Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Guide

Ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, OddsMonkey is creating guides covering all aspects of the highly popular horse racing meeting. In addition to guides on different offers and tips, we are also taking a deeper dive into all days of the four-day festival, with this guide focused on the third day. Throughout the Cheltenham Festival, we will have a look at what races are scheduled to go ahead, what types of races these are, who the favourites and decent picks are in each race for value betting, and the previous winners throughout the festival. 

Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Overview

The third and subsequently the penultimate day of the Cheltenham Festival is set to take place on Thursday, the 12th of March. The third day is named after the Irish patron saint and is called St Patrick’s Thursday. With the Irish national holiday being held on the 17th of March, the Thursday of Cheltenham is always named after it to celebrate all things Irish, as many of the trainers, jockeys, and horse racing fans are from Ireland. 

Just like other days in the festival, there are 7 races that are set to go ahead throughout the third day, with the most notable events taking place at both 15:20 and 16:00 (GMT). The most prestigious race of the day is the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, which takes place across 3 miles and is a Grade 1 event. Here are the seven races that are set to take place across the third day of the Cheltenham Festival:

• Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
• Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
• The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle
• Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle
• Ryanair Chase
• The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle
• Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase

With the Cheltenham Festival just around the corner, make sure to check out our Cheltenham Festival betting offers guide to find the very best offers from different bookmakers that you can take advantage of!

Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Races

Whilst Oddsmonkey is home to more general guides, such as our matched betting guides, we also take deeper dives into popular sporting events, including the Cheltenham Festival! Here, we will look at all seven of the different races taking place across day 3. 

13:20 – Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Hurdle)

This particular race is one of the newest races at the Cheltenham Festival, as the first time it ran was in the 2016 festival. With a distance of just over 2 miles, there are 46 runners currently set for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, with Bambino Fever being the favourite at 7/4 and Oldschool Outlaw being the second favourite at 3/1.

14:00 – Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (Chase)

With last year’s winner being Caldwell Potter, this race takes place across 2 miles and 4 furlongs with 17 hurdles in total. Looking ahead to this race, names such as Regents Stroll and McLaurey stand out with odds of 8/1 and 10/1, respectively, whilst Meetmebythesea and Waterford Whispers are both in the runners list at odds of 12/1 each.

14:40 – The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle

There are plenty of impressive horses in the line-up for this event, with challengers such as Lossiemouth, Wodhooh and Brighterdaysahead all ready to take on the event. Being a Grade 1 race, we are looking at favourites such as Lossiemouth at odds of 5/4 to lead the field.

15:20 – Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Hurdle)

At a length of 3 miles, the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle is also another Grade 1 race and was won by Bob Olinger in 2025. This year, tipsters predict a similar result, with Teahupoo being placed at 7/4 to reclaim the title from 2024. With 12 hurdles in the race, the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle is all about stamina and skill, and in 2023, Sire Du Berlais was able to win at a price of 33/1, making this victory one of the biggest odds winners at Cheltenham Festival.

16:00 – Ryanair Chase (Chase)

With last year’s winner being Fact To File with odds of 6/4, the same horse is predicted to finish well with odds of 7/2. However, this year sees Gaelic Warrior as the horse to beat, with odds of 2/1, whilst Jonbon and Banbridge sit behind at 9/2 and 10/1 respectively. The Ryanair Chase was placed at 15:20 last year, moving into the iconic 16:00 for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.

16:40 – Pertemps Network Final Handicap (Hurdle)

Known as the final of the 21 long-distance qualifying races run throughout the jumps season, the Pertemps Network Final is widely regarded as a major stepping stone for horses. With Doddiethegreat winning at 25/1 last year, this year’s edition features two standouts: Cest Different and Supremely West, at 10/1 and 12/1.

17:20 – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase (Chase)

Being the last race of the day, the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase is a long-distance handicap race with 3 miles and 2 furlongs being the distance. It is restricted to amateur jockeys and ratings up to 145. Jeriko Du Reponet sits at the favourite, with odds of 5/1, with other horses such as Backmersackme and Will The Wise expected to challenge. In 2024, Inothewayurthinkin won with trainer Gavin Cromwell and jockey Derek O’Connor, and Inothewayurthinkin went on to win the prestigious Gold Cup in 2025.

Wrapping up day 3, there is plenty of interesting and exhilarating action expected throughout the third day of the Cheltenham Festival. OddsMonkey has also made guides for the different days of the Cheltenham Festival, so make sure to check out our Cheltenham Festival day 4 guide and our specific Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup guide!