering both the occasion and the racecourse. Another snack we opted for was the cheeseburger from the food section up at the highest part of the site above the parade ring and next to the pre parade ring. Priced at £11.50 on its own, it was cooked well, of good quality and tasty. You could also make this a meal deal with fries and drink for £15.

As for the Guinness, with the festival expected to pour thousands of pints across the week it was great to see staff behind the various bars well trained and efficient. There were brand new sports style bars with screens and plenty of bar space, this made buying pints a quicker and more enjoyable process than some other racecourses we’ve visited. At £7.80 a pint the price is at the top end of the market, however considering it was festival week the price point is what we would expect to see in comparison to other meetings across the year. The taste of the Guinness throughout the day was delicious, with stunning coffee notes and a delicious creamy flavour even in the customary plastic cups at the racecourse and a 2 pour process being followed perfectly with each pint poured. Not only was the Guinness tasty, but having the option to take your pints trackside whilst the racing was on specifically in the tattersalls enclosure was a wonderful addition to the 2025 festival and made the Guinness experience even better! You also had new access to the parade ring with your beers this year which made the pre race experience much better as well.

Cheltenham racecourse boasts arguably the most spectacular Parade Ring experience at any racecourse, with exceptional tiered standing providing racegoers with brilliant views of the horses pre and post race. The variety of view points here are second to none and you have the opportunity to get a proper Birds Eye view you really don’t see very often. The parade ring itself is large in size and positioned behind the grandstand surrounded by bars and restaurants, providing punters with easy access to the parade ring after the races have finished. The horses enter the parade ring from the stunning pre parade ring and then exit the parade ring via the long shoot down towards the track. The beauty of the shoot is it allows racegoers a fantastic opportunity to follow the horse from the parade ring down onto the track, and again back in after the race has finished. This exposure to the horses, jockeys and stable staff means fans can watch and experience their favourite racehorses ahead of the racing and listen to the conversations between the jockeys and handlers. Finally, when the horses come back into the parade ring the winning enclosure and presentation takes place directly in front of the large tiered standing area, where fans can watch and enjoy the celebrations of the winning connections. A breathtaking parade ring and one that everyone should experience in their lifetime!

The Runners & Riders at Cheltenham festival speaks for itself, with the best jockeys, horses and trainers in attendance competing in the highest graded racing on the calendar. The beauty of the festival is that the best horses from Britain, Ireland and France all compete against each other, meaning top Irish trainers like Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliot and Gavin Cromwell lineup against their English counterparts including Paul Nicholls, Dan Skelton and Ben Pauling with their best horses in training. On Tuesday we were treated to a spectacular card, headlined by the Champion Hurdle and the Arkle, with top horses such as Majborough, Consitution Hill, State Man and Brighterdaysahead some of the names on the card. As for the jockeys, top Irish riders including Paul Townend, Jack Kennedy and Mark Walsh went into battle against top British riders such as Harry Skelton, Harry Cobden and Sean Bowen aiming to win the top jockey at the festival. This really is the pinnacle of jumps racing and a truly magnificent experience seeing these jockeys, trainers and racehorses in their element.

This leads perfectly onto our final category, Atmosphere, where again the Cheltenham Festival is a breathtaking and unique experience. The ‘Cheltenham roar’ was in full force across the whole day, where prior to each race the crowd cheered after the starters flag was put down. The stands were packed with excitement and anticipation with each race providing exhilarating drama, and this was matched by the noise being made by the thousands of people in and around the stands. As the magnificent horses head up the Cheltenham hill and cross the winning post the atmosphere around the racecourse is a mixture of cheers and whistles of elation alongside moans of disappointment. Around the betting rings there is a constant buzz across the day with racing fans all trying to beat the bookmakers. As for the bars, restaurants and the magnificent Guinness village the atmosphere was electric, with drinks flowing and constant chats happening between friends and strangers about racing and the sport as a whole, it really is a remarkable and special place to be!

You’ll notice for this review we’ve added an extra section for Cheltenham and that is for entertainment, as we couldn’t not discuss this aspect of the racecourse and the festival. It was great to see the emphasis placed on the racegoer experience by Cheltenham and The Jockey Club, and the entertainment on offer from gates opening to post race was excellent. As the racing came to an end, racing fans this year were provided with more live music acts and for a longer period of time at various bars including the Guinness Village, Quevegas and the racecourse arena where racegoers could come together and join in singing along to the usual classics. A brilliant aspect of the festival and one we couldn’t not mention as part of our raceday experience.

It’s hard to put into words the experience Cheltenham racecourse and The Jockey Club provide racegoers during Cheltenham festival week, as there aren’t enough words to celebrate this magnificent racecourse. With the best jockeys, horses and trainers competing against each other for the top prizes in jumps racing infront of thousands passionate and enthusiastic racing fans across the beautiful Gloucestershire racecourse, it really is a bucket list raceday experience! We can’t compliment both Cheltenham racecourse and the Jockey Club enough, making positive changes to the festival with racing fans at the forefront of there minds. If you haven’t already, get your festival tickets booked for Cheltenham 2026 to experience a unique and wonderful day at the races!