Summary
Ladies Day is the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival, and in 2027 it falls on 17 March. The racecourse stopped using the name after 2019 and brought it back in 2026, jump to Why it came back, after the Wednesday crowd fell to its lowest this century. The day's championship race, jump to The racing is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and a Best Dressed competition, jump to On the day runs alongside the racing.
Ladies Day is the second of the Cheltenham Festival's four days. In 2027 it falls on Wednesday 17 March. Its main race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the championship for horses that race over fences at two miles. A Best Dressed competition runs through the afternoon, and in 2027 the day also falls on St Patrick's Day.
The name is back after six Festivals away. The Jockey Club runs Cheltenham Racecourse, and it restored the name in 2026 to bring more women racing.
Why did Cheltenham stop calling it Ladies Day?
The Wednesday was last promoted as Ladies Day in 2019. For 2020 the racecourse dropped the traditional names for all four days and marketed them simply as days one to four.
In 2024 the Wednesday became Style Wednesday. Its fashion awards were open to men and women, and they rewarded vintage and borrowed clothes as well as pieces bought to last. ITV News reported that third place that year went to Richard Organ, a 78-year-old farmer from Worcestershire, in a suit he had worn to nearly every Festival for 38 years.
Plenty of racegoers never stopped calling the Wednesday Ladies Day.
Why did Ladies Day come back?
The crowd had shrunk. On the Wednesday of the 2025 Festival, 41,949 people came racing. That was the lowest attendance for any day of the Festival this century, and more than 20,000 below the same day in 2022.
Guy Lavender, Cheltenham's chief executive, announced on the Monday after the 2025 Festival that the Wednesday would be Ladies Day again from 2026. “For years ladies' day was how racegoers knew day two of the festival and for many they still refer to it as such,” he told the Racing Post.
The racecourse then gave Rachael Blackmore the title of head of Ladies Day. Blackmore won the Grand National in 2021 and the Gold Cup in 2022, and she retired from race riding in 2025. Over the winter she visited shopping centres in Oxford, Birmingham and Cardiff. She talked there to regular racegoers and to people who had never been.
The campaign changed who booked. Women made up a third of the people booking the 2026 Wednesday, up from a quarter the year before.
What happens on Ladies Day?
The racing runs as it does on any Festival day, and the Ladies Day programme runs around it. In 2026 the Jockey Club set up a Ladies Day area in The Centaur, the racecourse's large indoor venue, with live music and a panel that explained the racing. Blackmore took questions there alongside the ITV Racing presenter Alice Plunkett and the rugby player Natasha Hunt.
In 2026 the Best Dressed competition had categories for individuals, pairs and groups. The Style Awards that year carried more than £10,000 in prizes. The judges are looking for personal style rather than a set look. The Jockey Club's brief welcomes vintage and borrowed pieces as well as new ones, and entry is open to everyone, whatever their gender.
The Jockey Club hasn't yet announced the full off-track programme for 2027. Its page for the day already lists the Best Dressed competition and the day's two feature races.
What racing is on Ladies Day?
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the day's championship. A chase, short for steeplechase, is a race over fences. This one is run over about two miles, with 13 fences to jump, which makes it the shortest of the Festival's four championship races.
The race began in 1959 as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It took its current name in 1980, the year of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday, in recognition of her support for jump racing. She was a successful owner of horses that raced over jumps.
The other feature race is the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. It is run over more than three and a half miles on Cheltenham's separate cross-country course, which sits in the middle of the racecourse. It follows its own route over different obstacles from those used in the day's other races.
What should you wear on Ladies Day?
Cheltenham has no official dress code, and that includes Ladies Day. The racecourse says that smart is preferable, and the Best Dressed competition gives people a reason to make an effort.
Dress for mid-March in the Cotswolds. Tweed, a warm coat and shoes that can cope with wet grass will serve you better than anything delicate. Our Cheltenham dress code guide covers outfits for men and women in detail.
Is Ladies Day the right day for your group?
Each Festival day has its own character. Tuesday opens with the Cheltenham Roar, the cheer that goes up as the first race starts. Thursday is St Patrick's Thursday, when the Stayers' Hurdle is the championship race. Friday is Gold Cup Day, which usually draws the largest crowd of the week.
Ladies Day suits a group that wants a championship race, something to dress up for and a little more room to move. The Wednesday is usually quieter than Gold Cup Friday, so it's a good choice for a first Festival.
How does Ladies Day work with Imperial?
We arrange four ways to spend Ladies Day at Cheltenham in 2027. Each one includes all-day admission to the racecourse.
Chez Roux Restaurant
It has a menu from the Roux team and a balcony that looks over the final stretch. Lunch starts with a Moët Champagne reception and runs through four courses to afternoon tea, with drinks included. It suits a group for whom lunch is half the reason to go.
The Final Fence Restaurant
It looks straight onto the final fence on the chase course. You start with a Champagne reception, then a four-course buffet and afternoon tea, and the bar is free from the first race to the last. It suits a group that wants to watch the closing stages of the races from close to the track.
Platinum Suite
It sits a few steps from the track. The day starts with coffee and a Bucks Fizz reception. A four-course lunch follows, then afternoon tea, and the bar is included. Your table is served throughout, and screens show the racing. A celebrity tipster talks you through the card, the list of the day's races and runners. That makes it the easiest choice for a group of first-timers.
Long Run Box
It is a private box for 30 to 50 guests, with its own bar and its own team. It includes admission to the Club Enclosure. That covers the main grandstand, the lawn and the area by the winning post. It also includes the parade ring, where the horses are walked before each race. You also get morning coffee, a four-course lunch, afternoon tea and drinks. It suits a company that wants its whole party in one room.
Sian Jones
Sport Events Operations Manager
Sport Events Operations Manager at Imperial Corporate Events. She’s the one on the ground making sure your day runs, from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to Royal Ascot.
