Cheltenham Parks Lido is the home of Cheltenham Swimming and Water Polo Club. Cheltenham Festival is a significant National Hunt racing meeting, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National. It is an event where many of the best British and Irish trained horses race against each other, the extent of which is relatively rare during the rest of the season. The festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse. The meeting is often very popular with Irish visitors, mostly because of that nation's affinity with horse racing, but also because it usually coincides with St. Patrick's
David Nicholson (horse racing) in the 1964–65 season. His biggest win came in the Whitbread Gold Cup on Mill House in 1967. As a trainer he was one of the leading trainers in National Hunt racing during the 1980s and 1990s. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Charter Party in 1988, the King George VI Chase with Barton Bank in 1993 and the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Viking Flagship in 1994 and 1995. He retired in 1999. In 2008 an extra race was added to the Cheltenham Festival named the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle in honour of Nicholson. David Nicholson (horse racing)