St Patrick's Day at Cheltenham Festival

It's one of the key dates of the festival

Author: Harry LongPublished 14th Mar 2024

It's the third day of the Cheltenham Festival- the theme today is St Patrick's Day.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to the racecourse for what many people consider to be the event's social pinnacle.

Racegoers will be celebrating all things Irish to mark St Patrick's Day.

The Ryanair Chase and the Stayers' Hurdle headline the penultimate afternoon.

Queen Camilla joined racegoers at the Festival yesterday, with all races pushed back and one cancelled because of the weather.

Today's forecast looks better with just a few scattered showers throughout the day.

Emma O'Connor, general manager at Cheltenham bar Clarence Social tells us how important the festival is for hospitality.

She said: "It brings a massive boost to Cheltenham, the timings are great and it's that time of year when everyone's got over Christmas and New Year and everyone's ready to party again.

"When the festival is on, everything changes capacity-wise - what you'd normally buy in a month you buy in a week.

Former Irish jockey and trainer Ruby Walsh say he's looking forward to racing today. He said: "There's loads of competition to try and win another Ryanair Chase....there's loads of good horses at Cheltenham.

"I'm looking forward to it....big horses, big names, big competition - it's wonderful to be here."

THURSDAY:

13:30 - Turners Novices' Chase

14.10 - Pertemps Handicap Hurdle

14.50 - Ryanair Chase

15.30 (Feature Race of the Day) - Stayers' Hurdle

16.10 - Festival Plate Handicap

16.50 - Mares' Novices' Hurdle

17.30 - Kim Muir Handicap Chase

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