Best Cheltenham Betting Sites

Cheltenham Festival sees punters old and new pitting their knowledge of national horse racing against the bookies. While thousands attend the festival every year, plenty of punters prefer to place their bets online instead. Whether you’re an experienced Cheltenham bettor or a complete horse racing newbie, there are plenty of betting options to choose from. On this page, we’ll run through some must-know information on Cheltenham Festival betting. Once you’re up to speed, use our list of top-rated Cheltenham betting sites to decide where to place your wager. All our featured bookmakers are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), so you can rest assured you’re in safe hands whichever provider you choose.

Cheltenham Festival Explained

Dating back to 1860, when it was called the Grand National Hunt Meeting, the Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the National Hunt racing calendar and the UK’s pinnacle jump racing event of the year. The event comprises four days of top-class horse racing, and takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire each March. Usually coinciding with St Patrick’s Day, the event draws a big crowd from Ireland, and a total of around 250,000 attendees each year. 

The Cheltenham Festival is recognised as one of the UK’s top sporting events and considered in the same realm as the likes of Wimbledon, the Grand Prix and even the FA Cup Final. With many races set to be shown live on ITV, the 2023 Cheltenham Festival takes place between Tuesday 14th and Friday 17th March. The event will see around 500 horses compete for over £6.12 million in win and place prize money across 28 fantastic races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, The Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase and the Stayers’ Hurdle (formerly the World Hurdle). Betting is now open, so it’s a great time to find out more about the best Cheltenham betting sites and Cheltenham betting offers.

How We Find the Best Cheltenham Betting Sites

To find the best Cheltenham Festival betting sites, we put sites through their paces, determining where they stand out from the crowd to deliver a great online betting experience for horse racing fans. Here’s what’s on our checklist:

• Licence and Safety – in the UK, legal betting sites are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. This licence ensures that sites meet the safety standards required for UK bettors, so it’s the first thing we check when we conduct Cheltenham betting site reviews. Unlicensed bookies don’t make it onto Compare.bet. 
• Betting Markets – we expect the best Cheltenham betting sites to offer punters plenty of ways to bet, including betting markets such as win, place, each way, forecasts and so on. Ante-post bets should also be available, with top bookies like Coral and Unibet offering futures markets and early odds on each of the 28 races. 
  
• Welcome Bonus – the best Cheltenham Festival betting sites offer new customers a welcome bonus, such as free bets, risk-free first bets, matched deposits and money back deals. When the festival draws closer, many top bookies will offer specific Cheltenham betting offers, such as promo codes for Cheltenham free bets.
  
• Payment Methods – our Cheltenham betting site reviews always include a look at a site’s cashier page. We check out which banking options are available, giving extra points to those sites with a variety of trusted options. Where cashing out your winnings is concerned, we expect top sites to offer fast, no-fee payouts.
  
• Mobile Experience – it can be great fun to bet on Cheltenham Festival races on your mobile device, so our reviews include a look at a site’s mobile capabilities. All our recommended sites offer a mobile-optimised version of their main desktop sites, with some of our top picks also offering mobile betting apps for Android and iOS.
  
• Customer Support – if you have a question about your account, it’s good to know you can get queries answered promptly. The best Cheltenham bookies stand out with great customer support options, offering help over live chat, telephone, email and on-site contact forms. Established sites may also engage over social media.

How to Make the Best Bet

Predicting the winner of a horse race is totally different to placing a bet on a game of football, for example. Whereas there are just two teams contesting a game of football, there can often be up to 40 different horses in one race alone. 

What’s more, races often throw up surprising results — 2022 saw many upsets, from Rich Strike’s stunning Kentucky Derby victory as the 80-to-1 longshot to 50-to-1 outsider Commander in Fleet winning the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Here are some tips to help you with your picks at our top betting sites.

• Bet on the bookies’ favourites
  One option, particularly for those new to horse racing, is to follow the odds and side with the bookies’ favourite. After all, they’ve done their research and have a reasonable idea of which horses are expected to perform — although there’s always the chance of an upset!
• Bet on an underdog
  With so many possible scenarios in each race, betting on the favourite is far from a guarantee, and some punters may prefer to back a horse with longer odds for a chance at a larger payout. 
• Look at historic results and stats
  If you have a little knowledge in the bank regarding the past performance, recent form, and championship potential of runners and riders, you’ll be in a better position to spot any tempting early prices and place bets which return a bigger profit.
• Take advantage of Best Odds Guaranteed
  Horse racing betting odds are notoriously volatile and can change price at the last moment. You can ward against fluctuating prices by taking advantage of Best Odds Guaranteed offers. Usually applicable to bets placed between 8am and 10am on race day, these promotions do away with the idea of fixed odds across a whole day. Instead they guarantee that if the starting price for your selected horse is higher than when you placed your bet, you’ll benefit from the better price. 
• Consider system bets
  Combining several wagers on your betslip into a combo like a Heinz or Trixie can be one way to change things up. These bets are more complex and cover more outcomes, and can be costly to place — it’s wise to do your research beforehand.
• Read the terms and conditions
  Education is key if you want to get the best value from Cheltenham bookies offers like Best Odds Guaranteed and Extra Place Terms. And if you’re taking advantage of a free bet, be sure to give the T&Cs a thorough look over so you know what’s required.
• Know your limits and gamble responsibly
  Set a budget for your Cheltenham betting and stick to it. Never chase your losses. Once you hit your limits, it’s time to stop. Our betting sites feature limiters you can activate within your account settings to help keep you on track.

