How to Watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 Live in Canada

Cheltenham Festival, one of the biggest and most prestigious pedigree horse racing events of the year is just upon us. Are you wondering how to watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 live in Canada?

The Cheltenham Festival is all set to be held from Tuesday, March 15, 2022, to Friday, March 18, 2022, and we are here to make sure that you’re all geared up!

Arguably the second most prominent and bigger event of horse racing after the Grand National, the Cheltenham Festival features some of the best-thoroughbred horses and jockeys in horse racing and is always filled with big surprises, plenty of drama, and dominating performances from some of the finest of the sport.

This year the festival will feature notable names like Shishkin, Honeysuckle, and Minella Indo, with the British team adamant to put on an impressive show after last year’s complete domination by the Irish as they clinched 23 out of 28 races of the Festival.

The 28 races of the Cheltenham Festival are the most fiercely contested of the entire racing calendar, with almost 500 horses rivalling each other for more than £6.12 million in prize money.

The event will kick off with day one on March 15 with four Grade 1 races, topped by the Champion Hurdle. Day two will be focused on the Champion Chase and Thursday will feature the Stayers’ Hurdle and Ryanair Chase.

The event will conclude on the final day with the main event of the Gold Cup. Horse racing buffs will return to Prestbury Park for the Cheltenham Festival for the first time since March 2020, as the 2021 edition was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you would rather like to watch Festival 2022 from the comfort of your couch, all four days of the Festival will be available on your big screens through Channel 4 and ITV Racing for free. In addition, the full coverage of the event will be covered by Racing TV, which is available through Sky and Virgin Media.

If you are on the go or don’t have a cable subscription, you can live stream Cheltenham 2022 through ITV Hub or Racing TV Online.

However, there’s a big catch; the event will be exclusively available in the UK and if you are a horse racing manic living in Canada, you will need a premium VPN app to access ITV in Canada.

Without further ado, let’s find out how to watch Cheltenham Festival live!

3 Best VPNs to Watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 Live in Canada

A VPN app is needed to watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 live in Canada due to the geo-restrictions. Don’t rely on free and ordinary VPNs because you will end up with disappointment.

Only premium VPN services have the ability to bypass the geo-blocks and anti-VPN technologies of the streaming channels.

Moreover, live streaming of sports action requires fast speed as slow buffering and interrupted streaming will ruin your watching experience altogether.

Hence, if you need a bit of expert advice, we have shortlisted the 3 Best VPNs to watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 live in Canada after rigorously testing more than 20 VPN apps.

Let’s delve into the details of each.

ExpressVPN –  Recommended VPN to Watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 Live in Canada

ExpressVPN has been the No.1 trusted leader in the VPN industry for some time now. It is the best VPN to watch Cheltenham 2022 live in Canada. This VPN offers 4 server locations in the UK and an overall global reach with over 3,000+ servers.

ExpressVPN topped the charts with a download speed of 88.78 Mbps and an upload speed of 54.22 Mbps while connecting to a 100 Mbps connection.

This VPN offers next-gen features that include Kill Switch, Threat Manager, AES-256 Encryption, Split Tunneling, Network Lock Kill Switch, Lightway Protocol, Private DNS, and Trusted Server Technology. With this VPN you can also watch The Players Championship from anywhere.

You can use this VPN on all the prominent operating systems as well as streaming devices, handheld devices, smart technology, routers, and game consoles. A single account lets you simultaneously use this app on 5 separate devices.

ExpressVPN offers a value-for-money subscription plan at CA$ 9.17 /mo (US$ 6.67 /mo ) - Save up to 49% with exclusive 1-year plans + 3 months free. You can also use this VPN to watch NCAA March Madness from anywhere.

Surfshark – Budget-Friendly VPN to Watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 Live in Canada

What could be better than premium VPN features with a budget-friendly price tag? Surfshark brings you top VPN features at a low price and you can get a subscription for just CA$ 3.42 /mo (US$ 2.49 /mo ) - Save up to 77% with exclusive 2-year plan + 30-day money-back guarantee.

Surfshark performed exceptionally well in our speed test on a 100 Mbps connection, with download speeds of 86.51 Mbps and upload speeds of 51.86 Mbps.

