Early March each year sees one of the most important and popular horse racing events run anywhere in the World take place at Cheltenham Racecourse. When it comes to jumps racing, the four-day Cheltenham Festival is the equivalent of the Olympics and World Cup all rolled into one. In terms of drama, excitement and betting opportunities, it really is tough to beat this Prestbury Park jumps racing jamboree.
The Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the National Hunt season with the best horses from Great Britain and Ireland clashing over four days of top class racing. There are Championship races over a variety of distances over fences and hurdles including the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle. It is the busiest week in the racing calendar in terms of betting turnover and we aim to bring you the best Cheltenham 2022 offers from the leading bookmakers.
Cheltenham betting offers include free bets for new and existing customers, enhanced place terms and price boosts. Other top Cheltenham offers include non-runner – no bet, money back for fallers and money back specials. We explain all of these offers so that you can make the most of your Cheltenham betting offers and increase your chances of winning at the greatest jumps racing show on earth!
All of the best betting sites offer excellent sign up bonuses which run all year round. The Cheltenham Festival is as good a time as any to take advantage of these offers, in order to give that betting balance a nice little boost ahead of the four days of action.
With so many bookies to choose from it’s always nice to have a little helping hand to point you in the right direction. In that vein, and in our humble opinion, you could do a lot worse than to check out the following:
During the Festival, many Cheltenham betting offers for new customers were changed to reflect the major meeting. Free bet promotions were no exception with 888Sport, for example, going with a bet £10 on the first race to get £5 free bets for the rest of the card each day. This bet and get principle underpins all free bet offers, where you place a qualifying bet that meets certain conditions specified in the terms and conditions in order to receive bonuses. Only certain deposit options among the payment methods offered will be eligible for the offer. See all Cheltenham free bet offers >>
Also sometimes called first bet insurance, another of the popular Cheltenham bookie offers for new sign ups are risk-free bet deals. The only downside here is that you only really get a bonus in the event that the bet you place loses. If you get a winner at the Festival, then great – you have your winnings. Should your wager lose, however, then the stake can be returned to you in cash or as a free bet. In the event that Cheltenham betting deals give you the latter, the stake is never actually comes back to you as a winning bet made with the bonus won’t include this.
With deposit bonuses, you simply have to make a qualifying deposit from eligible payment methods that work in conjunction with the deal. Some will then include a qualifying bet before your bonus is awarded but not all promos work this way. Lookout for wagering requirements such as playing through the value of the bonus awarded a certain number of times within so many days. The terms and conditions of such Cheltenham races betting offers need to be studied carefully, so you aren’t caught out by these. If you don’t meet the requirements, then bonus funds won’t be made available to transfer to your cash balance and be withdrawable.
One of the best Cheltenham offers for new customers available during the Festival are enhanced odds promotions. These greatly increase the price available in the normal fixed odds betting market about a runner or favourite for one of the big races at the meeting, as the bookies bid to attract new business to their sportsbook. This is a tried and tested method of bringing in bettors in. Whether the bonus is awarded in cash or the form of free bets, you are getting a much better price than normal. On the downside, there will be strict stake limits applying to such promotions.
An online only bookmaker, 888Sport is a product of the digital age but offers international horse racing coverage, including the Cheltenham Festival. Operating in multiple regions worldwide, they have a host of regular betting promotions across the full range of sports.
During last year’s Festival, 888Sport had Cheltenham races betting offers every day with enhanced prices available on the key events. Their 4/1 winner bonus promotion also applied to this meeting, meaning you got one free bet per day in the event you backed a victorious horse at those odds or bigger. While 888Sport could be a little more generous with the extra place races, they do have other regular bookmaker deals which their rivals offer during Cheltenham including the best odds guaranteed.
Their traders can often be slower than other firms to react to ante post market movers, so it could pay to make some of your long-term Festival punts on this sportsbook. Those odds boosts are among the best betting deals for Cheltenham, and there’s every reason to expect 888Sport will provide them again this year. This is one bookmaker that you want to have on your side for major horse racing events like this one.
Initially more associated with the online casino and poker scene, 888 have proven beyond any doubt that they can do sports betting just as well. With 20 years of experience and a well-deserved reputation as one of the best in the business, this Gibraltar based company are well worth your time.
The sportsbook’s new customer offer is also well worth snapping up. Stake £10 or more on your first bet to receive 3 x £10 free bets to bet on any sport and a further £10 casino bonus.
