If you’re looking for Cheltenham Festival tips, then you’ve come to the right place as this page is dedicated to the greatest four days of National Hunt horse racing anywhere in the world. The Festival takes place in the middle of March at Prestbury Park just outside the Gloucestershire town in the heart of the Cotswolds.
You can always expect to find Cheltenham free bets as this event is big business for the bookmakers. They’ll do everything they can to entice punters into parting with their money as the Festival draws wider public attention due to the championship races that are contested during it. Cheltenham Festival betting odds are now available all year round online, meaning you can place an ante post bet up to one year in advance as novices who could go on to even bigger and better things in open company over hurdles and fences perform. Whether it’s the Champion Hurdle or Cheltenham Gold Cup, there are races galore – 28 in total – over the four days to get your teeth into from a betting perspective. Mares only event, hot handicaps over both sets of obstacles and even hunter chasers all get their chance to shine and that is why the Cheltenham Festival is so popular!
Read Cheltenham Festival tips from horse racing experts
Before we explain how OpenOdds provide you with Cheltenham races tips for the Festival, this is a great opportunity to highlight some 10-year trends for the events held across the cards in this scene of great sporting drama.
Arkle, Champion Hurdle and Supreme advice
When considering Cheltenham tips for day 1 of the meeting, favourites have a strong recent record in the 2m Arkle Challenge Trophy and five market leaders in the Champion Hurdle since 2011 have landed the spoils. The leading fancy for the Mares’ Hurdle has also gone in seven times, but six of those renewals were won by the same animal – the mighty Quevega. Favourite are best avoided in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle that opens the Cheltenham Festival with a 20 per cent strike rate in the last decade and it’s the same in the 3m 1f Ultima Handicap Chase. Three market principals have landed the 4m National Hunt Chase for novices, but none since the race was moved from Wednesday to Tuesday. A sole favourite has landed the Listed 2m 4f Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase.
Champion Chase trends and more
Moving on to Cheltenham tips on day 2 of the Festival, be aware of these trends. Only one favourite has won the feature race on this day, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, since 2014. There’s an overall record of four in the last 10 in that 2m championship contest which is the same strike rate as the market leader has enjoyed over the same period on the 3m RSA Chase for novices, and the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle over the intermediate trip of 2m 5f. Avoid the Coral Cup betting favourite as no fancy has landed this notoriously tricky handicap hurdle for a decade! There’s been just a sole market principal land each of the Cross Country Chase (which used to be a handicap), Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and Champion Bumper in the last 10 years.
What do Stayers’ Hurdle stats say?
We also take into account these stats when putting up our Cheltenham tips for day 3 of the meeting. The Ryanair Chase over 2m 5f has a 40 per cent strike rate for favourites in the previous decade, as does the 3m Stayers’ Hurdle but the latter was won by Big Buck’s on four consecutive occasions. He was the best-backed horse on three occasions, so that trend comes with a caveat. Market principals have a 100 per cent record in the Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle – the newest event at the Cheltenham Festival – as that 2m 1f event has only had three runnings. Between 2015 and 2017, meanwhile, the favourite passed the post first in the 2m 4f JLT Novices’ Chase. That just leaves the handicaps which are ultra-competitive and it’ll be no surprise to learn that fancied horses haven’t won this often. A sole favourite has triumphed in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle over 3m in the last decade, while it’s a 20 per cent return over the same period for market leaders in the Stable Plate race over 2m 5f and 3m 2f Kim Muir Challenge Cup for amateur riders.
Better inform your gambling for Gold Cup day
Finally, when it comes to giving Cheltenham tips on day 4 of the Festival, it’s actually in the Gold Cup itself where favourites have the best recent record. Four have landed the blue riband event of chasing in the last decade, but no horse sent off at the head of the betting on the final day of the 2018 meeting came in. Three consecutive Triumph Hurdle fancies did come off between 2015 and 2017, though, while as many Foxhunter Chase favourites have landed the spoils under their amateur riders in the last 10 years. A couple of Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle fancies have come in during that period and again that leaves handicaps where the favourite has struggled. No County Hurdle winner has headed the betting for some time, while the Martin Pipe for conditional jockeys and Grand Annual Chase have had one market principal win apiece.
What goes in to our Cheltenham Festival tips?