Moreover, a single subscription is enough for you to use it on unlimited devices. Fair enough to say it is the most pocket-friendly VPN to watch Cheltenham 2022 live in Canada. You can also watch the Daytona 500: NASCAR Cup Series from anywhere with the help of this VPN.

Surfshark offers more than 3200+ servers including 3 server locations in the UK. It also equips you with top-notch features with the likes of No Borders Mode, Private DNS, Split Tunneling, Kill Switch, IKEv2/IPsec Protocol, and Camouflage Mode.

This VPN is fully supported by all the major operating systems, mobiles, laptops, smart TVs, gaming consoles, and even routers so that you can watch ICC Women’s Cricket Worldcup from anywhere on your preferred device.

NordVPN – Largest Server Network to Watch Cheltenham Festival 2022 Live in Canada

NordVPN is a beast of a performer due to its unique features and a gigantic network of servers. This app offers 440+ servers in the UK and boasts an overall global presence with over 6000+ ultra-fast servers.

This app delivered a promising download speed of 85.48 Mbps and an upload speed of 48.42 Mbps when tested on a 100 Mbps connection.

This VPN has undoubtedly the largest server network to watch Cheltenham 2022 live in Canada. With this VPN you can also watch Winter Paralympic Games from anywhere.

This VPN is hard to beat in terms of features as it offers Obfuscated Servers, Automated Kill Switch, Dedicated IP, Split Tunneling, AES-256 Encryption, Multi-factor Authentication, Onion Over VPN, Clean Web, and several other features.

NordVPN offers dedicated apps for your laptops, mobiles, streaming devices, gaming consoles, and smart TVs running on Windows, Android, Linux, Mac, or iOS. You can use this app on 6 devices at a time.

This VPN costs only CA$ 5.49 /mo (US$ 3.99 /mo ) - Save up to 63% with exclusive 2-year plan + 3 months free for a friend. You can also use this VPN to watch Indian Wells Masters from anywhere.

Why Do You Need a VPN to Watch Cheltenham Festival Live in Canada?

You must be wondering why a VPN is required to watch Cheltenham Festival live in Canada. Well, the licensing agreements and broadcasting rights are the reasons behind the geo-restrictions imposed by the streaming channels.

ITV Hub and Racing TV Online limit your access to their content because they have streaming rights to broadcast Cheltenham Festival live in the United Kingdom only. That means you can’t live stream Cheltenham Festival 2022 in Canada. But that’s where a VPN turns out to be a game-changer.

You will see the following error whenever you will access ITV where it is not available:

“Sorry! This video isn’t available right now. Check out our Shows section for more great programmes.”

VPN apps are purpose-built apps to provide you with security and anonymity. You can go on ghost mode through a VPN by changing your IP address. By changing the IP address that also reveals your location, you can easily appear to be in a region or territory where your favorite content is being aired.

For instance, to watch Cheltenham online, your location must be within the UK, and VPN lets you remotely locate yourself in Britain. Once your location is reflected where it’s required, you can easily live stream Cheltenham 2022 in Canada.

What is Cheltenham Festival 2022 About?

Cheltenham has been a stage for Horse racing for over 200 years in which the Festival was generated by Frederick Cathcart in the early 1900s, as Cathcart was someone who looked on Cheltenham as a forthcoming Jumps racing powerhouse.

What was just a two-day event at the beginning, later on, the Festival further expanded back in 1923 by adding a third day’s racing, and in 2005, the Festival stretched out to four days. Even though it was a limited event with each day having six-race cards, now we are more familiar with a seven-race card per day.

For the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, the schedule is set for 28 races that are to be contested throughout the event. The race distances range from 1m7f to 3m7f and also have a variety of hurdles and obstacles to be jumped.

The festival’s Day One actions center around the feature race Champion Hurdle which is considered to be the best hurdles race in the world by most people. Day Two is the day of the feature race of the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

This is also considered as one of the harshest checks of jumping around, with probable winners to be having foot perfect over the 2m stretch.

