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Wednesday’s card hides the best value of the week. Day 2 at Cheltenham sits in a strange position — sandwiched between the fanfare of Champion Day and the build-up to the Gold Cup, it has historically drawn the smallest crowds. In 2025, Wednesday attendance dropped to 41,949 — a 34% fall from the 2022 peak of 64,431 and the lowest midweek figure since 1993. For 2026, the Jockey Club pushed back. Guy Lavender, Cheltenham’s CEO since January 2025, reintroduced Ladies Day branding for Wednesday, froze ticket prices, and lowered the price of a pint of Guinness — all part of a deliberate effort to reverse the attendance slide. The strategy showed signs of working: Ladies Day 2026 saw a modest uptick in attendance, helped by fine spring weather and the presence of Queen Camilla, and the atmosphere was notably brighter than the previous year.
For bettors, Wednesday’s lower profile is an advantage. The card features the Queen Mother Champion Chase — two miles of Grade 1 chasing at its finest — alongside the BetMGM Cup (formerly the Coral Cup), which is one of the most unpredictable handicaps on the entire festival programme. The mix of championship class and wide-open handicap chaos makes Day 2 the day where sharp punters can find edges the mainstream market overlooks.
The 2026 Ladies Day was, by widespread consensus, a day for the bookmakers — but a bonanza for Willie Mullins. The Closutton maestro saddled three of the seven winners: King Rasko Grey in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at 11/1, Kitzbuhel in the Brown Advisory at 11/1, and Il Etait Temps in the Champion Chase at 5/2. Yet even Mullins’s dominance could not prevent a string of shock results elsewhere: Martator landed the Grand Annual at 66/1, the cross-country specialist Final Orders obliged at 7/1, and the Noel Meade-trained The Mourne Rambler took the Champion Bumper at 15/2 under six-time Irish champion flat jockey Colin Keane — breaking Mullins’s stranglehold on that race in style.
The 2027 Cheltenham Festival runs from Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March, with Ladies Day scheduled for Wednesday 17 March. Here is the full card, race by race, with the angles that matter and a look at what 2026 taught us.
Thursday follows with the Stayers’ Hurdle card.
Turners Novices’ Hurdle & Brown Advisory Chase
The Turners Novices’ Hurdle (registered as the Baring Bingham, formerly the Ballymore) opens Wednesday’s card over two miles and five furlongs — a trip that sits awkwardly between the speed of the Supreme and the stamina of the Albert Bartlett. Turners winners tend to be horses with scope to develop into future stars over further trips, and the race has an excellent track record of producing future Gold Cup and Stayers’ Hurdle contenders.
In 2026, King Rasko Grey delivered a performance that epitomised the race’s capacity for surprise at the prices. Sent off at 11/1 — a price that even his own trainer found baffling — the six-year-old steamed clear of Nicky Henderson’s Act Of Innocence (10/1) by two and a half lengths, with Joseph O’Brien’s Zeus Power (50/1) a further three-quarters of a length back in third. Paul Nicholls’s 5/2 favourite No Drama This End was never travelling and was pulled up — a result that underscored how even the most strongly-fancised runners can fail to handle the unique demands of this trip.
Mullins, recording his eighth victory in the race, admitted: “I looked at the big screen after the race and I couldn’t believe he was 11/1. I thought he was one of ours coming here with a really good chance.” The trainer added that King Rasko Grey could be a Champion Hurdle type — though he may also go over fences, which would rule him out of this race entirely.
For 2027, the Turners picture is still forming. Mighty Park, a horse Mullins has spoken glowingly about, is the early favourite at around 4/1 NRNB. No Drama This End, compared to Denman by some judges and a non-starter in 2026, is available at 14/1 for the Brown Advisory over fences if connections choose that route instead. The key trend for the Turners: 14 of the past 17 winners were Graded winners over hurdles, and 7 of the last 10 had won a Grade 1. The market usually identifies the winner — but at prices that can surprise, as King Rasko Grey demonstrated.
The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase is the staying novice chase championship — three miles over fences for horses in their first season of chasing. This race demands both stamina and jumping accuracy, and it frequently produces dramatic finishes as tired horses make mistakes at the last few fences.