Whether it’s Cheltenham races tips for the Festival, another great jumps event during the course of the National Hunt season or some of the fabulous Flat action that takes place over the summer months, our experts take the same care and attention before putting a horse up. OpenOdds tipsters are regulars at Cheltenham and veterans of many Festivals, so know what is required of winners. They start by telling you in detail which horse has the best chance and is the top value to win a race. In light of how competitive all the events are at the Cheltenham Festival, however, be it grade action or handicaps, there is bound to be a danger to the main selection. We also point out who those horses are. There’s the each-way angle to consider. With particular emphasis on the handicaps, value can be found betting on horses to make the frame as much as to win outright. Our experts look carefully at the dark horses who could outrun their odds and run into a place. Don’t overlook this type of betting, because we won’t! We’ll naturally point you to the best prices that were available at the time of writing, but remember betting markets are subject to constant change.
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Get the best prices on the Cheltenham Festival via our odds comparison tool
Where oh where can the best Cheltenham Festival betting odds be found? It’s what every horse racing punter wants when gambling on the Gold Cup or plotting up a handicap wager each-way. It used to be so difficult tracking these down, but those days are well and truly over and it’s all thanks to OpenOdds’ very own patented odds comparison tool! There’s no need to leave our site in search of the top prices because they are all at your fingertips here and just a simple search away. To use our free odds comparison tool, simply type the name of the horse you want to back and then filter the results. That is a vital step because horses may hold multiple entries at an event as illustrious as the Cheltenham Festival, especially if the ante post betting is still active. You can then view the best and even worst prices with bookmakers featured on our site. Members of OpenOdds have rated all our sportsbooks, so you can see what the betting public makes of them. On top of that, given how special this event is, details of the Cheltenham free bets that bookies are offering via welcome bonuses and so on can also be found. We’ve included these because, you never know, a bookmaker that you haven’t signed up with might have an attractive promotion running for the Festival that you want to take advantage of.
Every racecourse covered, not just Cheltenham
Obviously, as this page is concerned with the Cheltenham races and tips for the Festival, we’ve talked at length about that single event. It does warrant a lot of attention being the main gala in the National Hunt calendar anyway. However, there is a whole host of racing that goes on elsewhere and outside this sphere. From Ayr to Yarmouth and everywhere in between, plus the main races across the Irish Sea over jumps and on the Flat, OpenOdds cover top class horse racing whatever the code. We even delve into some of the international events like the Kentucky Derby, Melbourne Cup and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. It’s every racecourse and major race covered in the British Isles as there’s always something to bet on in this sport of kings. Some tracks like Cheltenham only host one type of racing, while others – Ascot and Newbury, for example – get used all year round with Flat action replacing the jumps during the summer. Bar Christmas day, there’s going to be a horse race taking place somewhere in the UK and Ireland, so you are not sure of opportunities to take a punt. What about some of the other Festivals? Let’s take a look…
Royal Ascot, Ebor Festival, Winter Carnival and more – the events we cover
Besides the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National meeting at Aintree always attracts huge interest as it’s the world’s most famous steeplechase. Other jumps galas like the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in February and Punchestown equivalent at the end of the National Hunt season are notable event during the first few months of the year. Flat horse racing then takes over with the Guineas Festival at Newmarket, then the Dante Festival at York, Epsom Oaks and The Derby and Royal Ascot where this sphere reaches its zenith. We’re into midsummer then with the July Festival back at Newmarket, with Glorious Goodwood sandwiched in between that event at headquarters and a return to York for the Ebor Festival. Doncaster is home to the St Leger – the final British Classic of the year. Over in Ireland, there’s Irish Champions Weekend with one day each at The Curragh and Leopardstown. British Champions Day at Ascot ends the Flat season. Following the Winter Carnival at Newbury after jumps racing returns in earnest each autumn, there’s a plethora of meetings throughout the British Isles during the Christmas period. Cheltenham Festival tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to horse racing events we cover on OpenOdds.
Want advice as well as Cheltenham Festival tips and news? We can help!
So, you’ve got the best Cheltenham Festival betting odds and Cheltenham free bets all available through our odds comparison tool. Is there anything else you might need before you’re ready to take our tips on board and place your bets? Keeping across the latest news is a must with so many races at the Festival! We take a betting first approach to the latest entries and weights announcements, so you’re left in no doubt what it all means whether you’ve decided to take a punt yet or not. You can rely on OpenOdds to be an authoritative source of information, and we’ll also endeavour to weave this into the tips our experts provide as well as setting breaking stories in a gambling context.
We’ve also made a commitment to educate people new to betting by explaining industry terms and those related to horse racing in plain English. That is where our glossary section and the handy informative articles in it come in. You can increase your racing and gambling knowledge by reading these pieces. It’s our pleasure to help you do this as, if it helps you and your betting going forward, it can only be a good thing to be better informed.
