Sporting Life newspaper returns with special edition for Cheltenham Festival 2025

To celebrate day one of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, Sporting Life - the home of in-depth horse racing analysis and expert tips - has issued its first newspaper print run this millennium.

As racegoers don their tweed and prepare for one of the biggest weeks in the horse racing calendar, Sporting Life is making a triumphant return for one day only with thousands of copies of their commemorative issue handed out for free at London’s iconic Paddington Station. The limited-edition newspaper features an exclusive interview with Sporting Life ambassador and the most successful Cheltenham Festival trainer of all time - Willie Mullins - as well as tips, expert analysis and industry-leading insight for fans ahead of the week’s biggest Festival races.

Distribution of the limited-edition newspapers was led by former England rugby union international, and celebrity horse racing fan, Mike Tindall. An estimated 20,000 punters were set to travel to Cheltenham from Paddington this morning, and they grabbed their copy from the rugby legend. Tindall shared his thoughts on the one-day-only return of Sporting Life:

“Cheltenham Festival is the most exciting week in the horse racing calendar for many fans, myself included!

“Sporting Life is an institution in racing, and when I heard that they were bringing the newspaper back for one-day-only, I was really pleased to be a part of it. Sporting Life remains synonymous with the very best coverage of racing to this day.

“The atmosphere at Paddington this morning has been great and you can sense the excitement for racing fans as they make the trip to Cheltenham.”

Sebastian Butterworth, Director of Sporting Life, commented: "At Sporting Life we’ve been dedicated to giving our customers the very best content for over 165 years. While now we operate purely digitally, we wanted to roll back the years and give fans heading to Cheltenham a keepsake to commemorate their day.

"Our limited edition print newspaper celebrates what Sporting Life is all about - exclusive, in-depth content from some of the best and most talented people in the industry.

"The Cheltenham Festival is a massive occasion and it has been great to mark it with a campaign which celebrates both the heritage of Sporting Life, and our present and future. We hope our readers enjoy it."

The Sporting Life’s iconic newspaper previously ran from 1859 until 1998, best known for its horse and greyhound racing before moving to digital only, now offering first-class editorial content across a wide range of sports.