Day Three of the Cheltenham Festival is one of its kind and very unique in the matter of having not one, but two feature races. The first one is the Ryanair Chase, a Grade 1 run-over race with an intermediate distance of 2m5f. Along with this the audience also has the Stayers’ Hurdle on Day Three to enjoy.

The Festival closes on Day Four with having the Cheltenham Gold Cup on its center stage. Debatably the most popular race of the whole week, a dream that every jockey, trainer, and owner dream of is winning this event, and its chart of honor is packed by National Hunt legends.

The Cheltenham Festival is viewed as the top-notch event of Jumps racing. This is why the best of the best racehorses around Ireland, Britain, and on occasion from further afield, comes down at Prestbury Park to make an attempt and claim a small piece of the action in races.

The most popular horse coming down to the Cheltenham in 2022 is probably Tiger Roll. Tiger is now 12 years old, and has been able to catch the eye of the racing community in recent years. The horse will be on tracks of Cross County on Wednesday which will be his final run before his retirement.

Irish trainers are dominating the Cheltenham Festival this year like never before, the Irish horses are going to be more fancied than before.

When is the 2022 Cheltenham Festival?

There is no doubt that fans are eagerly looking forward to the Cheltenham Festival this year in light of the fact that due to the pandemic it was not held last year in 2021. Cheltenham Festival 2022 is a horse racing festival stretched over four days which takes place in March annually.

Cheltenham Festival will take off on Tuesday, March 15 and will end on Friday, March 18. The star-studded festival will take place at the Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire. Usually, the horse racing starts at 13:30 PM BST on each day of the festival.

Cheltenham Festival Races 2022

The festival of Cheltenham 2022 will host 28 races that are divided over four days, each day 7 races in total along with feature races, and obviously, the feature races are highly anticipated and more interesting races rather than the others. Here is a brief introduction to each race that will be happening at the festival.

i) Cheltenham Festival 2022 Day 1 Tuesday Races

The feature race, The Champion Hurdle, is one of the big highlight fixtures from the four Grade 1 races to happen on opening day, Tuesday. The Champion Hurdle is one of the seven races events that makes up a marvelous race card on Day One of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.

• The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race

The Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ is one of the most excitedly anticipated and also the curtain-raiser race fixtures to the Festival and the National Hunt calendar. The Supreme Novices is a challenge of 2m 1/2f hurdles.

Supreme Novices for 2022 will be looking profoundly into the field, as the race will feature some of the top novices’ again, who possibly will be back in the upcoming Cheltenham Festivals for bigger affairs.

• The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase

The Arkle race of the Cheltenham Festival Day One is also a Grade 1 fixture that has a distance of about 2m. This is a competition for the novice hunters, and it is a top fixture of its own kind in the National Hunt season over the distance.

• The Ultima Handicap Steeple Chase

The Ultima is a race at a distance of 3m 1ft and a Grade 3 handicap fixture which last year a big outsider secured. That was Vintage Clouds, who achieved a great score from a massive 28/1 SP in the race, leaving all the odds behind impressively.

Seen as an entry to the Aintree Grand National, the Ultima is full of trickery every time as the runners jump it out on over 20 hurdles.

• The Champion Hurdle (Cheltenham Festival 2022 Tuesday Feature Race)

The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 race and there is no match for the significant hurdle race in the National Hunt season to this one, which is about at 2m and 1/2f distance.

In the Champion Hurdle’s play, there are eight hurdles, and the race forms part of the Triple Crown of Hurdling.

• The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle Race

After the fixture of the 2022 Champion Hurdle race, the next race that is up will be the Mares’ Hurdle, a Grade 3 competition over a distance of around 2m 4f. This race comparatively seems newer as a feature at the Cheltenham Festival, but its outline immediately upraised due to Quevega, who won Mares’ Hurdle for six consistent years.

Now it is defined as one of the most incredible Cheltenham Festival races to happen ever.

• The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race

Another Day One race of Grade 3 is The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, and people usually talk about it as the Fred Winter Hurdle. This is a 2m 1/2f race that is why it is for 4-year-old novice hurdlers only.

The race got moved last year from its typical Wednesday slot to the opening day for the first time in history.

