Day One of The Cheltenham Festival is historically known as Champion Day. It's home to seven world-class races, including the Unibet Champion Hurdle on Tuesday of The Cheltenham Festival.
Day One begins with the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle. It's the opening race of the four-day Jump racing festival. The Grade 1 hurdle race has eight hurdles jumped and run over a distance of 2m abt ½f. It's open to horses aged four years and older.
The Supreme Novice's Hurdle is the beginning point for some fantastic horses including Bula, Arkle, and Altior.
The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 chase, run on the Old Course over a distance of abt 2m. There are 13 fences jumped, and the race is open to horses aged five years and older.
This race is for the speedier novice chasers and has been won by some of the greatest Jump horses including Moscow Flyer, Altior, and Sprinter Sacre. These all went onto win the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase the following year.
The Ultima Handicap Chase is the first of five handicap chases run at The Festival. It's a Grade 3 steeplechase run over a distance of 3m abt 1f. The race is open to horses aged five years and older, with 20 fences jumped. Winners of the race often go onto take part in the Grand National. There have been several horses who have won the Handicap Chase and gone onto win The Grand National, including Royal Tan, Team Spirit, West Tip, Seagram and Rough Quest.
The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle is a Grade 1 hurdle race open to mares aged four years and older run on the Old Course. It's run over a distance of 2m abt 4f with 10 hurdles jumped. The race was established in 2008, and was originally a Grade 2, but in 2015 was upgraded to a Grade 1.
The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race is a Grade 3 handicap hurdle, restricted to four-year-old juvenile hurdlers. It's run over a distance of 2m abt 4½f with eight hurdles to be jumped.
The race provides trainers with an alternative to the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle (the other Cheltenham Festival race restricted to four-year-old hurdlers).
The race is named in memory of jockey and trainer Fred Winter (1926–2004). John Winter's record at the Cheltenham Festival included 17 wins as a jockey and 28 as a trainer.
The National Hunt Challenge Cup is a Grade 2 chase, with winners dating back to 1860 (it only permanently been run at Cheltenham since 1911). It's a race for amateur riders and horses aged five years and older. It's run over 3m abt 6f with 23 fences jumped.