Coral is one of the longest standing names in the UK bookmaking industry, having been established by Joe Coral in 1926. It diversified in 1979 to become the Coral Leisure Group and was acquired by Bass two years’ later. In 1998, Coral was purchased by the Ladbroke Group for £363 million but the deal was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and was sold in a management buyout the following year.
Coral acquired Eurobet and changed its name to Coral Eurobet in 2000 before being purchased for £2.18 billion by casino and bingo firm Gala in 2005. In 2016, Gala Coral was acquired by Ladbrokes which then became Ladbrokes Coral, now part of GVC Holdings but each retaining their own high street and online identity.
Coral Cheltenham offers are run every year and are designed to get the customer to interact with the site on a regular basis. Several of these are free to enter with prizes ranging from £5 free bets up to £25,000 for their Racing Super Series. The site itself has a slick design and is easy to follow and place your bets.
You need only stake £5 with Coral to qualify for £20 in free bets, provided as 4 x £5 free bets. Coral Cheltenham offers usually include some enhanced prices for new customers on the big race favourites. In 2019 Coral introduced a “double your winnings” up to £25 on the first race on each day of the Cheltenham Festival so it is always worth checking their latest promotions.
William Hill founded the company in 1934, selling to Sears Holdings in 1971. The company was then acquired by Grand Metropolitan in 1988 and by Brent Walker a year later. Japanese investment bank Nomura bought out the company in 1997 and sold it on to private equity firms Cinven and CVC Capital for £825 million in 1999.
William Hill was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2002 with the company buying over 600 betting offices from Stanley Leisure in 2005. This briefly gave it more shops than market leader Ladbrokes but the Office of Fair Trading forced the sale of 78 shops. In 2008 William Hill partnered with Orbis and software firm Playtech but had alarming levels of debt, enacting a rights issue and corporate bond issue. This partnership was formally dissolved in 2013 with William Hill acquiring Mr Green for £242 million in 2019. In 2021, Caesars Entertainment took over the company in a £2.9 billion deal.
With a reputation built up over many years, William Hill quickly established a huge online presence and boasts one of the most user-friendly sports betting sites. They have a record of excellent promotions which are easily accessible and a horse racing service which is second to none. The excellent William Hill radio provides easy listening on UK and Irish racing every day as an added bonus.
William Hill Cheltenham offers kick off with £40 in free bets for new customers staking £10. The free bets are credited as 4 x £10 bets with a 30-day expiry. Previous new customer offers included odds of 50-1 on runaway winner Appreciate in the Supreme Hurdle last year to a £1 stake! William Hill have been offering “non-runner -no bet” on all 28 Cheltenham Festival races since 28th January so no need to worry about injuries or a change of plans. The company were among the best for extra place betting at Cheltenham 2021, paying out down to fifth place on the Champion Hurdle on the opening day! Look out for similar offers this March.
Paddy Power was founded in Dublin in 1988 when the forty betting shops of Stewart Kenny, David Power and John Corcoran merged. The Power name was chosen as the strongest brand with the name “Paddy” added along with the powerful green colouring. The firm quickly established a reputation for novelty bets and boasted one third of the off course Irish betting market by 2001.
It was listed on the London Stock Exchange under the parent company name of Power Leisure in 2000. In 2010 they acquired a majority stake in Australian bookmaker Sportsbet and by November 2011 Paddy Power was the largest bookmaker in Europe by total share value. They completed a merger with Betfair in 2016.
Paddy Power has cultivated an image as the friendly face of bookmaking, always ready for a laugh and happy to quote prices on almost any event you care to mention. Behind the jovial exterior, there are clearly some astute business minds at work as Paddy Power continues to rise through the ranks of the UK bookmaking industry. Paddy’s Rewards Club does as the name suggests, rewarding customers for their service by accumulating odds boosts and free bets.
Paddy Power have been providing existing customers with a great deal at recent Cheltenham Festival meetings. Paddy Power Cheltenham offers have featured a £5 free bet on the opening race on all four days. The free bets have been offered to all customers with the exception of those accounts which have been dormant for a while. Last season Paddy Power offered Honeysuckle at 80-1 for new customers to a £1 stake! Look out for great Cheltenham offers this season including speciality bets and enhanced each-way terms.
Sportnation was founded in 2016 under the name of Bet on Brazil, changing to their current name the following year. The website is operated by Argyll Entertainment AG and is licenced by the UK Gambling Commission. Bet on Brazil was largely focussed on football betting and its launch coincided with the 2016 European Championships. They have now expanded to cover most popular sports including horse racing.
