The Road to Cheltenham Starts at the November Meeting
Every jumps fan knows where the season is heading. The Cheltenham Festival in March is the week that defines careers, and everything in the National Hunt calendar seems to point towards it. The road to March starts much earlier though, and its first big stop comes at Prestbury Park in the middle of November.
Cheltenham’s season opens with the Showcase Meeting on 23 and 24 October 2026, a welcome sign that the jumps are back. The November Meeting that follows is the first genuinely big fixture of the campaign. It runs over three days, from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November 2026, starting with Countryside Day, building to Super Saturday and closing with Carnival Sunday.
For racing fans it’s the moment the winter really comes into focus. Performances at Cheltenham in November can shape the horse racing odds for the big spring races. A horse who handles the course’s famous hill in the autumn often gives followers something to think about for March.
The Paddy Power Gold Cup
Saturday’s centrepiece is the Paddy Power Gold Cup, a handicap chase run over about two and a half miles and one of the most competitive races of the whole jumps calendar. It’s also the most valuable race of the meeting, so big fields and fierce competition are part of the appeal.
The race has a proud record as a stepping stone to greater things. Imperial Commander won it in 2008 and went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup itself in 2010. Last year’s renewal went to Panic Attack, who won at 6/1 under Harry Skelton.
Friday’s Shloer Chase
Don’t let the name fool anyone. Countryside Day has plenty of bite, and much of that comes from the Shloer Chase. Officially it’s the Cheltenham Chase, a Grade 2 over roughly two miles of the Old Course, and since its first running in 2009 it has become a favourite early-season target for the best two-mile chasers in training.
Sprinter Sacre won it in 2015. A few months later he was back at Cheltenham to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Jonbon made the race his own with back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024, and last November it was L’Eau Du Sud’s turn with Harry Skelton in the saddle. It turned into a memorable weekend for Skelton, who won the Paddy Power Gold Cup on Panic Attack the following afternoon.
Sunday’s Greatwood Hurdle
Sunday brings the Greatwood Hurdle, and with it one of the trickiest puzzles of the whole meeting. It’s run over about two miles of the Old Course with eight flights to jump, usually in front of a big field of handicappers. Trainers like to point promising young hurdlers at it, so it often throws up a name worth remembering.
Big handicaps aren’t the only thing worth watching. Younger horses get their own Grade 2 contests across the weekend, among them the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, plus trial races carrying the names of the Arkle and the Triumph Hurdle. Anyone keen to spot a Festival novice before everyone else would do well to pay close attention.
Why November Matters So Much
Cheltenham is unlike most British racecourses. Its undulating layout and demanding uphill finish test stamina, jumping and courage in equal measure, and not every horse handles it. A run at the November Meeting gives trainers a chance to find out before the Festival, when the stakes are far higher.
Keeping a horse at its best from November to March is no small task either. Trainers have to manage fitness through a long, wet winter while watching for the same health issues any horse owner knows, from stiff joints to coughs and colic. A horse that stays sound and healthy through the winter gives itself the best chance of reaching the Festival in top form.
The stakes in March are clear from last season. Gaelic Warrior won the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup for trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend. The next generation of challengers will start to emerge over the coming weeks, and some of them may well show their hand at the November Meeting.
Planning a Visit
For anyone thinking of going, Saturday is the natural choice, with the Paddy Power Gold Cup and a card full of quality racing. It’s also a good option for families. Cheltenham Racecourse has confirmed that under-18s go free on the day, as long as a free children’s ticket is ordered in advance.
The next big date after that is the Christmas Meeting on 11 and 12 December, and the road to March carries on from there. But for many racing fans the winter truly begins in November, with the first real clues about who might be standing in the winner’s enclosure when the Festival comes around.