The Cheltenham festival is held every year in March and is the main event in the UK racing calendar. Whilst the Grand National is perhaps the race everyone bets on, The Cheltenham festival is the meeting that horse racing aficionados look forwards to. It is the culmination of months if not years worth of preparation, and where the best of the best come to compete. For jockeys and trainers alike, riding or having a winner at Cheltenham can be the highlight of their careers.
In the UK bookmakers warm to the event and you will find a huge amount of promotional offers of all shapes and sizes sometimes for one specific race and sometimes for any Cheltenham race that week. We will go into some of the details below.
Top 10 Cheltenham Festival bookmakers
Bookmaker |
Enhanced Cheltenham Welcome Bonus |
Existing User Cheltenham Bonuses |
Best Odds Guaranteed on Cheltenham races |
Live Streaming of every race* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sky Bet
|
Yes | Yes | Yes | You must place a minimum bet of £1 on the race |
Virgin Bet
 |
No | Yes |
Yes |
You must have funds in your account |
Bet UK
 |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
You just need to log into your account |
Betfred
 |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
You must have funds in your account |
Fitzdares
 |
No | Yes |
Yes |
You just need to log into your account |
888sport
 |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
You just need to log into your account |
William Hill
 |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
You must place a minimum bet of £1 on the race |
Coral
 |
No | Yes |
Yes |
You just need to log into your account |
Star Sports
 |
No | Yes |
Yes |
You must place a minimum bet of £1 on the race |
Betfair Sportsbook
 |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
You just need to log into your account |
*Data correct as of March 2023
Best Cheltenham betting sites
888sport
888sport is a huge name in the UK horse racing industry and every year they go to town with the Cheltenham festival coverage and range of Free bet offers. They are head and shoulders above the competition with a massive £250 welcome bonus this year which should keep you going for the whole festival! This is not to mention their other “Free spins” and “Moneyback” offers available each day.
Pros:
Massive Welcome Bonus
Promotions every day for existing users
Best Odds Guaranteed for every Cheltenham race
Sky Bet
Sky Bet is one of the best betting sites in the UK for horse racing all year round, and they go the extra mile each year for the Cheltenham festival. They give existing customers loyalty club Free bets, Risk-free money back bets on the first race each day, feature races have extra place terms and of course they are “Best Odds Guaranteed” so you can take an Early price without worrying.
Pros:
Refunds on the 1st race paid as cash.
Free bets have no expiry date.
All races are available to watch through their live streaming service.
Betfred
Betfred have an offer on every single Cheltenham festival race, sometimes it is an extra place, sometimes a Free bet if your horse comes 2nd, sometimes boosted odds (usually available at 11am day of the race). If you are looking for value, you will find it at Betfred. All races are “Best Odds Guaranteed” and they are NRNB (No Runner No Bet) from the 13th onwards.
Pros:
An offer for every race
Best Odds Guaranteed
Freds pushes are normally the best odds available
Types of Cheltenham Betting Offers
The Cheltenham festival offers usually only become available around the start of March, and sometimes actually on the morning of each day's racing. On the eve of the festival start, we will go through some of the best Cheltenham betting offers.
Cheltenham Offers for New Customers
New customer offers are usually split into two types for the Cheltenham festival. You will find that it is either an increased Free bet offer or there are enhanced odds available on one of the festival crowd favourites. Examples would be:
Boosted Welcome bonus - BetUK
As you can see BetUK have raised the usual Welcome bonus offer from £40 to £60, which is a considerably better deal. This is just one of many similar enhancements and you can check out the Legalbet bonus cards to see all that apply this year. If you were thinking of joining a new bookmaker there is no better time than during the Cheltenham festival.
Cheltenham Offers for Existing Customers
It is for existing customers that Cheltenham Festival bets are particularly encouraged and the UK betting sites often provide a whole host of value adding offers. We will list some of the most common below with an example of each.
Enhanced Odds Offers - DAZN
In order to attract bets bookmakers will provide headline stand out prices to draw interest in the Cheltenham festival. It can sometimes be on certain horses to win or as in the example above there is a bet that will cover the festival as a whole, the price being supercharged from heavy odds on to a massive 5/1. Not surprisingly the stake amount on these boosted prices is usually restricted, and in this example is just £1. They are still of tremendous value and well worth looking at to complement your Cheltenham bets.