Sportnation are currently offering a £100 sports bonus, matching your initial stake up to £100 using the code GIVEME100. There are restrictions on your bonus bets including having to turnover 5x before you can withdraw them as winnings and a 30-day expiry limit. Sportnation offers rewards points for every bet and a weekly free bet club plus best odds guaranteed.
You can also watch all Irish and UK horse racing live with no bet required. The site looks pretty basic but you might expect that from a relative newcomer. They are advertising Cheltenham money back offers for horses finishing second in selected races at the Festival.
Sportnation will be very keen to muscle their way in on the action at this year’s Festival. Previous Sportnation Cheltenham offers include a terrific £2.50 free bet on all 28 races if you opened your account with a £25 bet! To save you doing the maths, that’s £70 in free bets so we eagerly await this year’s Cheltenham offer for new customers.
Known by its well-earned nickname of “The Bonus King”, Betfred do reward bettors brave enough to place accumulators and system wagers on popular betting sports like football and horse racing. They are only the beginning of the promotions on offer through this major bookmaker. Betfred have the best odds guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing from 8am on the day of the race. In terms of Cheltenham 2022 offers, they were the first online bookmaker to go non-runner no bet on the championship races at the Festival.
Doing this in early January gave bettors two whole months before the big Cheltenham meeting to take ante post punts on the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and Gold Cup, and receive their stakes back if the horses don’t run. This is very generous several weeks before the Festival and helps to get customers in the mood. Other promotions to look out for include the fee bet up to £10 if second deal on selected events and extra places races every day. These all apply as Cheltenham betting deals too, so there is lots to recommend Betfred as one of the best sportsbooks through which to get your bets on for the Festival.
Irish bookmaker Boylesports have increased their online presence in recent years. With so many raiders from the Emerald Isle coming over to the Cheltenham Festival and winning each year, having an account with a sportsbook based there could be a smart move. This is because Boylesports may favour Irish runners and offer better odds about the British runners to balance their book. Some of the best Cheltenham offers can be found on their site. Besides the usual best odds guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing for bets, there are accumulator promotions that could be handy.
Boylesports’ Acca Loyalty offer gives you the chance to place such a multiple for free for every five bets of that type that you make. This applies to all sports including horse racing and Cheltenham Festival markets. The same goes for the Acca Insurance promotion where, if one leg lets you down, your stake is returned as a free bet up to £20. Best odds guaranteed also applies to accumulators placed on the day of races. With their free bet if second to the starting price (SP) favourite deal, up to £20, Boylesports has plenty to offer bettors looking to get stuck in to the Cheltenham Festival.
Not only is the Cheltenham Festival one of the biggest – if not the biggest – event of the season for racing fans, it’s also a big time of year for the bookmakers. With so much interest in the sport of horse racing, those friendly bookies really excel themselves when it comes to excellent value Cheltenham betting offers and Cheltenham festival free bets.
Most of the Cheltenham festival 2022 offers are yet to be unveiled at the time of writing, but rest assured those Cheltenham betting deals will be firmly in the planning stage even at this early juncture as those online sportsbooks bid to outdo each other in terms of innovation and value. Be sure to bookmark this page as we will keep you updated in regard to the best Cheltenham offers and where to find them as the festival approaches.
The big upside of placing an ante post bet i.e. a bet well in advance of the race itself, is the possibility of beating the starting price for your selection by a considerable margin. The downside being that general ante post rules state that should your pick ultimately not take part in the race, you will still lose your stake.
Thankfully for those betting on the Cheltenham Festival, a number of the betting firms do away with this hindrance and make their ante post markets “non runner no bet” in the weeks leading up to the Cheltenham Festival. In this case you will indeed have your stake returned should your selection not run on the day. All the upside of possibly beating the SP, with none of the downside.
Most leading bookmakers introduced the Cheltenham 2022 non runner no bet offer at the end of January, although some are now running two markets. In order to balance the betting market, they inevitably offer shorter prices in the NRNB market. For example, a horse which is priced at 33-1 in the regular Cheltenham ante-post betting would probably be 16-1 or 20-1 in the NRNB market.
Always make sure that the NRNB terms are stipulated when placing your bets. Any bets placed prior to the Cheltenham non runner no bet introduction will be settled on standard ante-post rules i.e. non-runners will be treated as losers and your stake will be lost.
As there are many races at the Festival which attract large fields in terms of runners, there are Cheltenham bookie offers to reflect that in the form of extra places available. It is common for the handicaps run during the meeting to pay out on fifth and sixth place on each-way bets. William Hill, meanwhile, often offer even more enhanced terms on the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which opens the Festival.
