Cheltenham Festival

Why Is Thursday Called St Patrick’s Thursday At The Cheltenham Festival?

3 hours ago

| BY Ben Chopping

Less than a week before St Patrick’s Day proper gets underway across Ireland and many other parts of the world, the 2026 Cheltenham Festival will stage its own distinctly Irish festivities.

On 17 March, Day 3 will see the Irish horses of Cheltenham Festival compete across many prestigious races primed and ready to be slotted into a horse racing bet builder.

So, is St Patrick’s Day simply an Irish-themed race day, or is there more to how it became a part of Cheltenham Festival tradition?

What is St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham?

The St Patrick’s Thursday Cheltenham stages each year is very much a celebration of all things Irish, putting on two highly-anticipated, Irish-centric races and plenty of other themed events for attendees to enjoy.

Chief among these has to be Guinness Village. A whole section of the racecourse becomes an Irish-themed arena loaded with course bars ready to pour out a pint of the ‘Black Stuff.’

In 2026, Cheltenham Festival will cut the price of a pint of Guinness from £7.80 to £7.50, likely making the famous Irish stout even more popular on this day.

As well as the beer, you’ll see several other in-theme attractions, from Irish music booming through the speakers to Irish dancers taking to various stages around the venue. Plus, it’ll all be decked in green and gold.

The occasion is, in part, due to the festival’s proximity to St Patrick’s Day. However, what has also spurred it on is the influx of Irish fans coming to town following the surge of Cheltenham Irish trainers’ success on the course.

So, why do Irish horses perform so well at Cheltenham, and how can you back them this year in the 2026 Cheltenham Festival betting lines?

Irish Horses at Cheltenham Festival

As we entered the 2000s, the Irish horses Cheltenham Festival hosted came back with three wins from 19 races. Fast-forward a quarter-of-a-century, and Ireland dominates the win count and the number of runners supplied.

In recent decades, Irish horses at Cheltenham Festival have been particularly successful. This is greatly down to the rise to prominence of Irish stables, and the ensuing Cheltenham Irish trainers’ success.

Many point to Irish stables being much more active in the prospects market, taking a punt on far more of the top potential horses than their British counterparts each year, and thus, yielding more winners at prestigious events.

Just looking at the winners of St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham from 2015 to 2025 in its biggest race, you’ll spot that only four wins were by non-Irish trainers, with a few Irish winners landing consecutive triumphs.

With Willie Mullins in 2017 and 2018, Gavin Cromwell in 2021 and 2022, and Gordon Elliott in 2023 and 2024 taking the Grade 1 hurdle back-to-back, many will favour Henry de Bromhead in the horse betting this year.

The Biggest Races on Cheltenham Festival’s Ireland Day 2026

Combining Cheltenham Festival with Ireland’s most famous day of festivities, there’s a lot to like about the atmosphere on St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham and the racing set to take place.

The day of seven races begins at 13:20 and sees the last race set off at 17:20. Punctuated by the most prestigious races at 15:20 and 16:00, here’s the race card stacked with Irish horses for Cheltenham Festival in 2026:

Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (13:20)
Novices’ Chase (14:00)
Mares Hurdle (14:40)
Stayers’ Hurdle (15:20)
Ryanair Chase (16:00)
Handicap Hurdle (16:40)
Handicap Chase (17:20)