Cheltenham Festival

If National Hunt racing has one week that matters more than any other, it's this one. Four days at Prestbury Park, 28 races, and the best jumps horses in Britain and Ireland settling scores that have often been building for a full season.

What makes it different

The Festival isn't just a bigger version of a normal jumps meeting - it's the one week where Irish yards travel in numbers to take on the home team head-on, and the "Anglo-Irish" storyline runs through almost every race. Prize money, prestige, and Cheltenham's own brutal uphill finish combine to make form here look different from anywhere else - horses that have flattered elsewhere can get found out, and proven Cheltenham performers are worth serious respect regardless of recent runs.

Key races

Each day has its own championship race: the Champion Hurdle opens things on day one, the Queen Mother Champion Chase (the two-mile chasing championship) is the centrepiece of day two, the Stayers' Hurdle heads day three, and the Gold Cup - the greatest prize in jump racing - closes the meeting on the Friday. Around those four championship races sit novice contests, handicaps, and the Mares' Hurdle, all of which carry real prestige of their own.

Betting angle

Course form is worth more here than at almost any other jumps meeting

• the finishing hill is a genuine test that some horses simply handle better than others, win after win. Irish-trained runners have dominated in recent years, so checking which yard a horse comes from matters as much as reading the form figures themselves. Big fields and big prices mean each-way betting comes into its own across the week.