Cheltenham's Showcase Meeting: All You Need to Know

The Cheltenham Festival is inarguably one of the biggest events in British horse racing, but it’s not the only fixture to be held at the track every year.

Jumps racing returns home to the Cotswolds for the Showcase Meeting this week and we have loads to look forward to.

It won’t be quite as busy as Festival week, but there’s always a good crowd and there’s nothing quite like roaring a winner home at Cheltenham.

The two-day meeting takes place this week and there are 14 races on the schedule, giving us plenty of opportunities to find a winner!

We’ve put together this guide to the meeting which will provide all the information you need to know, including what trainers to follow.

When and where

The Showcase Meeting kicks off on Friday 24th October and comes to a conclusion on Saturday 25th.

Cheltenham itself (historically known as Prestbury Park) is in Gloucestershire and is located just off of the M5 motorway at junction 11. The town is about two-and-a-half hours away from London and has plenty of public transport links.

Day 1 schedule

Find details of the full card on day one here

Day 1 highlights

The two-mile handicap chase at 3.35 is always worth looking out for as there is £100,000 on offer and it’s always a competitive affair. We could get our first look at some of the potential Grand Annual candidates and it’s well worth a watch.

Any Cheltenham novice race is exciting and the Grade 2 at 3.00 is likely to be an informative event.

Day 2 Schedule

Find details of the full card on day two here

Day 2 Highlights

We have another £100,000 handicap chase on Saturday but this one is for the stayers. The 3m1f event takes place at 2.20 and we could see plenty of Irish raiders coming over for it, which adds another element of intrigue.

One of the most competitive Cheltenham Festival races is the Pertemps Final and the first qualifier of the season takes place at 2.55.

Trainers to follow

Irish trainer John McConnell has an excellent record at this meeting, as he has a 21 per cent strike-rate at Cheltenham in October and November fixtures in recent years, and he has some interesting entries already.

The yard hasn’t been in the best of form in recent weeks, but it would be no surprise if they bounce right back at Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins has taken the British Jumps Trainers’ Championship for the last two years and he’ll be keen to make it three in a row.

He could send over one runner in Saturday's Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle and there will be plenty of interested parties if he does.

Local trainers Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies have been in decent form of late and the yard rarely comes away from this meeting without a winner.

Their most interesting candidate is Un Sens A La Vie in the Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle on Friday and he’s unbeaten under rules.

Dan Skelton has been denied by Mullins in the last couple of seasons and he’ll be hoping to hit the ground running this Autumn.

He has a significant number of entries over the two days and the yard is fast becoming the leading force in Britain.