Cheltenham 2024 Betting Options

With so many races taking place over the four-day Cheltenham Festival, there are plenty of different betting options. Here are some of the most popular:

Win

Betting on a horse to win a race means you’ll only receive a payout if the horse comes first.

Place

With a place bet, you’re betting that a horse will finish in the top three. The number of horses in a race will affect which places receive payouts.

Each Way

An each way bet sees punters place two bets, effectively: one win and one place. Each bet is even, and if the horse wins, both stakes will be paid. If the horse only places, the place stake is paid out, but the win stake is lost.

Forecasts

This is a bet on the first two places in a race, which can offer much better odds than a first place bet. A bet on the first three places can offer better odds still, and is known as a tricast. You’ll need to predict the correct finishing order to receive the payout for these bets. Some sites also allow you to bet on a reverse forecast and tricast, where you predict the top three finishers but don’t specify the order. 

Ante-Post

Ante-post bets are bets placed at least one day in advance of the event. While the odds for these bets tend to be better, they are riskier as they don’t take on-the-day factors, such as weather or injury, into consideration.

Doubles, Trebles & Accumulators

Doubles, trebles and accumulators are all simple examples of multiple bets. These bets take two, three or four-plus single bets from different races and combine them into one bet. The betting odds for each of your picks are combined, which means you can expect a better payout from a multiple bet than you could from placing separate single bets. The caveat here is that all the picks must come good for your wager to win.

Multiple Bets

Multiple bets aren’t always as straightforward as combining two or more bets on the same slip. For bettors who know their stuff, some racing bets can wrap up numerous multiple bets into wagers that are sometimes referred to as system bets. Here are some of the most interesting ways to bet on horse racing:

• Trixie – comprising three doubles and one treble bet of equal value, Trixie bets are placed on three selections (horses) in different events. Two selections must win to get a return. 
• Patent – Patent bets comprise three selections and seven bets of the same value: one treble, three doubles and three singles. Only one horse needs to win for bettors to enjoy a return.
• Yankee – Yankee bets comprise 11 bets of equal value on four selections. These include one four-fold, four trebles and six doubles. Two selections must win for the bet to pay out. 
• Heinz – Heinz bets are made up of 57 equal size bets on six horses. They include 20 trebles, 15 doubles, 15 four-folds, six five-folds and one six-fold acca. A minimum of two selections must win for the wager to pay out. 
• Goliath – Goliath bets comprise 247 equal bets on eight horses. These bets include 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 56 trebles, 28 doubles, 28 six-folds, eight seven-folds and one eight-fold acca. At least two of the eight selections must be successful for the bet to offer any money back.

Cheltenham Festival Races

The most famous race of the festival might well be the famed steeplechase, the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, but with 28 races to choose from, there’s no shortage of great events to bet on during the four days of action. Here are some of the most hotly contested races at Cheltenham:

The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race

The curtain-raiser on day one of the festival, the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race elicits the famous Cheltenham roar as it kicks off the action on Champion Day. In 2022, jockey Nico de Boinville rode Nicky Henderson-trained Constitution Hill to victory, setting the race’s fastest ever winning time of 3:44:35 in the process. 

The Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeplechase

A Grade 1 steeplechase open to horses aged five and above, the Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeplechase is contested over around two miles. Featuring 13 fences, it is the second race of the Cheltenham Festival and was last won by jockey Tom Cannon on the Alan King-trained Edwardstone. 

Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy

Serving as the feature race for day one of the festival, the Unibet Champion Hurdle serves as the feature race for day one of the festival. In 2022, the Champion Day headliner was won for the second year running by Rachel Blackmore on Honeysuckle, with the victory also marking the 15th straight win for the Henry de Bromhead trained mare.

The Ryanair Steeplechase

The Ryanair Chase first thrilled Cheltenham fans in 2005 and was awarded Grade 1 status in 2008. In recent years, trainer Willie Mullins has enjoyed back-to-back successes with Allaho, in 2021 with Rachael Blackmore and in 2022 with Paul Townend. In 2023, all eyes will surely be on whether the now 9-year-old bay gelding can pull off a hat-trick.

Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 

Created for amateur jockeys with less than 75 wins and named after the champion trainer, the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle was created in 2009 and has closed Gold Cup Day since 2020. In 2022, Mark McDonagh and Banbridge romped home to glory at 12-1 for Joseph O’Brien, completing a clean sweep for Irish trainers on the last day of the festival.