Risk Free bets - Sky Bet
Some bookmakers will offer moneyback, or risk free bets for losing on the first race of the day. Many of these offer a refund in the form of a Free bet credit which is certainly better than nothing. The best refunds though are those which are paid as cash, such as the offer from Sky Bet, available to all customers throughout the festival.
Cheltenham Free Bets Offers - Coral
Of course everyone likes Free bets and they come in many different shapes and forms at the Cheltenham festival. The best type are those that you are certain to receive no matter what, and Coral provides just that. They have a unique “Bet bundle” market place where you can pay £2 or £5 and in return get £5 or £10 worth of Free bets, for use on specific Cheltenham festival races. This is a great way to spend a small fixed amount and get yourself a lot of value to spread over the whole event.
Cheltenham Money Back Offers (Free bets “if”) - QuinnBet
A very very common Cheltenham betting offer is that for “Free bets IF…” which can be for just coming 2nd, or it can be for falling at the first fence, or the last fence or as in QuinnBets case finishing 2nd, 3rd, or 4th to the SP favourite. This offer only applies to the first race of the day but often they can be for all races, or the specific race will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker. Before you decide where to place your chosen bet it is worth checking for which betting sites have a “refund if” offer relevant to you.
Extra places - Betfred
It is fairly common to find bookmakers offering extra place terms to each-way bets all throughout the year but as with all things about the Cheltenham festival these extra place offers are bigger and better. There are more races included and it is common to find not just one extra place but two, so a 3 place race will be paying out right up to 5th in some instances. This is tremendous value as I am sure you can see.
TPG (Top Priced Guaranteed) - William Hill
Several of the leading brand names go “top priced” matching or even sometimes promising to beat the odds of their rivals. These guarantees usually come with their fair share of caveats and are not available for long, often just in the hours or even minutes before the off. Regardless if you know a bookmaker is offering this promotion then finding out when specifically and going to place your bets when this offer is in play should mean that you are sure to get the best odds possible, at least at that time.
Cheltenham Festival bet types
NRNB (Non Runner No Bet)
NRNB stands for “Non runner no bet” and as the name suggests what this means is that if your horse does not run in the race (defined by coming under starters orders) then you will get your stake back. This is the most common type of bet but because the Cheltenham festival draws interest and bets all year round, even when the races are months away, you can usually bet Ante-Post. Ante-Post betting has incredibly good odds but the problem is that if your horse does not run in the race your bet still loses. Anti-Post bets are a bet for the horse to win come what may. UK bookmakers will go from being Ante-Post to No Runner No Bet in the days before Cheltenham begins, and it is a big deal who does it first because logically everyone will bet with them for sure, and this is why bookmakers publicise the fact that they are.
BOG (Best Odds Guaranteed)
BOG stands for Best Odds Guaranteed and this is an offer available from some bookies all year long but you will find more than normal offer it for the Cheltenham Festival. Quite confusingly, it does not actually guarantee that the odds at that bookmaker are the best (yeah, we know!). What it means is that the odds you take are guaranteed to be the same, or higher, than the official starting price odds.
| Bookmaker | Best Odds Guaranteed | From | Max amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Bet | Yes | Yes - After 9am |
£50,000 per bet |
| BoyleSports | Yes | Yes - After 8am |
£50,000 per bet |
| William Hill | Yes | Yes - After 10am |
£25,000 per bet |
| Betgoodwin | Yes | Yes - After 7am |
£1000 per bet |
| QuinnBet | Yes | Yes - After 9am |
£250 per bet |
Cheltenham betting options
To win the race
By far the most common and obvious bet type is simply on who will win the race. That is it, it is as simple as that, if the horse you bet on crosses the finish line and is declared the winner of the race then your bet wins. The only thing to note is that it is always worth looking for bookmakers who are paying “First past the post“ as well as the official result, then you will win if your horse crosses the line first even if later on he is disqualified by the stewards.
