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The 2023 Cheltenham Festival will be held between Tuesday, March 14th and Friday, 17th, delivering four of the most anticipated days on the racing calendar. The Festival is packed with Grade 1 feature races, the biggest of them all at the course being the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The first race of each day is underway at 1.30pm, and seven races are listed for each day. Here we look at the best Cheltenham betting offers and odds for this year’s Festival.
Best Betting Offers and Odds for Cheltenham Festival
With so many races coming up across the four-day Cheltenham Festival, grabbing as much value as you can for your betting is essential. Here’s a list of recommended Cheltenham betting sites for customer offers and odds.
Our Top 5 Cheltenham Betting Tips and Advice
The Cheltenham Festival betting is exciting, and here are our top five racing tips for aspiring bettors.
- Don’t bet on every event – pace yourself, decide on your goals, and plan for losses
- Manage your bankroll – set a Festival budget and stick to it, keeping a constant eye on your balance after every bet settlement
- Avoid more exotic bets – keep things simple with win singles if you’re inexperienced
- Study form – don’t skip the homework for each case, like course history, current for, and choice of jockey
- Use Cheltenham offers – grab as much value through promos and bonus bets as possible
Top Cheltenham Betting Offers at Online Bookmakers: Review
Here are some of the leading Cheltenham Festival betting offers.
- BetUK – An excellent site for price boosts, in-play betting, racing streams, and a Free Bet Club. Users will probably notice their race cards lack significant insights, however.
- bet365 – A leader for strong horse racing odds. bet365 has Best Odds Guaranteed for all Cheltenham races, online and on their mobile app. They won’t be beaten on price for UK or Irish races shown on ITV Racing.
- BetVictor – A top bookmaker for horse racing, including UK & Ireland streams. Cards have Timeform insights, and BetVictor are Best Odds Guaranteed for the Festival. However, their general promotional value is limited.
- 888sport – A sportsbook with extensive horse racing coverage, live streams, and big promotions like a £10 Free Bet credit amount for each day of Cheltenham 2023, Non-Runner No Bet and their 4/1 Winner Promotion.
- Parimatch – An easy-to-use sports betting platform which includes racing live streams. Racing offers are thin on the ground, but their mobile app is excellent, and prices are competitive.
- Unibet – Some of the best horse racing odds and racing pools can be found at Unibet. In addition, live streaming, a high-quality mobile app, many price boost bonuses, and extra place offers are available to every customer as well.
- Heyspin – The Heyspin sports section has a lot of markets for you to add a racing pool bet on their site, with plenty of in-play betting, solid prices, and best odds guaranteed to take advantage of. It’s a very busy-looking site, however.
- kwiff – The sign-up bonus is relatively small compared to its competitors. However, kwiff’s race cards have good form and information integrated. Additionally, the site is easy to use with excellent in-play options and offers popular price boosts.
How to Bet on the Cheltenham Festival Online
Join any of our recommended bookmakers to get into Cheltenham Festival betting. Getting yourself up to place bets on your selected runners is easy.
- Visit any of our recommended Cheltenham Festival bookmakers
- Complete account registration with your chosen bookie, which should take just a few minutes (add your proof of ID, address, etc.)
- Look at restrictions for welcome bonus offers (check the bonus amount, time limits, wagering requirements, and payment method exclusions)
- Make a qualifying deposit with any of the available payment methods and enter a bonus code if you have one.
- Visit the horse racing section and choose a horse racing market
- Browse the race cards and pick out your runners and events
- Click the odds cell of a selection to add it to your slip
- Create any multiples directly in the bet slip, (for example, a Double or Acca)
- Click to make a qualifying bet each way and enter your stake
- Place the bet and review its details on the “My Bets” page
There are several factors to consider before making a bet, such as analyzing the form and reputation of the horse, the jockey, and the track conditions. Once you have done your research, it’s time to choose the combination of events and runner selections on your bet slip.
