The Cheltenham Festival is a sporting occasion like no other. From March 14–17, the suited and booted (both the two-legged and four-legged variety) will descend on the Cotswolds countryside for the “Olympics of jump racing.”
The pinnacle of the National Hunt season, the four-day horse racing extravaganza centers on the marquee event: the Cheltenham Gold Cup, so-named for the 23-ounce, 644-gram, 9-karat solid-gold cup awarded to the winner of the grueling, 3-mile, 2.5-furlong, 22-jump Grade 1 steeplechase.
This year, the race falls on St. Patrick’s Day (Friday, March 17). Perhaps the luck of the Irish will prevail again for nine-year-old bay gelding A Plus Tard and racing’s golden girl, Co. Tipperary-born Rachael Blackmore—who made history last year as the first woman jockey to win the race.
In honor of the festival, Luxury Defined spotlights six equestrian estates for horses and riders of all stripes. In the lineup are an equitation center in the Dutch Province of Gelderland, dedicated to dressage and show jumping at the international level; a horse farm within hacking distance of the Wellington International; and a 100-acre riding resort in Mallorca, Spain.
Back at Cheltenham, the colorful cavalcade of horses and jockeys are under starters orders, the tape goes up, the famous “Cheltenham Roar” resounds across the course … and they’re off!