The 2026 renewal was a showcase for front-running brilliance. Kitzbuhel, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Harry Cobden, made every yard of the running to defeat stablemate Final Demand (7/2) by three-quarters of a length, with Salver (25/1) staying on for third. The grey had won the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day before unseating Townend in the Scilly Isles at Sandown in January — a setback that made him a 11/1 chance here. But Cobden rode a masterclass, setting a searching gallop and refusing to yield when Final Demand moved up the inner. The 9/4 favourite Romeo Coolio was pulled up after a series of jumping errors.
Kitzbuhel’s performance was all the more remarkable given that it came just 40 minutes after Cobden’s other ride, the favourite No Drama This End, had been pulled up in the opener. “Forty minutes changes your life,” the winning rider told ITV Racing.
For 2027, the Brown Advisory market is already taking shape around graduates of the 2026 novice hurdle and chase divisions. No Drama This End (14/1) is a fascinating prospect if sent over fences — his form before the festival was strong, and his Turners performance was compromised by a chaotic start rather than any lack of ability. He’s On Fire (12/1), a Willie Mullins-trained French recruit owned by the Riccis, won a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Fairyhouse in April by 12 lengths and looks a ready-made chaser. Espresso Milan (50/1), another Mullins inmate who looked lost in the 2026 Albert Bartlett but is built for fences, is the value play for punters willing to take a long-range view.
Course form is valuable here; novice chasers who have previously run at Cheltenham and handled the downhill fences and the uphill finish have a notable advantage over those tackling the track for the first time.
BetMGM Cup & Queen Mother Champion Chase
The BetMGM Cup (formerly the Coral Cup) is where bookmakers sleep well and punters lose sleep. This handicap hurdle over two miles and five furlongs attracts enormous fields — a maximum of 24 runners — and has the worst favourite record of any race at the festival: just two winners from 25 runnings before 2026, an 8% strike rate. The race was rebranded from the Coral Cup ahead of the 2026 festival after Coral ended their long-standing sponsorship.
The 2026 renewal bucked the trend in dramatic fashion. Jingko Blue, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by James Bowen, became the first winning favourite since Dame De Compagne in 2020, obliging at 9/2 with a front-running masterclass. Henderson, who has now won this race three times, said: “There wasn’t that head-long Coral dash you normally get with a lot of horses flat to the boards.” Franciscan Rock (50/1) and Storm Heart (5/1) filled the placings, but Jingko Blue won comfortably — a rarity in a race that usually descends into chaos. c
However, one swallow does not make a summer, and the historical data remains stark: only two favourites had won in the previous 25 runnings before Jingko Blue. The BetMGM Cup is an each-way race or it is nothing — back two or three selections at prices of 10/1 or bigger and accept that the race is essentially a lottery with slightly better odds. The one consistent angle is the Irish handicap raider; horses arriving from Ireland with seemingly modest form have outperformed their odds here repeatedly, particularly those trained by smaller yards who fly under the market’s radar.
For 2027, the BetMGM Cup market will not take shape until the autumn, when early-season handicap hurdle form provides the raw material for analysis. Storm Heart, third in 2026, has the profile of a horse who could improve again and is a name to monitor. Ballyadam, fourth at 40/1 in 2026 and a remarkably consistent performer at the festival, is another to track if he lines up again.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the opposite proposition — a Grade 1 two-mile chase where class typically prevails. This is the speed championship of fencing, the race for horses who can jump fast and land running.
The 2026 Champion Chase was one of the races of the festival — and a textbook example of why backing short-priced favourites at Cheltenham is a perilous business. Majborough, sent off at 5/6 for Willie Mullins and JP McManus, had been electric in the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown, winning by 19 lengths and earning a Timeform rating of 179. He was the hottest favourite of the week. But jumping is the great leveller at Cheltenham, and Majborough’s persistent fencing frailties resurfaced at the worst possible moment: errors at the eighth, ninth, and third-last fences ended his challenge. His stablemate Il Etait Temps (5/2), ridden by Paul Townend, swept through to win by 10 lengths from the fast-finishing Libberty Hunter (50/1), with L’Eau Du Sud (13/2) back in third. Majborough finished seventh of eight.
Mullins, recording his 118th Festival winner, explained the turnaround: “We took the hood off and tweaked a few things at home and galloped him a bit differently, a bit like Lossiemouth, and it’s worked.” Townend added: “He was the silent horse coming into the race, and a lot of people had written him off after one bad run.”
