The Cheltenham Festival is one of sport’s most enthralling extravaganzas and in 2012 a Saturday climax could be on the cards as part of a general plan to raise the sport's profile.

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The dates for the 2012 Cheltenham Festival have just been announced and it will take place between 13-16 March, with several bookmakers having already priced up some of the principal races.

The nation will once again be swept by horse racing fever as gamblers and racing fanatics prepare to embark on an unrivalled path of excitement and the course can expect to welcome over 200,000 racegoers from all over the world, with it believed that more than £500 million will be gambled throughout the week.

While it is impossible to know what the 2012 renewal of the meeting will bring, one thing is for certain: the action is sure to be explosive, exhilarating and thoroughly intriguing.

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