Cheltenham 2007

Anybody who is passionate about National Hunt Racing will count the days to the third Tuesday of March with the same anticipation as a child counts down the number of days until Christmas. As the big day gets nearer they will be just as concerned about the wellbeing of their fancied horses in the same way a parent frets about the wellbeing of their child.

The third Tuesday of March sees a quiet corner of Gloucestershire turn into the centre of the racing universe, as between forty and sixty thousand racing fans, a significant number Irish, gather at the bottom of Cleeve Hill to watch the National Hunt Festival, otherwise known as the Cheltenham Festival.

Four days, twenty four races and all the races contested by the best horses in training. Millions of pounds (and Euros) are bet on each race - and that's just at the course itself.

It's said hoteliers and traders in Cheltenham have two Christmas periods each year, the traditional one and the third week in March.