The result was a vindication of the principle that Cheltenham’s unique demands — the undulating track, the pressured jumping, the hill finish — can expose vulnerabilities that trial form masks. Il Etait Temps had been a faller at Ascot in January, but Mullins’s patient rehabilitation and Townend’s brave waiting ride produced a career-best performance when it mattered most.
For 2027, the early Champion Chase market is headlined by the rematch:
| Horse | Odds | Trainer | Key Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Etait Temps | 9/2 | Willie Mullins | Defending champion; 7 Grade 1 wins |
| Kopek Des Bordes | 5/1 | Willie Mullins | Beaten in 2026 Arkle; huge potential over fences |
| Majborough | 8/1 | Willie Mullins | Timeform 179 at DRF; jumping remains the question |
| Kargese | 10/1 | Willie Mullins | 2026 Arkle winner; could step up |
| Marine Nationale | 16/1 | Barry Connell | 2025 Champion Chase winner; missed 2026 through injury |
Il Etait Temps is the 9/2 favourite to defend his crown, and the case for him is straightforward: he is the proven performer at Cheltenham, he has won the Tingle Creek and the Champion Chase, and his jumping — bar the final-fence blunder — was exemplary in 2026. But 9/2 represents little value with nine months of risk ahead, and the market is deep with alternatives.
Kopek Des Bordes at 5/1 is the most exciting contender. Beaten by Kargese in the 2026 Arkle after showing inexperience early and late, he remains the clear pick of that season’s novice chasers for many judges, and he enters a division that is open for a novice to exploit. At The Races tipster James Flaherty has tipped him at 4/1 for the 2027 Champion Chase, arguing that his Arkle performance was “a remarkable effort in defeat considering it was a strong Arkle, run in a good time.”
Majborough at 8/1 is the dark horse. His Dublin Chase performance was the best single piece of form in the two-mile chasing division — a 19-length win at a Timeform rating of 179. But his jumping at Cheltenham has now let him down twice: in the 2025 Arkle and the 2026 Champion Chase. Timeform have given him the “x” symbol, denoting a poor jumper. The question for 2027 is whether another season of experience can cure the illness, or whether his fencing frailcies are structural.
The value play is Metronomique at 40/1, a French-trained chaser who has won two Graded chases in France in impressive fashion, most recently landing the Grade 1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure Chase by 14 lengths — a race in which Champion Chase winner Master Minded was beaten before joining Paul Nicholls. Whether connections choose to send him to Cheltenham is the unknown, but the form is strong and the price is generous.
Look for horses with clean jumping records at speed — any tendency to be slow at fences is magnified in a race where fractions of a second matter at every obstacle.
The wider context is set out in our Cheltenham betting tips.
Cross Country Chase & Grand Annual
The Cross Country Chase is Cheltenham’s most unusual race — run over the cross-country course with its banks, ditches, and tight turns, it bears little resemblance to anything else on the festival programme. This race rewards experience on the unique track above all else, and previous course-and-distance winners have an enormous statistical edge.
The 2026 renewal was a showcase for Gavin Cromwell’s mastery of this specialist event. Final Orders (7/1), ridden by 19-year-old Conor Stone-Walsh — registering his first Festival winner — made virtually every yard of the running to defeat the 2/1 favourite Favori De Champdou by two and a quarter lengths, with stablemate Vanillier (13/2) 18 lengths further back in third. Last year’s winner Stumptown finished fourth. Cromwell, who also saddled the third and fourth, revealed that Final Orders had undergone wind surgery since his Trials Day run, and the procedure had made a significant difference.
The Cross Country is also one of the few festival races where age is an advantage; older horses who know every inch of the course regularly outperform younger rivals making their cross-country debut. Final Orders, aged ten, had already won over the course and distance in December. For punters, the approach is simple: prioritise horses who have run and performed well on this specific course before, and treat the race as a specialist event rather than a normal chase. Favori De Champdou may return for 2027, and Final Orders could bid for back-to-back wins — a feat that Stumptown achieved across 2024-2025 before the race was abandoned in 2024.
The Grand Annual is a two-mile handicap chase that draws a competitive field of speed chasers. It comes late on Wednesday’s card and is often overlooked by casual punters whose attention has already peaked with the Champion Chase.
