Cheltenham Courses

Prestbury Park is a beautifully crafted sporting arena, carved within the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and the courses are unlike those at any other racecouse. Undulating and stamina sapping, the sting in the tail regularly comes at the end of each contest in the form of the supremely challenging "Cheltenham Hill" - an ever-upward climbing passage runners must scale from the last obstacle to the winning line. Every weapon in a competitor's arsenal is needed for victory at Cheltenham.
New Course
The New Course has two fences in a longer home straight, but only one fence on the downhill run. This obviously can still be tricky, for similar reasons to the two downhill fences on the Old Course, but a key obstacle here has always been four out. Taken at the top of the hill as the horses start to turn left, it often caught out even the most seasoned chasers given that the course fell away to the left immediately after the fence. However, the fence has now been moved back 15 metres meaning it is jumped on a slightly flatter part of the track.

Old Course
The Old Course has just one fence in the home straight. The critical two fences are three and two out as they are both taken on the run downhill before the turn into the home straight.
Races on this course really start in earnest at the top of the hill (after the final ditch, four out) and the third last, in particular, can catch out horses who find themselves gathering momentum and traveling slightly quicker than they feel comfortable with.
The second last is a real “jockeys” fence and has put paid to the chances of many horses over the years. Punters whose dreams are still alive at this point can certainly breath a partial sigh of relief once their selection has cleared this tricky obstacle.

Cross Country Course
The cross country course takes racing at Cheltenham back to its roots with a selection of natural and man made obstacles incorporating banks, ditches, hedges, water and timber rails.
Designed by Mike Etherington-Smith, who was responsible for the 3-Day Event cross country course at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the configuration of the course deliberately weaves around the centre of Prestbury Park, with turns to the left and right leading competitors on a variety of routes and directions.
One of the main differences between the Cross Country Course and the steeplechase courses at Cheltenham is the materials used to build the fences. Chase fences are constructed from 'dead' materials whereas the fences on the Cross Country Course are living, growing trees, shrubs and bushes, which are regularly