Pints, punts and loads of cash; Cheltenham Festival by the numbers

Less than 24 hours before the big off, here's a few facts and figures for the big week ahead.

We all know that racing is a massive sport in this part of the world and for the next four days, the goings on at Cheltenham will dominate the sporting agenda. We suspect a certain Mr O'Driscoll and his team-mates may squeeze into a few headlines near the end of the week but by and large, this is racing's week in the sun. Cheltenham is effectively the world championships of National Hunt racing and while we might be missing a few big names this year, there are more than enough superstars, of the four and two-legged variety, to keep you entertained. So before it all kicks off and you migrate to your nearest BetPack office for the next four days, here's a few mind-boggling stats from the Festival, just to put some perspective on how big an event the Cheltenham Festival really is. 236,472 - The number of pints of Guinness drank at last year's Festival. That's just shy of 60,000 a day, and with Ireland nabbing 14 winners last time out, it is no surprise really. 20,000 - Bottles of champagne drank at Cheltenham in 2013. Those winners know how to celebrate too. £7,000,000 - The gate receipts alone for the four days 235,125 - The numbers through those gates over the four days last year, with 10,000 of those each day estimated to be Irish. £3,825,000 - The total prize money on offer over the four days, with over £1m on Gold Cup day (Friday) alone 4,000,000  - The number of hoofprints left on the course after close of business on Friday. We don't know who calculated this but they have one of the worst jobs in the world. 165 - The number of hurdles on the various tracks 24 - The number of fences 60 - Cheltenham race course's full-time staff 1,000 - How many staff they have on site for a normal meeting 5,000 - How many work at Prestbury Park during the Festival 30 - Extra flights from Dublin to Birmingham laid on by Ryanair this week 1 - Tons of beef eaten during the four days. Great week for the equines, a bad one for the bovines 1/10 - The shortest price winner of the Gold Cup, the remarkable Arkle in 1966 100/1 - Price Norton's Coin won the race at in 1990, the longest odds winner of the Blue Riband http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGZCalLTJgM £8,500 - The actual value of the Gold Cup trophy, a new one of which is made every year with 10 ounces of gold £1,200,000 - cash withdrawn from the various ATMs around the course during the Festival Check out BetPack.com for the latest ahead of next week’s Cheltenham Festival. And don't forget, open a new account with promo code JOE75 with BetPack, bet €50, and they'll give you €50 free. Then bet another €25 on your mobile and they'll give you another €25 for free. So 75 bucks in free bets. Just click here   Stats via soglos and the Daily Mirror