To place (Each-way bets)
An each-way bet on your horse means that you will get a return even if it does not win, just so long as it finishes in the places. You have in effect two bets, half your stake amount goes on the horse to win, and half of your stake goes on the horse to place. The number of places that get paid will depend on the type of race and how many horses are running, but at Cheltenham you will find a huge number of bookmakers offering extra places so check how many apply to each race you bet on. Typically the place part of the bet pays 1/5th of the odds but also sometimes 1/4 is possible.
To win the race by X lengths
As the name suggests you are betting not just on a horse to win but for that horse to win and finish a certain distance ahead of the nearest rival. Cheltenham often has big named horses or heavy favorites and this type of bet allows you to wager on them and also get considerably higher odds.
Jockey to win X races today
Certain jockeys enjoy a certain star status and they come to Cheltenham and compete against not just the other horses but the other jockeys. It is possible to bet how many winners a jockey will ride, and it does not matter which horses they are on to do so.
Trainer to have X winners over the entire Cheltenham festival
Trainers are an important part of Cheltenham, and although it is usually Willie Mullins (the most successful trainer in Cheltenham Festival history) there are usually others available too. It does not matter which horses win, it is just the total by the end of the festival that counts.
Tote Betting on Cheltenham
It is possible to bet using a Tote system, which involves everybody pooling their money into the middle and then that amount (minus the Tote cut) is paid to the winners. You therefore do not know what odds you will receive before you place the bet, and you only know at the end once the race has begun and no more bets can be placed. This way of betting is increasingly dying out and probably won't be available for much longer.
Cheltenham 2023 Betting Offers - Complete list
| Bookmaker | Bonus Name | Bonus Type |
|---|---|---|
| 10bet | £5 Free bet if Constitution Hill does not win the Champion Hurdle |
Free bet "IF" |
10bet |
£5 cash if Mullins wins the Gold Cup |
Cash bonus |
888sport |
£250 Welcome Bonus |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
888sport |
Day 1 refund if 2/3/4 |
Free bet "IF" |
888sport |
Day 2 refund if 2nd |
Free bet "IF" |
888sport |
5 Free spins |
Casino Bonus |
888sport |
Cheltenham Free bet bundle |
Free bet "IF" |
BarOneRacing |
Risk free £5 bet 1st race each day |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
BetUK |
£60 Welcome Bonus |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
Bet365 |
Bet Boosts |
Odds Boost |
Bet365 |
Price Promise |
Odds Boost |
Betfair |
Free £2 Multiples Bet |
Free bet |
Betfair |
£10 Risk Free bet every day |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
| Betfred | Enhanced £40 Welcome Offer |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
| Betfred | Extra Places |
Extra Places |
| Betway | Price boosts |
Odds Boost |
| BoyleSports | Moneyback if 2nd SP Fav |
Free bet "IF" |
| Coral | Free Spins |
Casino Bonus |
| Coral | £10 Bet Bundle |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
| DAZN Bet | Odds Boosts |
Odds Boost |
| Fitzdares | Moneyback if 2/3/4 |
Free bet "IF" |
| Hollywoodbets UK | £5 if Horse falls at 1st |
Free bet "IF" |
| Ladbrokes | Free Slots Challenge |
Casino Bonus |
| LiveScore Bet | £1 Free bet every day |
Free bet |
| McBookie | £5 Free bet (Tartan Club) |
Free bet |
| NetBet | Moneyback if 2nd to SP Fav |
Free bet "IF" |
| PaddyPower | Free to enter pick 5 |
Free bet |
| QuinnBet | Free bet if 2nd to 2/3/4 |
Free bet "IF" |
| Rhino | 25 Free spins if win |
Free bet "IF" |
Rhino |
£10 Free spins if 2nd |
Free bet "IF" |
| Sky Bet | £10 Moneyback 1st race each day |
Cash bonus |
Sky Bet |
Extra Places |
Extra Places |
Sky Bet |
Price Boosts | Odds Boost |
| SpreadEx | £20 Free bet if Place but do not win |
Free bet "IF" |
SpreadEx |
£20 Moneyback if 2nd to SP Fav |
Free bet "IF" |
| StarSports | Moneyback if 2nd ALL races |
Free bet "IF" |
Unibet |
Moneyback if 2/3 1st Race of the day |
Free bet "IF" |
Unibet |
Extra Places |
Extra Places |
Unibet |
Price Boosts |
Odds Boost |
| VBet | £10 Free bet for betting £100 |
Free bet "Bet & Get" |
| Virgin Bet | £10 Moneyback 1st race of the day |
Free bet "IF" |
Virgin Bet |
5 Free spins - Every Race |
Casino Bonus |
William Hil |
Top Price all races |
Odds Boost |
William Hil |
Epic Odds |
Odds Boost |
*Data was compiled Monday 13th March 2023
What & When Is This Year’s Cheltenham Festival?
