The Cheltenham Festival will host 28 races, with 14 Grade 1 races, across four days, making it one of the biggest events in the UK jump racing season. Millions of pounds will be bet during the event, with most Cheltenham betting centred on the Gold Cup. Check out our Cheltenham tips on what to look for to potentially back a winner.
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Cheltenham Ante-Post Betting Tips
| Bookmaker | Date | Time | Race | TPP Ante Post Tip | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bet365 | 12 March | 3.30pm | Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy | State Man | 2/5 |
| Ladbrokes | 13 March | 2.50pm | Coral Cup | Built By Ballymore | 9/1 |
| BetVictor | 13 March | 3.30pm | Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase | Jonbon | 7/2 |
| Coral | 14 March | 2.50pm | Ryanair Steeple Chase | Capodanno | 14/1 |
| Parimatch | 14 March | 3.30pm | Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle | Paisley Park | 16/1 |
| Ladbrokes | 15 March | 3.30pm | Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase | Galopin Des Champs | 5/4 |
With our Cheltenham ante-post tips 2024, it’s tough to back any other horses aside from the dominant forces of State Man and Irish Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs.
We predict a straightforward duel between El Fabiolo and Jonbon, who finished first and second in the Arkle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, in the Champion Chase.
Capodanno showed Gold Cup potential by running away with victory in the Cotswold Chase on Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham in January.
Paisley Park’s excellent runs this winter could see the veteran finish with a blaze of glory by winning the Stayers' Hurdle for a second time.
You can’t go wrong with an ante-post bet with a Non-Runner No Bet wager at Cheltenham. Should your selection not run in its intended race, you will get your money back.
Cheltenham Betting Tips Today
In addition to displaying the best bets for each day of the UK’s most prestigious horse racing event, we also give you daily Cheltenham Festival betting tips so that you can plan your wagers accordingly. Check out the tips below.
Cheltenham Day 1 Tips — Champion Day
The four-day extravaganza of the Cheltenham Festival will begin with a bang, with four Grade 1 races on the card, welcomed by the famous Cheltenham roar inside the Prestbury Park track.
Although the favourites are expected to gallop away with the honours on opening day, on Champions Day, there will be horses underestimated by the bookies, and that’s where our Cheltenham tips come into play.
First off under starters orders will be the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and the first on our list of Cheltenham tips. It’s hard to see past backing favourite Ballyburn, the runaway winner in last month’s Dublin Racing Festival, which kicks off our Cheltenham day 1 tips.
The second race is the Arkle Chase, the most prestigious novice chase over the minimum distance, which was renewed last year. Marine Nationale has been ruled out to leave defending champion El Fabiolo, favourite Il Etait Temps and Jonbon all in the mix for top honours.
Ireland’s leading hurdler, State Man, an eight-time Grade 1 winner who has been victorious in 10 of his past 11 races, is the overwhelming favourite to land the Champion Hurdle crown. This follows Constitution Hill’s withdrawal, making it one of our strongest Cheltenham Day 1 tips out there.
The bookmakers are putting their necks on the line for this race, which could mean great value odds are up for grabs. Only State Man’s stablemate Lossiemouth stands out, as the grey mare was in formidable form at Cheltenham for January’s Unibet Hurdle.
Cheltenham Day 2 Tips — Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase
The thrills continue with Ladies Day, representing the meeting’s biggest celebration of style and socialising, with seven races on the card to savour. The Baring Bingham Novices Hurdle is the first; Mystical Power is a strong favourite and leads our Cheltenham Day 2 tips.
The Brown Advisory Novices Chase is the next race, which seems wide open. Fact To File, a chaser over longer trips, is clearly the one to beat after demolishing Gaelic Warrior at Leopardstown and looks very much like a future Gold Cup winner.
The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase is the season’s most prestigious minimum-distance chase. Energumene, who triumphed over the past two years, is out injured. It appears to be a battle between odds on favourite El Fabiolo — last year’s Arkle winner — and errant-prone Jonbon.
El Fabiolo lines up as one of the shortest-priced favourites at Cheltenham, so it should come as no surprise that we find it among the Cheltenham betting tips.
Punters should note that five of the last six odds-on shots have failed to win the Champion Chase, so a wager on an outsider could pay dividends.
Cheltenham Day 3 Tips — St Patrick’s Thursday
St. Patrick’s Thursday, which celebrates Ireland’s patron saint and the massive number of fans from the Emerald Isle, offers two feature races from the seven found on the racecard.
Many outsiders were winning on the third day at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. Stage Star (8/1) clinched the Turners Novices’ Chase, while Sire Du Berlais (33/1) was victorious in the Paddy Powers' Stayers' Hurdle.
