The jockeys are circling their rides near the start, aiming to avoid the false starts we have seen all week.

The 17 contenders are on the course ahead of the first race of the day.

We have a non-runner in this event - Marche d'Aligre has not made it today.

East India Dock and Lulamba are the favourites, although Hello Neighbour has been heavily backed down to 4-1 this morning.

Actor Will Mellor looks like he's had a winner already - and we haven't even had the first race!

Image source, PA Media

Andrew Thornton
Former jockey on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

13:20 Triumph Hurdle - East India Dock 6-4

Final day at the Festival. I believe course form will come to the fore with East India Dock in the first. Very impressive on both starts here this year in good times so that’s good enough for me.

16:00 Cheltenham Gold Cup - Banbridge 7-1

In the Gold Cup, I’m putting my faith in Banbridge. If it stays dry all day it increases his chance as he loves dry conditions - that could play against Galopin Des Champs.

Image source, Getty Images

The opening race on the fourth and final day of the Festival and Nicky Henderson will be bidding to claim a record-extending eighth win in the race.

Henderson’s first win came courtesy of First Bout 40 years ago and this year his hopes lie with Lulamba who comes here with an unbeaten record.

He won on his debut for Henderson in January but is set for a tussle with East India Dock, trained by James Owen and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, who is also unbeaten over hurdles.

Dublin Racing Festival Grade One winner Hello Neighbour lines up for Gavin Cromwell, while Willie Mullins has 11 chances in the 18-strong field, with stable jockey Paul Townend opting to partner Lady Vega Allen.

Here we go, we're fast approaching Friday's opening race.

It's lovely to hear the BBC's John Hunt in the commentary box for Gold Cup day, he'll be taking us through to the feature race on Radio 5 Live.

Veteran Cheltenham watchers may have noticed something different about the hurdles at this year's Festival.

Organisers have installed newly designed padded hurdles for the Festival this year - how, and why, is explained here.

Laura Scott
BBC sports news correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Looking at the odds for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, it isn't obvious that Galopin Des Champs is bidding to do something so rare.

Only four horses, including the legendary Arkle and Best Mate, have ever won a hat-trick of Gold Cups.

And yet the Willie Mullins-trained horse is the odds-on favourite for the Gold Cup and meaningful challengers seem thin on the ground.

Mullins has more than 200 horses in training, and over the past 35 years has trained some stars of the sport.

But he said Galopin Des Champs - affectionately nicknamed "the good one" by stable staff - will rank as the best of them all if he wins the Cheltenham Festival showpiece on Friday.

The nine runners in the big race at Cheltenham are expected to set off at 16.00 GMT.

It is a race on the longer side at around three and a quarter miles, but make sure you are tuned in at 4pm - it'll be over before you know it.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Radio 5 Live are now broadcasting live from Cheltenham, and will be doing so until 16.30 GMT following the conclusion of the Gold Cup. Coverage will then continue on Sports Extra until 17:45.

You can tune in from now for live commentary on every race including the main event. Listen in via your digital radio, BBC Sounds, or by clicking the 'Listen Live' button at the top of this page.

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Cheltenham

There's no holding back from the Racing Post as they whet the appetite for a huge day where Galopin Des Champs could be crowned a triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

In the official racecard (£5 in case you wondered) Cheltenham chief says the big race promises to be "an epic battle for supremacy".

He adds: "With a thrilling line-up of elite competitors, the atmosphere will be electric as fans eagerly await the outcome."

Bring. It. On.

If you are looking for a detailed list of all the races, runners and riders today, you can find it through our racecard here.

The key thing to look out for is form. A horse’s recent form is usually displayed near their name and shows how the horse has performed in their most recent outings.

Form should be read from left to right, with the number on the furthest right indicating the horse’s most recent run. The number represents the position the horse finished in.

You will also find abbreviations if the horse has failed to finish a recent race. These are: P = Pulled Up, F = Fell, UR = Unseated Rider, BD = Brought down, R = Refused.

If you're just joining us to follow the Gold Cup later, rarely follow the sport and are desperately looking to BBC Sport for guidance, we'll do our best to help you through.

The Cheltenham Festival takes place over four successive days with today being the last one. There are seven races per day, and the fifth race is the headline event - today, that's the Gold Cup.

All the races today are jump races, meaning the horses and jockeys must navigate fences or hurdles around the course; hurdles are slightly smaller than fences. Cheltenham is regarded as the blue riband event in the jump racing calendar.

The races will generally take place over distances between two and four miles, and have very variable numbers of runners taking part.

In the Gold Cup, nine horses will race over 22 fences on a course of three miles and two furlongs. The winners will get prize money of nearly £365,000.

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Cheltenham

Fact To File put in a bold display to win the Ryanair Chase for trainer Willie Mullins and owner JP McManus.

Once favourite for the Gold Cup, Fact To File was instead sent to the shorter Ryanair and the 6-4 favourote won by nine lengths from Heart Wood, with Envoi Allen in third.

"That was brilliant. That sort of distance suits him. He never missed a beat," said Walsh. "Even coming up the hill, he heard the crowd and pricked his ears - he had loads left."

Fact To File could be aimed at the Gold Cup next year. He finished five lengths back in third at Leopardstown in his previous race to stablemate Galopin Des Champs, who will seek a treble in Cheltenham's showpiece on Friday.

Image source, Getty Images

Blackmore is riding Monty's Star in the main event today.

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Cheltenham

Image source, Getty Images

Rachael Blackmore won the Stayers' Hurdle aboard Bob Olinger to complete a Cheltenham Festival double on Thursday.

The 8-1 shot, trained by Henry de Bromhead, beat last year's winner Teahupoo in a thrilling battle up the hill.

"I'm very lucky to be on this horse. He is brilliant. He has so much speed and could use it," said Blackmore, who earlier triumphed on Air Of Entitlement.

Blackmore and Bob Olinger clinched a third Festival triumph after novice hurdle and novice chase successes in 2021 and 2022.

The pioneering 35-year-old jockey adds the Stayers' Hurdle to a winning CV that also includes the Grand National, Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Ryanair.

Blackmore, who was sidelined for three months with a neck injury after a fall in September, was the first woman to be leading jockey at the Festival in 2021 and now has 18 victories at the meeting.

Before we get into the action, let's quickly recap day three - and a fine double for one of the sport's trailblazers...

Frank Keogh
BBC Sport at Cheltenham

There are few sporting vistas like this corner of the Cotswolds. Here's the view from Cheltenham's stunning panoramic restaurant.

With a capacity crowd of nearly 70,000 expected, it will be hard to beat the atmosphere.

I was here 21 years ago when Best Mate was the last horse to secure a Gold Cup treble. It's a cliche to say the roof nearly came off the grandstand, but the noise was something else.

Expect more of the same today if Galopin Des Champs seals the hat-trick.

We have had all four seasons over the last four days at Cheltenham - bright sunshine, driving rain, even a bit of snow.

Today however looks like being the mildest day of the Festival, with only a slight chance of rain at around 16.00 GMT - Gold Cup time.