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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Alex Young

How to watch Cheltenham Festival 2026 for FREE: TV channel and live stream for every race

Cheltenham Festival begins on Tuesday - (Getty Images)

Cheltenham Festival is upon us as the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ returns for another year.

It is one of the biggest meets of the entire sport, with Prestbury Park set to host 28 races across four days.

If you’re not going to be one of the thousands descending on Gloucestershire this weeek, fear not. You can watch every single furlong at home, and almost all for free.

From the curtain-raising first race on Tuesday, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, until the last on Friday, the Martin Pipe, here’s how you can keep up with all the action.

Here’s how to watch every race live this week...

How to watch Cheltenham Festival 2026 for FREE

TV channel: ITV1 will broadcast the first six races for FREE, with coverage beginning at 12.45pm every day and running until 5pm.

Preview show 'The Opening Show' will be broadcast on ITV4 from 9am to 10am every morning of the meet.

The only place to watch the Festival in its entirety is on Racing TV, which will broadcast all seven races on each day of the meeting. Build-up coverage starts at 12.45pm GMT every day and coverage concludes after the final race. Racing TV is a subscription-based channel available through Sky.

Live stream: TV viewers can watch the action for free via ITVX website and app. Racing TV is available across Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and their own website and app.

Bookmakers’ website and app will also be broadcasting every race with a registered account, though it may require funds to view the stream.

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