The Grand National might bring you to the television once a year. Follow the winter jumping season, and Cheltenham becomes a different sort of appointment. You recognise the horses before the commentator calls their names. You remember which one looked beaten turning for home and somehow found more up the hill.
From 2027, ITV’s renewed racing agreement will keep that season on free television until the end of 2030. The commitment covers 117 days annually across its channels and streaming services. There is plenty to watch between the festival afternoons.
ITV’s racing coverage began in 2017, so the extension takes its run as the sport’s terrestrial broadcaster to fourteen years.
Following the champion back to Cheltenham
A returning Gold Cup winner gives the winter broadcasts an obvious thread. In March 2026, Gaelic Warrior won the Gold Cup for trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend. Next comes the question that follows every champion into another season: can he do it again?
At 9/4 in QuinnBet’s racing betting market for the 2027 Gold Cup, Gaelic Warrior will attract attention whenever he returns to the screen. You’ll want to see whether the defending champion still jumps with the same confidence when something gets alongside him.
Some of that is easier to spot on the replay. From the head-on angle, you can see how much ground a horse loses by jumping sideways. Further back, there might be a jockey already hard at work while the leader appears to be travelling comfortably. Next time those horses meet, you remember it.
An afternoon on television or ITVX
The broadcast agreement keeps racing on ITV1 and ITV4 through 2030. Viewers in Scotland can also follow it on STV and STV Player. ITVX will simulcast the programmes. The Opening Show continues as the morning companion to the live action.
If you usually watch through an aerial, you can carry on as before. For ITVX viewers, the thing to check is whether your television supports the app’s live channels. Having the app installed does not always mean you can watch live.
The Grand National remains the biggest draw. Its 2025 broadcast peaked at 5.2 million viewers compared with 1.8 million for Cheltenham’s final day. Across five days of Royal Ascot that year, ITV reached five million viewers.
Staying with the whole meeting
Viewers watching an ITV4 fixture will get a minimum of five races from its principal venue under the renewed deal. That means time to watch an afternoon develop before the feature race arrives.
On soft ground you might see several early leaders tire on the run-in. At another meeting, the horses held up near the back may struggle to reach those in front. The commentary and replays can return to those patterns as later races approach.
Cheltenham and Royal Ascot remain part of the contract alongside the Derby and Grand National. But the regular fixtures give those occasions their supporting stories. When a familiar horse walks into the parade ring for the big race, you have a season of performances to remember.