Watch the Cheltenham Festival 2026 as the biggest multi-day meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar again descends on the heart of the Cotswolds. Running from Tuesday, March 10-13, it’s full of Grade 1 races over the jumps of Prestbury Park, with the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup among the highest profile races of any horse racing season.
Willie Mullins’ Majborough should go well in Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, while stablemates Teahupoo and Honesty Policy are expected to contest the Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday. Friday is Gold Cup day, the biggest race of the meeting and arguably the racing calendar. Former football manager Harry Redknapp has The Jukebox Man, who won the King George on Boxing Day, in the race that includes reigning champion Inothewayurthinkin, owned by JP McManus.
Mostly, though, the Cheltenham Festival is all about the stunning scenery at the bottom of Cleeve Hill, the atmosphere and the thousands of racing fans from Ireland that will descend on the Cotswolds for four days’ elite racing.
Here’s our guide on how to watch the Cheltenham Festival 2026 for free from anywhere in the world.
How to watch Cheltenham Festival 2026 for free on ITVX
ITV’s online streaming service, ITVX, will be showcasing the first five races from each of the four days, including the biggest races: the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and, most prestigious of all, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
TV coverage will be on the ITV1 channel each day from 12.30pm to 5pm GMT. ITV4 will also have a daily preview show – The Opening Show – from 9am to 10am GMT each morning.
The best thing about ITVX’s coverage is that you don’t even need an ITVX subscription to watch live racing, you just need your email and a valid TV license and you’re all set.
First time using ITVX? You can register for a free account or download the app to your mobile device.
Outside the UK for any racing? You can use NordVPN to reliably unlock your ITVX stream of this weekend’s racing action from anywhere in the world.
How to watch ITVX’s racing coverage from anywhere
ITVX will only be broadcasting live racing this weekend to residents of the UK.
For you racing fans that are outside the UK this weekend for Cheltenham Festival 2026, you will need a VPN to access ITVX’s broadcast.
There’s a multitude of great VPN’s on the market, but NordVPN is the one you can rely on to unlock ITVX’s coverage of this week’s Cheltenham horse racing.
It’s really simple to use a VPN to unblock your stream of ITVX’s Cheltenham Festival 2026 coverage this weekend.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we’ve said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you’re visiting Canada and want to watch your free ITVX stream, you’d select ‘UK’.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to ITVX, sign in, and watch all this week’s big races at Cheltenham.
What does ITVX’s coverage include?
ITV’s race coverage includes build up to all the weekend’s covered races at Cheltenham, post-race analysis with brilliant insight as well as feature segments and on-course reporting. ITVX will be broadcasting highlights and a full program so viewers can watch live online or catch up.
ITV’s racing team for the weekend includes a range of former jockeys, journalists, racing insiders and pundits. Ed Chamberlin takes charge of the presenting team alongside former jockeys former jockeys AP McCoy, Ruby Walsh, Megan Nicholls and Mick Fitzgerald providing analysis.
Matt Chapman, Alice Plunkett, Rishi Persad and Luke Harvey will be roving reporters on hand to get the biggest stories from around Prestbury Park.
What devices is ITVX available on?
You can use ITVX on all of the following devices and platforms:
Amazon Fire (Tablets, Cube, Stick, TVs)
Android TV (please note: some models aren’t supported)
Android (Mobile & Tablet) – Android 7.0 and above
Apple TV (tvOS 14 or later)
Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV and NVIDIA Shield)
Freely
Freesat (please note: some models aren’t supported)
Freeview Play (TVs and set-top boxes) (please note: some models aren’t supported)
iOS (iPhone & iPad) – iOS 14 and above
LG Smart TVs (2016-2024)
NOW Smart Sticks and Boxes (minimum firmware v11.5.0)
PlayStation (PS4 and PS5)
Roku (Stick & Roku-OS powered TVs, minimum firmware v11.5.0)
Samsung Smart TVs (2017 and above – 2016 models only offer on demand TV)
Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream puck
Virgin Media (360, Stream, TiVo)
YouView (BT, Humax, Sony, TalkTalk)
Xbox (One, Series X, Series S)
What should I expect at Cheltenham Festival 2026?
The town at the heart of the picturesque Cotswolds hosts the biggest multi-day meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar every year, with some 250,000 racegoers expected over the four-day event.
Less than two hours by train from London, Cheltenham also attracts a hoard of Irish thanks to their fantastic record in Gloucestershire. Horses and trainers from the Emerald Isle frequently top the podium here.
Some 270,000 pints of Guinness were drunk at the 2025 meet, too.
Cheltenham Festival 2026 Meeting ITVX Schedule
Cheltenham November Meeting (All times in GMT):
All these races will be broadcast on ITVX. Races at 5.20pm in italics shown are available on Racing TV.
📅 Tuesday 10 March 2026
1.20pm – The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
2.00pm – The Singer Arkle Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
2.40pm – The Hallgarten and Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
3.20pm – The Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
4.00pm – The Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)
4.40pm – The TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
5.20pm – The Princess Royal National Hunt Novices’ Handicap Chase
📅 Wednesday 11 March 2026
1.20pm – The Turners Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
2.00pm – The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
2.40pm – The Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
3.20pm – The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase
4.00pm – The BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)
4.40pm – The Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
5.20pm – The Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1)
📅 Thursday 12 March 2026
1.20pm – The Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
2.00pm – The Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (Grade 2)
2.40pm – The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
3.20pm – The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
4.00pm – The Ryanair Chase (Grade 1)
4.40pm – The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap.)
5.20pm – The Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase
📅 Friday 13 March 2026
1.20pm – The JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
2.00pm – The William Hill County Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
2.40pm – The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)
3.20pm – The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
4.00pm – The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)
4.40pm – The Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase
5.20pm – The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
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