Cheltenham Festival: Get geared up for the 2016 event with our A-Z guide

A – is for Amphitheatre, the natural surroundings of the racecourse with Cleeve Hill overlooking the famous Prestbury Park turf

B – is for Best Mate. Three time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003 & 2004 for Henrietta Knight.

C – is for the Crowd – a record 248,521 spectators came through the turnstiles at the 2015 festival. The ¼ million barrier should be broken this year.

D – is for Desert Orchid, the popular grey landed the 1989 Gold Cup against all the odds with one of the greatest race commentaries of all time from the legendary Sir Peter O’Sullevan

E – is for Euphoria, for punters and connections alike as they cheer their charges up the famous hill and into the winners circle

F – is for Four days of fantastic action, 28 races spread across Tuesday to Friday and known as ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’! Approximately £20million will be wagered with Betfred on the meeting.

G – is for Guinness. Around 250,000 pints of Guinness will be consumed over the four days on course.

H – is for Hallowed turf of the paddock where it is every jumps owners dream to lead their charge into the sacred ground of the Cheltenham Winners enclosure.

I – is for Isatabraq. Arguably Cheltenham’s favourite son of the modern era following a hat-trick of Champion Hurdle success between 1998 & 2000

J – is for JP McManus – the legendary businessman and gambler has 44 Festival winners on his CV and is the most famous of the 10,000 Irishmen who make the annual pilgrimage.

K – is for Kauto Star, the first horse ever to regain a Cheltenahm Gold Cup crown when victorious in 2009

L – is for Ladies Day. The Wednesday of Festival week will see the fairer sex dress up in all their finery on Champion Chase day

M – is for Michael Dickenson, who trained the first five home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

N – is for Nicky Henderson who is the most successful trainer in Festival history, saddling 53 winners to date.

O – is for Bookmaker Offers – Betfred will have plenty of offers and price boosts throughout festival week

P – is for Prestbury Cup, the competition between Britain and Ireland decided by where the most winners will be trained.

Q – is for Quevega, the super mare who won at six consecutive Cheltenham festivals between 2009 - 2014

R – is for the Roar of the crowd as the tapes rise for the first race, The Supreme Novices Hurdle at 1.30m on Tuesday

S – is for St Patrick’s Day which falls on the Thursday this year, 17th March and will be well celebrated with The Dublin Legends playing in the Guinness Village

T – is for Tattersalls enclosure, the busiest and most popular enclosure at the festival that includes the tented village, the paddock and extensive course views.

U – is for Uxizandre, the final Cheltenham Festival winner of legendary jockey Sir AP McCoy in the 2015 Ryanair Chase.

V – is for Vautour. Already a dual Festival winner and Ante-post favourite for this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup

W – is for Ruby Walsh, winning most Jockey at the festival in the modern era with 45 victories, taking leading jockey award nine times

X – is for X-Country, the twists and turns of the race over poles, banks and hedges that takes place in the centre of the racecourse

Y – is for Yankee, many punters will be aiming for that life changing Ante Post bet with a Yankee on the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, World Hurdle & Gold Cup. Betfred will offer bonuses on some all correct multiple bets.

Z – is for Zarkandar, 2011 Triumph Hurdle winner and an ever present for the last five festivals, never finishing out of the front five. Sadly missing this year through injury.

See More: 2016, Betfred, Cheltenham, Featured, Festival, Racing

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