Horse racing is one of the most ancient of sports and betting on horse races is one of the oldest forms of gambling on the planet.

Horse race betting is usually played in a pari-mutuel form, meaning that bettors who win are given money out of a pool made up by the money the losers lost.

By far the most prestigious horse racing and betting event, the Cheltenham Festival draws huge crowds of bettors and fans each year. Huge amounts of Guinness are consumed over the four days of the festival, and an incredible amount of money changes hands. The Cheltenham Festival is where a lot of Irish and British bred-horses race each other, and it usually coincides with Saint Patrick’s day, so it is like a national feast for the Irish.

Even though it is the second most important race of the National Hunt racing calendar, after the Grand National, betting wise it’s probably far the biggest horse racing event on the planet.

The Festival has repeatedly come under criticism by animal rights groups, especially after the 2006 incident when no less than 11 horses were killed. The rules of certain races have been changed since then though, limiting te number of participants and thus reducing the risk of injury and fatalities for horses.

Since 1980, the festival is a regular yearly presence in the National Hunt calendar. It was only cancelled once, in 2001, due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease among horses in Britain.