When: March 12th - March 15th 2024
Where: Cheltenham Racecourse, Evesham Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 4SH
Tickets: You can buy tickets online directly from thejockeyclub Cheltenham racecourses official website.
Cheltenham 2023 Live Streaming
The majority of Cheltenham festival races will be shown live on ITV to all UK television sets but some races will not be later in the day. To follow these you will be able to use the live streaming service of one of the following bookmakers, as long as you meet the qualifying criteria.
Previous Cheltenham Gold Cup Winners
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious races to win and for many jockeys and trainers alike it can be the highlight of their careers. Some of the past victors in recent years have been:
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Galopin Des Champs | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins | 7/5 |
| 2022 | A Plus Tard | Rachel Blackmore | Henry De Bromhead | 3/1 |
| 2021 | Minella Indo | Jack Kennedy | Henry De Bromhead | 9/1 |
| 2020 | Al Boum Photo | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins | 10/3 |
| 2019 | Al Boum Photo | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins | 12/1 |
Gold Cup favourites: How have they performed?
Over the past five years the favourite in the race has been the eventual winner three times, which is a pretty decent strike rate. The results of the favourites have been:
| Year | Favourite | Starting Price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Galopin Des Champs | 7/5 | 1st |
| 2022 | A Plus Tard | 3/1 | 1st |
| 2021 | Al Boum Photo | 9/4 | 3rd |
| 2020 | Al Boum Photo | 10/3 | 1st |
| 2019 | Presenting Percy | 100/30 | 8th |
How To Use Cheltenham Free Bets
Cheltenham Free bets are no different to any other Free bets, and like all other Free bets exactly how they can be used will vary from betting site to betting site depending on who has awarded them to you. What is a fairly standard way to use them though is:
- Open a new bet slip with the selection you want to bet on
- On the bet slip if it is eligible, you will see a button to press indicating that you want to use your Free bet rather than the real balance in your account.
- Submit the bet as normal.
- Should this bet win, you will then recieve your winnings as cash, but not the free bet stake.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Cheltenham festival takes place annually in the second full week of March. The next event will be the 12th to the 15th of March 2024.
Gold Cup day at Cheltenham is on the Friday, and this year will be the race’s centenary. It is usually the feature race of the day, held at 15:30.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup was last run on the 17th of March 2023 and the race was won by “Galopin Des Champs” being ridden by Paul Townend.
There is only one place to truely watch Cheltenham live and that is at the track itself. Hospitality packages are available from the jockey club now and tickets usually sell out. All feature races are also shown on terrestrial ITV channels, so you can watch along at home with only a slight delay.
Yes it is possible to watch the Cheltenham races from your mobile phone, either install the ITV app or use one of the bookmakers apps which allow you to watch races you have bet on. Some just require an account balance, we list the best betting site apps in this article above.
The vast majority of bookmakers offer Free bets for Cheltenham (often enhanced in size) as a reward for either joining their site or for existing users who redeposit and bet again. Free bets can also be gained from most highstreet bookmakers without needed to place a qualifying bet if you look at the front pages of (and purchase) one of the daily newspapers.
Anyone can get a Free bet for Cheltenham by either buying a daily newspaper offering this, registering with a new bookmaker that has a Cheltenham Free bet offer, or even existing users should check their bookmaker accounts to see what is on offer.
For a bookmaker welcome offer you must be a new user to be eligible, if you are an existing user there is still offers for you but you must make sure that you are eligible to take part in promotional offers from that betting site.
This is a matter of personal preference and will vary between different people but in our opinion overall we would say Sky Bet is the best bookmaker for Cheltenham based on their promotional offers, the odds, live streaming and general information they provide to aid research.
