Cheltenham betting guide
It is considered as the most prestigious horse racing event on the planet. Experts consider it the pinnacle of the jump racing season. It is the festival that every jockey, trainer or owner dreams to participate in. Not only because it is held in a venue that hosts races since 1815 or because more than 65,000 fans pour in Cheltenham Racecourse each day. In this festival two nations collide. Great Britain and Ireland gather their elite “cavalry” in this annual horse racing clash. Held just a few days before St. Patrick’s day, the Cheltenham horse racing festival, always attracts racegoers from Ireland and obviously the British aristocracy.
It goes without saying that events like these get into the radar of punters and of course bookmakers. Just a few weeks before a group of horses pour out at Cheltenham horse racing 2020 first race, in this guide we will try to examine all the needed details and betting tips for this festival.
Best racebooks for Cheltenham
Best day for Cheltenham races
Normally the best days for betting in such short-term events are the first and the last. The first of course because there is huge anticipation for betting in a festival like this. That’s the reason why lots of punters are already checking the odds and trying to find the best opportunity for their initial bet. And when it comes to the last day, the vast majority of them think that they have a better idea about the outcome of the races. So they will up their budget on Cheltenham horse racing Friday’s bet slips. Plus on Friday, the festival’s final day – the horse racing Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place. Think of it like the World Cup final of horse racing. Even if you are not a regular horse punter you have to bet on this event. After all, it’s your last day at the festival. You don’t want to let Cheltenham pass without having placed a bet on the main race. So check again the Cheltenham horse racing festival 2022 dates above and be ready to live this unique betting experience.
What are the main Cheltenham betting offers?
Even though the interest of punters gathers on the special – or not so special – betting offers bookmakers have for Cheltenham festival, one is the most popular question amongst them. “Can I bet on mobile for Cheltenham festival?”. Well, the obvious answer is yes, you can bet from your mobile on the Cheltenham Festival as well as on any other event. It operates in the same way as on the desktop. But if you want to check the features each mobile site or app has, then just check the bookmakers’ reviews on our site. The Cheltenham Festival is far way more than a few days of National Hunt action. In the same manner, Cheltenham betting offers are a whole lot more than the usual offer. Make sure you’ll take advantage of them. For example, if you are a Ladbrokes member, then you can never lose. To put it in another way your bookmaker won’t let you lose. That means if your horse gets pulled, scratched, found lame, isn’t declared or fails to line-up in its intended race for any other reason, you’ll get your money back as cash. Amazing wouldn’t say? It gets better. This offer applies to ante-post bets and any bet you might place on the day of all 28 races. Besides that don’t forget to check on them on a daily basis to check their daily odds boost on every sport. In addition to their guarantee that they give you the best odds for all UK and Irish races. 888sports also guarantees that they offer markets highest odds. And they take it a step further. With 888sports Best Odds Guaranteed, it doesn’t matter if you’ve backed a horse at 4.00 and it drifts to 6,00 at the off, they’ll still pay you at the greater price. Simply, take a price on a horse on the day of the race, and if your selection wins or places at a bigger Starting Price (SP), we’ll pay you at those odds. This offer applies to all single, multiple and each-way bets on UK and Irish races, Cheltenham included of course. On the other hand, bet365 is targeting specific races and boosts the favourites with extremely high odds. So stay tuned to the Stoke based bookmaker and check out what they offer.
What markets should you bet on during Cheltenham
After you’ve finished marking the races that interest you on the Cheltenham horse racing calendar, then it’s time to decide the types of bets you want to place.
The Each-Way bet
Ιf you are not too accustomed to horse race betting, then you can start with each-way bets, a very simple and easy to analyse the market. It’s also very popular, particularly among first-timers. Horse racing is very hard to predict and it usually is affected by many other reasons besides the best horse, the best jockey etc. And luck is a key factor in many races. So each-way bets allow you to have the excitement of picking a winner and yet be covered when luck doesn’t go your way.
Straight Bets
In this type of bet you need to predict the race winner outright, or a horse to finish in the top X places. If you want to have a safe bet just follow the following golden rule. An effective way to guarantee yourself a win is to study the form of such horses intensely, then select it to win and cover yourself with an each-way bet. You will get a return of ¼ of the winning odds should your horse finish at the top end of the field, among the each-way places.
The win bet
Recommended for experienced punters only. It requires deep knowledge of the conditions and of course about the horses, the races etc. But it pays well. And it can pay even more if you decide to follow your instinct and bet on the underdog.
Tricast bet
A harder type of bet which requires you to select three horses who will finish first, second and third. This sounds difficult, right? It is a lot harder than it sounds, trust us. But successfully predicting this type of bet will earn you a huge win. This has become one of the favourite bets of punters who stand on the terraces, and the rewards are handsome. Of course, the chances are slim and you only hear stories of big winners very rarely. So we wouldn’t say you should expect to be a winner, as it’s more of a challenge.
Cheltenham special markets
Let’s take an inside look at what will be part of any bet slip among experienced punters. Because all the knowledge, all the experience can be transfigured to big wins and hefty profits mainly on the special markets. Judging from the opening odds and as a part of our Cheltenham 2020 tips will be to pay close attention to special markets. Below you’ll find the most important ones. Probably your bookmaker might have more to offer before the first race. So stay tuned and do your homework until that moment.
Cheltenham top trainer odds
The Nicky Henderson team have fired in a staggering 64 Cheltenham Festival winners over the years and has ended up as top trainer 9 times since 1980. Quite an achievement and that’s probably why bookmakers consider them as one of the top favourites to win the “Cheltenham Top Trainer” with odds close to 4.50. The other competitors (Mullins and Elliott) are both at odds nearly 3.00. No matter how this battle finally ends, it is a fact that most of this year’s races will be claimed by the top five trainers (Gordon Elliott, Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and Colin Tizzard). Just like 2018 when they won 21 out of 28 races. But there are some other factors that you need to take into consideration.
You must really pay attention to some key factors of this Festival. First of all, price matters. Really matters. Let’s take the Arkle Challenge Trophy for example. In the past ten years, 6 of the last 10 winners have been favourites: all 6 of those have been odds-on at SP prices of 1.55, 1.53, 1.67, 1.25, 1.25 and 1.83. Three of those were trained by Nicky Henderson and three trained by Willie Mullins.
Do you know what else matters? Age. In these 10 years, 6-year-old and 7-year-old horses have dominated the headlines in the race. The overall breakdown by age is as follows: 6 years old had 5 wins and 7 years old have 4 wins. Do you know what doesn’t count? Nationality. Head to head over the past ten years both nations come out level with 5 winners each. Irish dominance in more recent years has been highlighted with three Irish trained horses filling the places in the 2019 renewal despite the field an even split with a total of twelve runners going to post, 6 Irish and 6 English. So maybe this year we will see English colours. Can’t really say, but if you feel like it, you can trust your gut and bet on it.
Fun fact
In last year’s festival the favorites won the most races on days two and three. They won six out of fourteen races and in other races two they were placed or showed. But the most rewarding – in terms of odds – race was held on day three. It was The Trull House Stud Mares Novices’ Hurdle and for the winning three horses, the pre-race odds were 51.00, 67.00 and 41.00 respectively.
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