Veteran Sire Du Berlais returns to compete in the Stayers’ Hurdle, where Teahupoo is the favourite. There are plenty of contenders for top honours, so our Cheltenham day 3 tips would be to consider each-way options.
Watch out for Noble Yeats, the 2022 Grand National winner who won at January’s Cheltenham Trials Day, and Paisley Park who has not triumphed for some time. Both are capable of cantering away with the Stayers’ Hurdle accolade.
The Ryanair Steeple Chase is the big race of the day. Early favourite Allaho is out injured, leaving a lot of room for other horses to shine. Despite the presence of some lively outsiders, the winners for this particular race tend to come from towards the top of the market.
This means that Banbridge, Conflated, Capodanno, last year’s winner Envoi Allen and Stage Star, should all be in the mix to finish first past the post.
Cheltenham Day 4 Tips — Gold Cup
This year marks 100 years of the blockbuster Gold Cup — the most coveted race of the Cheltenham Festival. It attracts an elite field as Britain's most valuable non-handicap chase, with millions of pounds placed on the battle to be first past the finishing post.
Although reigning champion Galopin Des Champs should succeed, there are a number of Gold Cup contenders that we have singled out as Cheltenham Day 4 tips.
Fastorslow beat Galopin Des Champs twice at Punchestown last year, which is why he made it to our list of Cheltenham tips.
Last year’s runner-up Bravemansgame, Aintree Grade 1 winner Gerri Colombe, and 2023 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase winner The Real Whacker, complete the most likely quartet to pip Galopin Des Champs.
Other potential Gold Cup champions that spring to mind include former Cheltenham Festival winner Shishkin, who secured last month’s Denman Chase at Newbury, and L’homme Presse, who settled for second in the Ascot Chase in February.
How We Select Our Cheltenham Festival Tips
Coming up with Cheltenham betting tips is extremely difficult, especially as two different demanding courses are used. Most races tend to be tight as these are the top horses, and the race up the Cheltenham Hill finale can deliver the unexpected.
There are usually upsets, which makes it trickier to predict the winner and comprise tips for Cheltenham 2024. Our process, which indicates how well a horse should perform in a race, can help you determine what to have a flutter on these top horse racing sportsbooks in the UK.
Age
Generally, the advantage of youth is that they will be more successful. Still, we don’t discount horses aged nine or older when betting on Cheltenham, because the combination of age and experience can deliver winners.
Class Rating
Class rating is another important aspect we consider when delivering Cheltenham racing tips. Race classes range from the lowly Class 6 to the pick of the crop in Class 1. We observe that a horse may have a better chance to win when dropping a class.
Distance
Horses often have a preference for a particular distance. Previous performances achieved over the distance of a certain race are a good indicator of success or failure.
Form
Recent form is an important indicator, and we never overlook it when crafting Cheltenham tips. Should a horse consistently place or win, there’s a high chance that it will keep performing well. In-form jockeys and trainers, with a recent string of winners, are usually the ones to back.
Versatility
It may be unusual to unearth a successful horse who is versatile on both ground and distance. This horse always possesses the ability to pull off a win or place, making versatility an important feature of any Cheltenham tips.
Weather Conditions
Weather impacts horse performances. Known as ‘the going', which refers to the ground, this is classified as either Heavy, Soft, Good, Firm, or Good to Firm, and not all horses and jockeys manage these conditions with the same success rate.
Weight
It seems obvious and something found on Cheltenham betting guides for beginners, but the less weight carried, the easier the horse can run. We compare the weight of each horse and jockey, and cross reference it with other conditions of the turf to deliver the best Cheltenham predictions possible.
Horse Form
Numbers to the left of each horse's name are the form figures, and reading from left to right are their latest finishes.
The ability of a racehorse, recent good form, and which jockey or trainer it's teamed up with are probably the key factors for punters to consider before placing a bet, and we also look into these factors with great attention.
The horse’s age, weight and height, jockey and trainer, track distance and condition also greatly influence our betting tips.
Cheltenham Jockey & Trainer Stats
Jockey and trainer statistics focus on the place and win percentages over a set period. Bettors hold faith in these numbers, especially when determining the amount of times they were placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Delving further into these stats helps us with comparing the average win odds. Harry Cobden may top the charts when it comes to finishing first on favoured horses this season, but other jockeys like Jonjo O’Neill Jr. bring in the money by finishing placed on unfancied horses with generous odds.
