Cheltenham Racecourse

Cheltenham Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing events, located at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and World Hurdle.

The racecourse has a scenic location in a natural amphitheatre just below the escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at Cleeve Hill, with a capacity of 67,500 spectators. The racecourse also has its own steam railway station (of the same name), although this no longer connects to the national rail network but has since rather been the current southern terminus of the preserved Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

The main racecourse has two separate courses alongside each other, the Old Course and the New Course. The New Course has a tricky downhill fence and a longer run-in for steeplechases than the Old Course. Hurdle races over two miles on the New Course also have a slight peculiarity in that most of the hurdles are jumped early on in the race with only two hurdles being jumped in the last seven furlongs.

Cheltenham

Cheltenham /ˈtʃɛltnəm/, also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, England, located on the edge of the Cotswolds.

Cheltenham is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing. The Gold Cup is the main event of the Cheltenham Festival, held every March.

The town also hosts several festivals of culture, often featuring nationally and internationally famous contributors and attendees. The list of festivals includes: Greenbelt, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Cheltenham Science Festival, the Cheltenham Music Festival and the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival.

History

Cheltenham takes its name from the small River Chelt, which rises nearby at Dowdeswell and runs through the town on its way to the Severn. The town was the meeting place for the court of the Hundred of Cheltingham at the time of the Domesday Book. The town was awarded a market charter in 1226.

Cheltenham (disambiguation)

Cheltenham is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It may also refer to:

Places

Other uses

Cheltenham (Metra station)

Cheltenham (also known as Cheltenham-79th Street) is a station on the Hyde Park/South Chicago branch of the Metra Electric Line. The station is located along the median of Exchange Avenue, approximately one city block north of East 79th Street, and is 11.49 miles (18.49 km) away from the northern terminus at Randolph Street Station.

West of this station is another Metra Electric station along 79th Street known as 79th Street (Chatham) along the Main Branch. Street-side parking is available only on Cheltenham Place, which also intersects with 79th Street and Northbound Exchange Avenue. The station was recently renovated in 2008 as part of Metra's redevelopment program for the South Chicago branch.

Bus connections

CTA

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