Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide

There isn’t a more popular horse racing meeting in the United Kingdom than the Cheltenham Festival. The best horses in the world over jumps meet at the famous racecourse based in the beautiful Cotswolds, with 13 Grade 1s taking place over the four-day meeting.

Cheltenham Festival Event Details

There isn’t a meeting in the world that captivates the imagination of race fans more than the Cheltenham Festival. The four-day meeting takes place annually in March, with the date typically coinciding with St Patrick’s Day. Throughout the meeting, there are 13 Grade 1s, which includes the illustrious Gold Cup, which is the biggest race of the National Hunt season.

Cheltenham Festival Preview

The countdown to the Cheltenham Festival officially gets underway at the start of the winter National Hunt campaign, which comes in October. Returning horses often look to return to defend their honors, and below, you will see the winners from the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.

• Cheltenham Gold Cup- Minella Indo

• Champion Hurdle- Honeysuckle

• Queen Mother Champion Chase- Put The Kettle On

• Stayers’ Hurdle- Flooring Porter

The biggest race of the meeting comes on the final day, as the illustrious Cheltenham Gold Cup takes place. It is the race that all the jockeys want to win. In 2021, Al Boum Photo was looking to join illustrious company and become a three-time winner of the race.

However, he missed out on achieving that feat as the featured race was won by Henry De Bromhead-trained Minella Indo. The eight-year-old won by a length and a quarter from stablemate A Plus Tard. All three will likely be back for 2022 running, with new competition coming in the form of Monkfish for trainer Willie Mullins.

De Bromhead had further success in the Champion Hurdle in one of the first Grade 1s of the meeting. Honeysuckle was a very eye-catching winner of the race, as the seven-year-old won by six and a half lengths. The win was her 12th straight success over hurdles, and it looks likely that she will be targeting a second straight win in the race in 2022 after winning the Paddy Power Champion Hurdle at Punchestown to close the season.

Bob Olinger is a likely contender that could emerge to challenge for the Champion Hurdle, as the six-year-old won the G1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2021.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2021 was won by Put The Kettle On. It was further success for De Bromhead, as the seven-year-old won by half a length from Nube Negra.

Willie Mullins-trained Chacun Pour Soi had been the horse at the top of the betting, but the grueling Cheltenham course looked to be detrimental to his chances. Altior could be set to return to the race in 2022 after missing the previous two due to ground issues. A victory for the Nicky Henderson-trained horse would mean a record-equaling third victory in the race.

The Stayers’ Hurdle is the featured race on St Patrick’s Day at the Festival and takes place on Thursday. The 2021 renewal was set to be an exciting affair, as Paisley Park and Thyme Hill were set to do battle for the third time.

However, the latter was pulled out before returning at Aintree to win the Ryanair Stayers’ Hurdle. Paisley Park was pulled up in that race, which means it’s unknown whether he will return to Cheltenham in 2022. Flooring Porter was an impressive winner of the race in 2021, as he won by three and a quarter lengths from Sire Du Berlais.

Cheltenham Festival Event Information

The Cheltenham Festival is the most exciting event on the National Hunt calendar in the United Kingdom. The prize money on offer throughout the four days is only exceeded by the Grand National meeting at Aintree. Among the featured races for the meeting are the Gold Cup, Queen Mother Champion Chase, and the Champion Hurdle. The atmosphere at the Festival is unlike anything else, as fans wait for the ‘Cheltenham Roar,’ which comes at the start of the first race of the meeting.

The first Cheltenham Festival was staged in 1860 at Warwick before racing began at Prestbury Park in 1902. Featured races were staged for the first time on different dates. The first Gold Cup took place in 1924, while the first Stayers’ Hurdle took place in 1912. Meanwhile, the Festival became a four-day event for the first time in 2005 when five new races were introduced. Since then, a further four have been added.

There is an award for the top jockey at the meeting, which was won by a female jockey for the first time in 2021. Rachel Blackmore recorded six victories throughout the week. The record for most wins in a single meeting since 1980 was set by Ruby Walsh in 2009, as he recorded seven winners. Willie Mullins is the most dominant trainer, as he has won the leading trainer award eight times since 2011.

Cheltenham Festival Betting Information

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most lucrative horse racing events of the year when it comes to betting. All of the main markets are available to horse racing fans, and you can learn more about them below.

• Win: Gamblers can bet on the winner of every race at the Cheltenham Festival. Returns are achieved if you wager on the winning horse.

• Place: Place betting is popular at the Festival, as there are always big-priced runners that achieve top-three finishes.

• Exacta: Bets can also be placed on the correct finishing order of the first two runners.