• The National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Steeple Chase

Last but not the least fixture from Day One of Cheltenham 2022 is the Grade 2 National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase, as the day nears to its closing with a run over of an exhausting 3m 6f trip. The runners are to face 23 fences on an immense stamina test.

ii) Cheltenham Festival 2022 Day 2 Wednesday Races

Day Two of the Cheltenham 2022 will start with the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, a race that is known for mostly attracting some of the big exciting projections in National Hunt racing.

• The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race

The Cheltenham 2022 Day Two will begin with the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, a distance of 2m 5f and a Grade 1 run over. In this contest, ten hurdles are jumped over and for punters, it has established the place of a good race in recent years.

• The Brown Advisory Novices’ Steeple Chase

The first chase run and second contest on Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival is the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, a race which is normally thought of as a good trial for Cheltenham Gold Cups later on.

• The Coral Cup Hurdle

The Coral Cup is generally a 2m 5f handicap hurdle contest and is usually considered as one of the most combative races that are run at the Cheltenham Festival.

• Queen Mother Champion Chase (Cheltenham Festival 2022 Wednesday Feature Race)

The Queen Mother Champion Chase runs over a distance of about 2m and not only comes in a Grade 1 but also signifies the highpoint of the 2m chasing discipline.

The race is named in honor of a fine enthusiast of Jumps racing, The Queen Mother has had this name since 1980. Regardless of its quite short distance, in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, there are thirteen fences to go over to.

• The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeple Chase

After the Queen Mother Champion Chase comes the Glenfarclas Cross County, the Cheltenham Festival’s only race that is run over the Cross Country track. Since its inauguration back in 2005, this race has been a real favorite of the Irish.

• The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup

Previously which was the final race in the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand Annual transferred to a Wednesday slot last year in 2021, it was an addition to the Mares’ Chase. The Grand Annual has created some shocks in recent years due to its controversies.

• The Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Closing race on Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival concludes with the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, the only race which is contested at the Festival that does not have any run-over obstacles. The race has kick-started the careers of many Cheltenham Festival winners.

iii) Cheltenham Festival 2022 Day 3 Thursday Races

Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival means that the St Patrick’s Day celebrations along with the racing festival will be in full swing. The Cheltenham Day 3 kick starts with the Turners Novices’ Chase that comes in the category of Grade 1 races.

• Turners Novices’ Chase

A race that is commonly known as the Marsh Chase, this Novices’ Chase starts off the Cheltenham Day 3 tips. It is a race held on the New Course over a distance of 2.5 miles. This is quite a new feature in the Cheltenham Festival, having only introduced its first edition in 2011.

• Pertemps Network Final

The Pertemps Network Final in the Cheltenham Festival is a run over of a 3m trip which is always a captivating encounter. This is the finale of qualifying races of a series hosted in the season and is open to horses aged from five years and above.

• Ryanair Steeplechase (Cheltenham Festival 2022 Thursday Feature Race)

The Ryanair Chase is one of the famous fixtures of the 4-day event and in 2008 it got an upgrade to Grade 1 status. Too good for a race performance which was only introduced at the Cheltenham Festival in 2005.

The Ryanair usually works as a backup plan for contestants who may not be completely ready to compete in the Gold Cup. With a shorter trip of 2m 5f, this is a little easier assignment to some extent.

• The Stayers’ Hurdle (Cheltenham Festival 2022 Thursday Feature Race)

The Stayers’ Hurdle is a contest of a 3m trip around Cheltenham’s New Course, with 12 hurdles to be jumped over in the race. Punters commonly call this The Stayers’ Hurdle still the World Hurdle.

It is the one game that is for those specialist stayers as it beautifully tests stamina and speed.

• Paddy Power Plate Chase

The Paddy Power Plate is the Day 3 handicap chase at Cheltenham on the New Course which is over 2m 4 1/2f. There are 17 jumps to cross in this competition which is open to horses that are of age five or up.

• Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle

At the Cheltenham Festival the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle offers something much exciting as there is so much room for improvement and potential. As the race has only been introduced in recent years and only has the previous six editions of the race, there has been very little time to build trends.

• Kim Muir Challenge Cup

The final action competition of Cheltenham Day 3 comes from the Kim Muir Challenge Cup, which gives a chance to the amateur jockeys to come up and have their moment in the limelight.

