Cheltenham is Cheltenham Ladies' College (founded in 1853). Dean Close School was founded in 1886 in memory of the Reverend Francis Close (1797–1882), a former rector of Cheltenham. The town also includes several campuses of the University of Gloucestershire, two other public and six other state secondary schools, plus institutions of further education. Cheltenham Racecourse, in the nearby village of Prestbury, is the home of National Hunt, or jumps, racing in the UK. Meetings are hosted from October to April. The highlight of the season is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is normally held in the middle of March, during the
Cheltenham Gold Cup they lost their sponsorship following Jockey Club's and Arena Racing new initiative to not allow bookmaker sponsorships on their tracks that do not offer any contribution to horse racing from their offshore business. Only two weeks later a new sponsorship deal was announced with Timico, an independent internet service provider whose CEO Tim Radford is a horse owner having top chasers like Somersby and Racing Demon associated with his name. Timico also offered an increase of £25,000 to reach a total of £575,000 prize money for the 2016 Gold Cup renewal. It was the first time that the race had