CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL IS TOO BIG TO MISS SAY SPORTS’ FANS

Nearly half of sports fans questioned said they had lied or would lie to their employer in order to watch or attend horseracing’s Cheltenham Festival, in a survey commissioned by bookmaker Coral ahead of next week’s big meeting.*

46% of the 1,001 people surveyed said they had or would tell an untruth to their boss, such is the appeal of the four day Festival, which culminates next Friday with the biggest race of the week, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in which hot favourite, Galopin Des Champs, is bidding to win the famous race for a third time.

To celebrate the hat-trick bid, Coral launched a giant inflatable Gold Cup above Cleeve Hill, the iconic background to Cheltenham racecourse.  The trophy, which has horses’ heads on either side and which sits on top of a plinth, took 60m2 of air to inflate, enough to fill 900 party balloons.

The survey also found that 26% would skip a family event or important appointment so that they could watch the racing at Cheltenham, while 48% admitted that they will watch it sneakily on TV during work.  Half of those questioned also said they considered the Festival to be a bigger sporting event than the Champions League Final, rugby’s Six Nations, or the British Grand Prix.

Coral’s David Stevens commented: “Whilst we would never condone lying to the boss, we do understand that the Cheltenham Festival is such a special event, some people might tell a fib in order to follow the action!  It’s always a great week, but this year we have Galopin Des Champs going for the Gold Cup hat-trick, something only four horses have previously achieved, so next Friday’s feature race really will be too big to miss, a bit like the giant Gold Cup we flew over Cleeve Hill!”

UK Sports fan’s favourite events:

  1. The FA Cup Final (60%)
  2. Wimbledon (54%)
  3. Cheltenham Festival (50%)
  4. Champions League Final (43%)
  5. British Grand Prix (39%)
  6. The Six Nations (34%)
  7. The Open Golf Championship (27%)
  8. The World Darts Championship (24%)

*Survey commissioned by Coral with 1,001 sports fans polled between 21st-24th February 2025

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