Cheltenham Racecourse

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UK Racecourse
Cheltenham
Official site
Location	Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Owned by	The Jockey Club
Screened on	Racing UK
Course type	National Hunt
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The Racecourse, seen from Cleeve Hill

Cheltenham Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing events, located near the English town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (in the suburban village of Prestbury). Cheltenham is called the "home of National Hunt racing", largely because it hosts the prestigious four-day Cheltenham Festival, held in March of each year and featuring the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The racecourse has a scenic location, situated in a natural amphitheatre just below the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at Cleeve Hill, with a maximum capacity of 67,500 spectators. The racecourse also has its own railway station, which is the southern terminus of the preserved Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

The main racecourse has two separate courses alongside each other, the Old Course and the New Course. The New Course has a tricky downhill fence and a longer run-in for steeplechases than the Old Course. Hurdle races over two miles on the New Course also have a slight peculiarity in that most of the hurdles are jumped early on in the race with only two hurdles being jumped in the last seven furlongs.

There is also a cross-country course which is laid out inside the main racecourse and is used for cross-country steeplechases.

The racecourse is the home of The Centaur, one of the largest auditoria in the South West of England. This complex is intended for multiple uses, being able to seat over 2,000 people for conferences and around 4,000 standing for concerts.^[1] The racecourse is the venue for the annual Greenbelt festival and Wychwood Music Festival.