Cheltenham Racecourse cancels final fixtures of season due to drainage work
The two-day April meeting will not take place at an alternative venue
Last updated 30th Mar 2026
Cheltenham Racecourse has announced the cancellation of it's final three racedays of the season to allow for essential drainage system upgrades to be carried out on the home straight.
The two-day April Meeting, initially set for the 15th and 16th April, alongside race night on 1 May, will no longer take place.
Organisers said the decision was reached following consultation with the racecourse’s grounds team, drainage experts, and agronomists, who advised that conducting the work now, while moisture is still present in the ground, would lead to better recovery and minimal disruption to next season's racing timetable.
Jon Pullin, Cheltenham’s Head of Racing and Clerk of the Course, said: “Our priority is always to provide the best possible racing surface for top-class Jump racing. Throughout the very wet winter, we have experienced a number of issues on the track and working with drainage experts, we have identified an area that would benefit from being upgraded. This will allow us to address the issues that we believe contributed to the hole appearing on Festival Trials Day and subsequently created challenges in other areas of the track. As a result of this we moved rail and hurdle positions to ensure we were providing the best surface for both the Old and New courses.
“While some sections of drains across the track are newer than others and drainage improvements like this are typically carried out at the end of each season, given the scale of this project and the last two particularly dry summers we have decided to bring this work forward. This will mean that there is still sufficient moisture in the ground allowing more time for the course to recover ahead of next season.”
Cheltenham's April Meeting races won't be relocated to a different venue, but The Jockey Club, in collaboration with the BHA, has rescheduled four key races:
- The Mares Novices Handicap Chase will be hosted at Market Rasen on the 14th April.
- Warwick Racecourse will host the Challenger Mares’ Chase Series Final Handicap Chase alongside the Challenger Mares’ Hurdle Series Final on the 23rd April.
- The Fillies' Juvenile Handicap Hurdle will take place at Sandown Park on 25th April.
- Cheltenham’s Race Night fixture has been relocated to Warwick on the 1st May, with all scheduled races being transferred.
Pullin added: “We did look at contingency plans that might allow us to prioritise this work while also staging our April and May fixtures but unfortunately it is not feasible to continue racing. However, we are grateful to the BHA for their support in helping us move Race Night to Warwick and to stage four races from The April Meeting elsewhere.
“Although it is disappointing not to stage our final three racedays of the season, we are confident this is the right decision to give the course the opportunity to be in optimal condition for the start of the 2026-27 season in October.”
All general admission ticket holders for the affected Cheltenham racedays will be automatically refunded and the racecourse team will be in contact with hospitality bookers.
Guy Lavender, Chief Executive of Cheltenham Racecourse, said: “Cheltenham is the Home of Jump Racing and our focus will always be on providing the best facilities, on and off the track, which is why we are investing in this work.
“This was a decision that we gave a great deal of consideration to and, while we appreciate that racegoers will share in our disappointment at not being able to stage our last three fixtures of the season, it is vital to give the racing surface time to recover and allow our grounds team to prepare the track for October and next season’s jumps programme.”