As you know, the return on your bet stake will depend on the bet type and the odds assigned to each horse, with favourites offering lower returns than longshots. Additionally, bookmakers may also offer specials, such as enhanced odds or money-back guarantees, which may be worth considering when placing your bet. There might even be special bonuses for whether you made a cash bet using a debit card or alternative deposit methods (e.g., Neteller, PayPal, Skrill, etc.)
Cheltenham Festival Racing Schedule: What Races to Bet on?
There are 28 races for 2023 Cheltenham Festival betting and each represents an opportunity for ample winnings. However, many punters focus on the big championship races (as opposed to handicap races) where established runners and jockeys like Rachael Blackmore compete, like the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
What Types of Bets can you Place During the Cheltenham Festival?
There is no limit to the variety of betting options for the Cheltenham Festival – here are some top choices for racing bet types found in most sportsbooks.
- Win Single – Betting on a specific horse to win a race
- Each Way – Each way sees your wager split into two – a win part and a placement part
- Double/Treble – Two or three selections from different races combined in one bet
- Forecasts/Tricasts – Selecting the top two or three places in a race in the exact order
- Reverse Forecast/Tricast – Selecting the top three finishers in a race in any order
- Trixie – Wagers using three selections wagered as doubles and a treble (4 bets)
- Patent – A bet using three selections wagered as singles, doubles and a treble (7 bets)
- Yankee – A bet using four selections wagered as doubles, trebles and a fourfold (11 bets)
- Lucky 15 – A bet using four selections wagered as singles, doubles, trebles and a fourfold (15 bets)
What are the best offers for Cheltenham at UK bookmakers?
Among the most highly recommended Cheltenham Festival offers is Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) which pays the SP price if it’s bigger than your original odds, and non-runner bet, which returns your bet stakes if your horses don’t make the start.
The likes of William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfair Exchange, Sky Bet and Paddy Power are also highly recommended options on offer. Another popular customer offer is a money-back special, like 2nd to the SP FAV and Price Boosts on selected runners.
Can Existing Customers use Cheltenham Betting Offers?
Welcome offers are limited only to new players. But longer-term value for UK customers who want in on the action can be found in existing offers such as Non-Runner No Bet (giving you a refund on your deposits for non-starters) and Best Odds Guaranteed.
Why is Cheltenham Betting so Popular in the UK?
The sheer number of Grade 1 races, which attracts the best horses from the UK and Ireland, makes it one of the biggest weeks of UK horse racing betting.
What UK Horses to Bet on at the Cheltenham Festival?
In 2022, twelve race favourites justified their odds at the Festival. Household names at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival include Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle, Shishkin in the Ryanair Chase, and Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Some punters who are experts in the sport will naturally look for longer-priced runners who may cause an upset to place their sports bets and cash in on the unlikely odds.
Who will win the Prestbury Cup?
The Prestbury Cup at the course is contested between the UK and Irish yards for the number of winners they produce respectively at the Festival. Irish trainers, boosted by Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot, have won six Prestbury Cup titles in the last nine years.
Who has the Best Chance of Winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The current favourite for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup is the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs. He’s highly rated and on course for Cheltenham with wins in the Punchestown Chase and Irish Gold Cup this season.
What’s the Racing Schedule like for Cheltenham Festival?
The daily racing schedule for each day of the Cheltenham Festival has races at 1.30pm, 2.10pm, 2.50pm, 3.30pm, 4.10pm, 4.50pm and 5.30pm. The day’s feature race is always held at 3.30pm.
What Types of Cheltenham Races can you Bet on?
The Cheltenham Festival is part of the National Hunt season, meaning that most races are Chase and Hurdle fixtures. In addition, a Cross Country and a Bumper (NH flat race) are also run.
What’s the Longest Cheltenham Race?
The longest race of the Cheltenham Festival is the Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase on Wednesday – it’s over a distance of 3m 6f.
Where to Sign up and Watch Cheltenham live
Many leading bookmakers like bet365 and Unibet provide live racing streams from all UK and Irish races for every player to place racing bets.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry, or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.