But, as it is held as the last Thursday action, it’s also from the New Course. It’s also been an exceptional feeder for Grand National players to come in the future.

iv) Cheltenham Festival 2022 Day 4 Friday Races

Cheltenham Day 4 is always the biggest day. The final day is headlined by the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and that means the stakes and excitement at the Gloucestershire skyrockets. The seven-race roster of day 4 at Cheltenham 2022 is given below.

• JCB Triumph Hurdle

The Triumph Hurdle gets the ball rolling on Day 4 at Cheltenham. This race features juvenile novices competing for a run over two miles and a one-furlong distance. The race includes eight hurdles and last year saw Quilixios from a short 2/1 SP for Henry de Bromhead as the winner.

• County Handicap Hurdle Race

The County Handicap Hurdle race is a Grade 3 contest on Gold Cup day. This race also includes eight hurdles on the 2 miles and 1-furlong trip. This fixture is one of the most enthralling races at the Cheltenham Festival.

• Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle

One of the most popular races for punters, The Albert Bartlett features the novices. It was started back in 2005 to offer a longer-distance competition for novices surpassing Ballymore. It is one of the Grade 1 races on Gold Cup Day.

• The Cheltenham Gold Cup (Cheltenham Festival 2022 Friday Feature Race)

The inaugural edition of the Cheltenham Gold Cup was held back in 1819, and it was a completely different episode from what it is today. Starting from a flat course, the event became a jump race after 25 years and is now considered the richest non-handicap race.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is contested over three miles and two & a half furlongs including 22 jumps. Five years old and elderly Horses can participate in this race.

Given its status of a high-class race, only the finest thoroughbreds manage to make it through this competition.

• St James’s Place Challenge Cup

This race is one of the Cheltenham Festival races that feature the 3 miles course, covering 3 miles and 2 & a half furlongs to be exact. The St James’s Place Challenge Cup is one of those specialist tests featuring those contestants who have won a couple of point-to-point races or have stood in a couple of hunter chases.

Being the same in terms of distance and hurdles to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, it’s kind of an amateur version of the Gold Cup.

• The Mrs. Paddy Power Mares’ Chase

This race is as recent as last year. The Mrs. Paddy Power Mares’ Chase was introduced at Cheltenham Festival in 2021. That inaugural edition of the fixture, which is solely for Mares, was won by the Willie Mullins-trained Colreevy.

• Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

The Cheltenham Festival is concluded with this race. The Martin Pipe wraps up the four-day event with Conditional Jockeys participating. This is a handicap race and features nine hurdles and is run over 2 miles and 4 & a half furlongs distance.

No horse or jockey has won this fixture more than once since it started back in 2009.

2022 Cheltenham Festival Schedule

The complete schedule of the 28 races that are going to be held at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival is given under. Take a look to see when your favorite one is happening.

FAQs

Conclusion

The Cheltenham Festival 2022 is now just a few days away from its formal action that will be covered over the course of four days in Gloucestershire. The hot clashes between the top Irish and English thoroughbreds are what make Cheltenham an action-filled event for many.

The Irish-trained horses have mostly dominated this event in the past with the British trainers finding it difficult to find their nick.

Will the Irish invasion continues in Cheltenham 2022 or the British-trained horses will finally get their groove and clinch the title? Stay tuned and get yourself prepared beforehand to watch Cheltenham Festival 2022.

In case you are looking to live stream Cheltenham Festival 2022 in Canada, get a subscription to a reliable VPN app. We recommend ExpressVPN for the ultimate streaming experience.

Chris Mack

Meet Chris Mack, your go-to expert for the best of BBC iPlayer with a twist—he's also a cybersecurity enthusiast. Whether you're into British entertainment classics or searching for hidden gems, Chris has you covered, always with an eye for secure streaming practices. Beyond the screen, Chris blends his love for reading and exploring the outdoors with a passion for staying ahead in the world of cybersecurity, ensuring a safe viewing experience. If you're looking for top British TV picks or tips on keeping your digital viewing secure, Chris is your guide. Dive into the drama of British TV with Chris!