Cheltenham Festival live stream 2022: how to watch the Gold Cup online from anywhere

The highlights of the jump racing season, the Cheltenham Festival is a stampede on the senses, a four-day jamboree of 28 races and countless headpieces in the Gloucestershire countryside, culminating in today's Cheltenham Gold Cup, the jewel in the crown. Read on as our guide tells you how to watch a 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup free live stream in the UK and Ireland. Traveling abroad? Watch the Cheltenham Festival for free from anywhere with a VPN (opens in new tab).

There are 14 Grade 1 races on the cards in total. The daily features are Tuesday's Champion Hurdle, Wednesday's Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase, Thursday's Steeple Chase and, of course, Friday's showpiece, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Rachael Blackmore became Cheltenham Festival's first ever female top jockey last year with six race victories, but with no fans around to give her the plaudits she deserved, she's hell-bent on emulating the great Ruby Walsh and repeating the feat. She's riding the Henry De Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard in the Gold Cup, with last year's champion, Minella Indo, the horse to beat. 

If she does, it could be a St Patrick's day to remember, with the Irish jockeys and horses looking to draw level with Britain on Prestbury Cup wins, last year's festival being a 23-5 greenwash. 

Whether your philosophy's the form book or you're planning to go gung-ho with your gut, follow our guide as we explain how to get a 2022 Cheltenham Festival live stream from anywhere - including for FREE in the UK and Ireland. We've also listed the Cheltenham Festival schedule and Cheltenham Gold Cup runners and riders further down the page.

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How to watch 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup: live stream for FREE in the UK

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The great news for horse racing fans in the UK is that the 2022 Cheltenham Festival is being shown on free-to-air TV, with ITV the channel to tune into.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is set to start at 3.30pm GMT on Friday, March 18.

ITV is covering the entire event, with coverage getting underway at 12.50pm each day, from Tuesday to Friday.

You can also live stream the Cheltenham Festival on ITV Hub (opens in new tab), which has an excellent app that's available on nearly everything that plugs in these days - just give it a search on your device, phone or console of choice.

Not in the UK right now? No worries - you can download and install a VPN (opens in new tab) to port yourself back home to tune in as normal. 

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How to watch Cheltenham Gold Cup 2022 from outside your country

We've recommended some of the best places to live stream Cheltenham Festival racing, but you might run into a problem trying to access them if you're outside of your country. This is because of something called geo-blocking.

Simply follow our VPN advice below and you'll soon be around that issue with a great bit of software that allows you to relocate your device back to your country of residence - thereby regaining access to all the streaming services and content you normally enjoy at home.

Use a VPN to live stream Cheltenham Gold Cup from anywhere

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How to use a VPN

Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three...

1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top choice is ExpressVPN

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location, eg: 'UK' for iPlayer and ITV Hub.

3. Go to the broadcaster's stream - head to your home broadcaster's site or app and watch as if you were at home - ITV Hub (opens in new tab) for UK citizens abroad.

How to watch 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup: live stream Cheltenham Festival FREE in Ireland 

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The 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup is being shown for FREE on Virgin Media One in Ireland, with the race set to begin at 3.30pm GMT on Friday afternoon.

This means you can also live stream the Cheltenham Gold Cup using Virgin Media Player (opens in new tab) - or check out its TV Anywhere app, which is available for nearly all modern devices including smartphones, tablets, computers and more.

Virgin Media One is showing all of the action from the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, with coverage beginning at around 1pm each day.

Outside of Ireland? Watch Cheltenham Festival racing online just like you would at home with the help of a quality VPN (opens in new tab).

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2022 Cheltenham Festival schedule: races and times

All times are given in GMT

Day 1 - Tuesday, March 15

• 1.30pm – The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
• 2.10pm – The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeplechase
• 2.50pm – The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase
• 3.30pm – The Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
• 4.10pm – The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle
• 4.50pm – The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
• 5.30pm – The National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase

Day 2 - Wednesday, March 16

• 1.30pm - The Ballymore Novices' Hurdle Race
• 2.10pm - The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase
• 2.50pm - The Coral Cup Hurdle
• 3.30pm - The Betway Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase
• 4.10pm - The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase
• 4.50pm - The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
• 5.30pm - The Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Day 3 - Thursday, March 17

• 1.30pm - The Turners Novices’ Chase
• 2.10pm - The Pertemps Network Final
• 2.50pm - The Ryanair Steeple Chase
• 3.30pm - The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle
• 4.10pm - The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate
• 4.50pm - The Mares Novices’ Hurdle
• 5.30pm - Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

Day 4 - Friday, March 18

• 1.30pm - The JCB Triumph Hurdle
• 2.10pm - The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle Race
• 2.50pm - The Albert Bartlett  Novices’ Hurdle Race
• 3.30pm - The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase
• 4.10pm - The St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Steeple Chase
• 4.50pm - The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Steeple Chase
• 5.30pm - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup runners and riders

• Galvin, Davy Russell, Gordon Elliott
• A Plus Tard, Rachael Blackmore, Henry De Bromhead
• Minella Indo, Robbie Power, Henry de Bromhead
• Protektorat, Harry Skelton, Dan Skelton
• Al Boum Photo, Paul Townend, W P Mullins
• Conflated, TBC, Gordon Elliott
• Tornado Flyer, Danny Mullins, W P Mullins
• Chantry House, Nico de Boinville, Nicky Henderson
• Royale Pagaille, Charlie Deutsch, Venetia Williams
• Asterion Forlonge, Bryan Cooper, W P Mullins
• Melon, TBC, W P Mullins
• Santini, Nick Scholfield, Polly Gundry
• Aye Right, Callum Bewley, Harriet Graham & Gary Rutherford