For even better payouts, it is worth checking out horse racing mobile apps, which can offer better prices than websites for certain horse races.
| Top British & Irish jump jockeys this season | Top British & Irish jump trainers this season |
|---|---|
| Harry Cobden (8 wins/36 rides) | Gavin Cromwell (7 wins/19 rides) |
| Keith Donoghue (5 wins/14 rides) | Nicky Henderson (7 wins/28 rides) |
| Nico de Boinville (5 wins/18 rides) | Paul Nicholls (5 wins/24 rides) |
| Adam Wedge (3 wins/9 rides) | Willie Mullins (3 wins/7 rides) |
| James Bowen (3 wins/14 rides) | Henry De Bromhead (3 wins/11 rides) |
We Pick Up Trends
Cheltenham racecourse’s hallowed turf had plenty of action leading up to the world-famous Cheltenham Festival. We closely monitored the Cheltenham Showcase Meeting in October, the Cheltenham November Meeting, as well as January’s Festival Trials Day to determine the trends. Results were good indicators of what could happen during the four-day spectacle.
History shows that over the past six Cheltenham Festivals, the Irish stables have enjoyed a superior success rate in terms of winning races.
With a solid Irish contingent both on and off the track at Cheltenham, the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in February set down the horses to watch.
This record is partly due to Willie Mullins, Ireland’s perennial champion. He landed six winners at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, which included the Gold Cup. He needs just six winners this year to reach a remarkable century of Cheltenham Festival winners.
Paul Townend, the Irish Champion Jump Jockey, rode five winners at Cheltenham that included the Gold Cup on Galopin Des Champ.
With a massive event like the Cheltenham Festival, the bookies and punters can focus on certain horses, jockeys and trainers to such an extent that others are dismissed as long shots. To find an outsider, look at horse form — especially consistency, course distance and going preferences — rather than be star-struck by the big names from tipsters.
We Work With Tipsters
Our team of reliable horse racing tipsters provide you with strong tips for Cheltenham 2024. They will put their money where their mouth is, backing their Cheltenham predictions through knowledgeable insights by making their own bets based on their horse racing tips.
Use Free Bets on Our Tips
One of the best features of our Cheltenham Festival tips is that you can use free bets on them. Most bookies have prepared free bet bonuses for Cheltenham, and our tips are usually not among the restricted markets. This way, you will not only leverage good odds but also place a wager without risking your own money.
Check out some of the best free bet offers for Cheltenham that we’ve compiled.
The Cheltenham Racecourse Tips
Cheltenham racing tips are incomplete without considering the two courses at the home of National Hunt racing. The landscape of the courses can affect the number of takeovers, the likelihood of horses not finishing the races, and more. Let’s take a look at our analysis of both the Old and the New Course.
Cheltenham — The Old Course
The Old Course is built for speed and used for the opening two days, with races for the final two days on the New Course suited to sturdy horses who possess bucketloads of stamina.
The Old Course hosts the two-mile Arkle and Champion Chase, as well as the Champion Hurdle. It is a left-handed undulating oval that suits galloping.
There are ten stiff fences or eight flights of hurdles on the chase course. The fourth last often divides the field, shortly after a turn at the top of the hill. Despite the last half mile being all uphill, there have not been many dramatic lead changes in the past.
Bettors should consider horses with strong jumping skills and a fair amount of stamina for the first half of the Cheltenham Festival. You should also check out the trends from when the Old Course was used last year for The Showcase in October and The November Meeting before placing a bet.
Cheltenham — The New Course
The New Course has a tricky downhill fence that can catch many. As most of the hurdles are jumped early on, there are only two hurdles to be navigated in the last seven furlongs, that makes it a long run-in.
The last half-mile climb is mostly uphill, and after the last jump, the lead can change as hold-back horses are ready to take over the reins.
With the New Course used for Christmas and New Year meetings as well as the Festival Trials Day, punters should consult the results and evaluate the trends.
Dry weather has been forecast for the entire Cheltenham Festival, meaning that the going is soft on both the Old and New Course. This makes it harder for the majority of horses to run, as the ground is deep and moist.
Some horses prefer this going at Cheltenham and will benefit from the ground being soft. If the going remains soft, then it is worth considering Ballyburn (10/1) in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Ndaawi (10/1) in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, and Meetingofthewaters (20/1) in the National Hunt Chase on the opening day.
ThePuntersPage Final Say
With the fascination and fun that goes hand-in-hand when jockeying for glory at Cheltenham, the crowds are big and keen to bet. The big bucks will be saved for the Gold Cup in its centenary year. Shock winners are part and parcel of the prestigious Cheltenham Festival, and with some wide-open fields, it may be worth a punt on any of the other 27 racecards.
FAQs
Refer to our tips and predictions, do some research, and pick a horse to place. This provides a greater chance of winning than a win bet.
Yes, but check the terms and conditions with each bookmaker for the Cheltenham Festival.
Yes, we provide up-to-date live tips to offer you the best chance of winning.
In order to potentially win, the safest bet during the Cheltenham Festival is to back the favourite for each race. If you are looking for a healthy payout, then consult our tips and predictions for the horses that should be in the mix to triumph.
Yes, we provide free tips for the entire 2024 Cheltenham Festival.