The 2026 Grand Annual produced the shock of the day: Martator, trained by Venetia Williams and sent off at 66/1, prevailed by a nose from Jazzy Matty (8/1) in a photo finish that left the grandstand gasping. Break My Soul (20/1) was three-quarters of a length back in third. Williams admitted she was “close to tears” after the gelding, without a win since November 2024, rediscovered his best form in the most dramatic circumstances. The result continued the Grand Annual’s reputation as a graveyard for favourites: 8 of the last 10 winners went off at 10/1 or bigger, and only 1 of the last 12 winners was the favourite.
For 2027, the Grand Annual market will not take shape until the autumn, but the trends are clear: look for horses aged 6-9, carrying between 10st 10lb and 11st 6lb, with previous Cheltenham form. Trainer form in two-mile handicap chases is a useful guide; Venetia Williams’s success in 2026 was her second in the race, and Dan Skelton has a strong record here. Jazzy Matty, second in 2026 and the 2025 winner, is the kind of horse who could return for another tilt — though no horse has won the race twice since it was reconfigured.
Champion Bumper & Wednesday Wrap
The Champion Bumper closes Wednesday’s card — a two-mile National Hunt flat race for horses who have not yet competed over hurdles or fences. This is form analysis at its most limited; many runners arrive with just one or two previous starts, and the race becomes a test of raw talent, temperament, and tactical riding.
The 2026 Champion Bumper produced one of the stories of the week. The Mourne Rambler, trained by Noel Meade and ridden by Colin Keane — the six-time Irish champion flat jockey making his Festival debut — powered up the hill to score at 15/2 by two and three quarters of a length from Mets Ta Ceinture (14/1), with Bass Hunter (8/1) a short head back in third. Keane, who usually rides on the Flat, delivered a polished ride that demonstrated why he is one of the most sought-after jockeys in either code.
The result was notable for breaking Mullins’s recent stranglehold on the race. The Closutton trainer had won the Bumper in 2024 and 2025, but Meade — a veteran Irish handler — proved that the race is not a closed shop. The key trends for the Champion Bumper are: 12 of the last 12 winners were aged 5 or 6; 10 of the last 12 were trained in Ireland; 12 of the last 12 won on their previous run; and 3 of the last 12 ran in the Future Stars INH Flat Race at Leopardstown on their last start, with all 3 winning. Market support remains the strongest indicator — when a Bumper horse is well-backed on the morning of the race, connections know something that the form book cannot tell you.
For 2027, the Champion Bumper is impossible to price up at this stage. The horses that will contest this race are either still in bumpers or have yet to make their debuts. Watch for late money and trust the jockey bookings — particularly if a high-profile flat jockey is booked for an Irish-trained runner, as was the case with Keane in 2026.
Across the full Wednesday card, the strategic picture differs from Tuesday. Day 2 has fewer championship certainties and more open contests. The Queen Mother Champion Chase offers the best opportunity for a confident selection — though 2026 proved that even an odds-on favourite can collapse — while the BetMGM Cup and Grand Annual demand an each-way approach. The Bumper is a race to play cautiously or skip entirely unless you have strong intelligence. Wednesday rewards patience and selectivity more than any other day — pick two or three races where you have a genuine view and leave the rest alone. The punters who try to bet every race on Wednesday are the ones who hand their Day 1 profits back.
The 2026 festival was instructive: Mullins’s three Grade 1 wins on Day 2 showed that the championship races still favour the big yards, but the handicaps — Martator at 66/1, the cross-country and bumper results — showed that value exists for punters who look beyond the obvious.
Keeping Wednesday Independent From Tuesday
Wednesday sits in the middle of the festival, and mid-week is when discipline matters most. A strong Day 1 can breed overconfidence; a poor one can trigger chasing. The 2026 festival was a classic example: Old Park Star and Lossiemouth delivered for favourite-backers on Tuesday, but Wednesday’s card produced three winners at double-figure prices, and anyone who arrived on Ladies Day determined to chase Tuesday’s losses would have been buried before the Champion Chase. Either way, your Day 2 budget should be set independently and respected. Do not let Tuesday’s results dictate Wednesday’s stakes. If you feel the urge to deviate from your plan, that is the moment to pause. Free, confidential support is available at BeGambleAware on 0808 8020 133.