Accumulators at Cheltenham Betting Sites

Accumulators are one of the most popular betting types across many sports and lend themselves well to betting on horse racing. These bets allow you to combine bets on multiple different races into one bet and typically come in doubles (two selections), trebles (three selections), four-fold (four selections) and so on.

An example of an acca you could place at Cheltenham is a win bet on one horse in each of the festival’s feature races. If things go to plan and all horses win, you’ll get a better payout from an acca than if you had placed the bets individually. However, it pays to remember that the size of these wins corresponds to the much smaller chance of your bet coming good. After all, it’s much easier to pick the winner of one race than it is to pick the winners of multiple races. To sweeten the blow when one acca pick lets you down, many of the best bookies offer acca insurance. This popular promo pays back your stake, sometimes as cash but most often as a free bet token. Acca insurance offers usually kick in on bets with four or more picks. 

Live Betting

Some online bookmakers allow punters to place bets while the race is in full swing, which can be truly exhilarating. Live betting is not only exciting, but it can help you gain better value odds. The outright favourite you may have wanted to bet on to begin with, for example, may not have very favourable odds at the start of the match, but should they get off to a bad start then the odds of their victory will lengthen, giving you better value for your money should it eventually win. 

The best sites will even offer you live streaming options on the Cheltenham races, meaning that making a live wager has never been so easy.

Bonus Offers at Cheltenham Betting Sites

Online bookies roll out a range of betting offers and promotions in the run up to Cheltenham Festival, which can help punters get the most bang for their buck. You’ll have access to your standard welcome rewards, such as deposit match bonuses, free bets and bet insurance, as well as other promotions, including guaranteed odds, price boosts and #nameyourodds, to name a few.

Free Bet

Free bets are a great way to get into the action when you sign up to site. They’re usually granted when you make a qualifying bet, like ‘bet £10 get £30 in free bets,’ but some sites might offer you a free bet just for signing up. They will come with wagering requirements and other stipulations, so it’s worth keeping that in mind before you sign up.

Matched Deposit 

Matched deposits are another very common bonus you can claim when betting horse racing, and they’re very easy to get your head around. The betting site will match a percentage of your first deposit up to a certain amount, giving you extra funds to play with. A common matched deposit will look something like, ‘100% up to £100,’ which means that you have the chance to double the value of your bankroll. Of course, this is capped at a certain amount — in this instance £100 — so anything extra deposited will not be rewarded as part of the bonus. As usual, there will be T&Cs attached that you should always read before claiming.

Existing Player Promotions 

Offers aren’t just available to new customers, however, as existing players can get in on the action through some pretty exciting promotions. These are usually reserved for the biggest races so, when Cheltenham Festival comes around, there’s plenty of choice for punters. Common bonuses include odds boosts, where you can get better prices on a selection, and money-back promotions, where you get back a portion of your stake if your bet loses.

Betting on the Go

The great thing about modern-day betting is that you can do it wherever you are in the world thanks to the quality of the mobile betting experience. All of our featured Cheltenham betting sites are optimised for mobile browsers, so placing a wager on Cheltenham has never been simpler. The best sites, however, will offer native apps which give you the best mobile betting experience. 

Mobile apps also come with the added bonus of having push notifications to keep you in the loop with new offers or changing odds. They’re often snappier and quicker to load too, and you’ll be able to log in with just a few taps thanks to touch ID or face recognition.

Best Cheltenham Betting Apps

Here’s a small selection of some of our favourite Cheltenham betting apps available for download.   

• 10bet – Download the 10bet app on iOS or Android and you’ll get access to a simple and modern sportsbook interface with handy search features like Top Markets and Sports Filter. 
• BetUK – The BetUK mobile app makes it quick and easy to swipe through markets and make your selections, whether you play on an Apple or Android handset.  
• QuinnBet – Although it’s currently only available on the iOS App Store, the QuinnBet app is a fantastic choice thanks to Touch ID login, live scoreboards, and streaming functionality. 

New Sites

You no longer have to rely on the established names to get a great horse betting experience, because some of the newer sites out there have a lot to offer. In fact, some of 2024’s top new bookies, such as Mr Play, specialise in horse racing, and might even provide an even more complete betting experience.

What’s more, in order to stand out from the competition, new sites might offer more player-friendly welcome bonuses. They’ll also have access to some of the finest sports betting technology meaning that they’re well worth checking out when you’re choosing the horse betting site for you.

Payment Options 

The leading betting operators ensure that players can pay in the most convenient, secure, and reliable ways possible, and each site ranked on Compare.bet offers multiple payment options. Whether you prefer the simplicity of a debit card or the ease of managing your funds with e-wallets, there’s sure to be an option that suits you. We’ve covered the benefits and drawbacks of some services below.

Compare Cheltenham Betting Sites, Sign Up & Claim

Now that we’ve covered the key elements of betting on Cheltenham Festival, you’re ready to get started at one of our recommended sites. Simply use our list of top online sportsbooks to compare and select your perfect match. Then, just click through to sign up and claim your welcome bonus.