When there are 20 or more horses running in a Cheltenham race, you can increase the likelihood of getting your fancy placed by betting with extra places. Whether it’s the Fred Winter or County Hurdle, Grand Annual or Ultima Handicap Chase, the risk of an each-way bet losing is mitigated on these notoriously competitive events significantly. Extra place races benefit bettors with the bookies feeling generous by offering them on Cheltenham Festival action throughout the meeting.
Another recent introduction for each-way betting is to select your own place terms. For example, you can stipulate each-way down to fourth, fifth or sixth in the big Cheltenham handicaps. Naturally, the odds on your selection are reduced accordingly but you do have the added security of Cheltenham extra places.
The standard each-way terms for handicap races with 16 or more runners is ¼ of the odds. Bookmakers sometimes offer 1/5 odds for each-way betting down to fifth place in their ante-post markets. The Coral Cup and the Pertemps Final are other popular races for special offers so are well worth checking for Cheltenham 2022 extra places.
Among Cheltenham 2022 offers for the Festival, you are sure to find money back specials. These return your stake to you in the event that the result of the race reflects the terms offered. Paddy Power have regularly provided this type of promotion in the event that your chosen horse finishes second, third or fourth. Other bookies just cover the second place with money back specials, provided the winner is the starting price (SP) favourite.
The great thing about these offers is that they mitigate the risk of losing money. Not all bookmakers offer a cash refund on the stake, with others providing consolation in the form of a free bet, and there will be maximum bonuses awarded. Despite these terms and conditions restricting the size of your bet, it is good insurance to have especially at the Cheltenham Festival where all races are usually very competitive indeed.
In 2020, William Hill offered money back in cash (up to £10 per race) in all Cheltenham Festival races where your horse finished second. The offer applied to winner market only at minimum odds of 3-1 but was still attractive, despite the restrictions.
Cheltenham money back offers last year featured a maximum £20 refund from Sky Bet for all losers in the first race each day. This offer applied to existing customers who so often feel left out of the picture while new customers are bombarded with special prices and free bets. If this offer is repeated in 2022, it is certainly one to remember.
This type of offer or promotion is really self-explanatory. Firms will regularly offer enhanced odds about runners during the Cheltenham Festival. These can be extreme, such as being able to back an odds on shot at 25/1 for example – this type of offer is usually a new customer bonus and only to a limited stake.
Another common offer is the bet boost, in this case customers are able to enhance the odds of any horse of their choosing by a certain percentage. A number of firms run this promotion all year round but often limit customers to one bet boost per day. During the Cheltenham Festival expect those boosts to be more freely available.
The appeal of offering a hot favourite at massive odds is obvious and the Cheltenham Festival is a great time to be opening new betting accounts. 2021 Cheltenham enhanced odds offers included Honeysuckle at 80-1 in the Champion Hurdle (Paddy Power) and Appreciate It at 50-1 in the Supreme Hurdle (William Hill). Both were limited to a £1 stake but still a great way to start your Cheltenham Festival betting!
Cheltenham odds boosts or price boosts tend to be restricted to a small or fractional increase in odds. For example, a 9-4 shot extended to 5-2 or a 10-1 shot out to 11-1. You can generate these price boosts with your betting activity and they are credited to your account. These tend to be issued on a weekly basis and wiped if not claimed before the start of racing action on Monday.
If you’re betting on the days of the Festival, then one of the best betting deals for Cheltenham is the ubiquitous best odds guaranteed promotion. The concept is simple. If you take a price about a horse running on the morning of one of the big races, then it drifts out before the off and gets returned at a bigger starting price (SP), the bookies will settle your wager at the larger odds. That way, you don’t miss out on a better price.
Each bookmaker has a different exact time when their best odds guaranteed deal comes into effect. With Bet365 and Coral, for example, they provide this from the night before or even once the race has finally declared. Other online bookies have set times on the day of the race, typically between 8am and 10am UK time. Best odds guaranteed does not apply to ante post wagers you have made on Cheltenham in advance, however.
One of the very best value offers to the customer in our opinion. Best Odds Guaranteed takes all the worry out of deciding whether to take the current price about your selection, or wait for the SP in the hope that it will be bigger. If a firm offers Best Odds Guaranteed, simply always take the price. If the SP is shorter than the price taken, you will be paid out at the price taken; if the SP is bigger than the price taken, you will be paid out at the SP. That’s a win-win in our book.
With Fallers Insurance, you can protect the wager you make by taking a smaller price and have the safety of your stake being returned to you if the horse you back takes a tumble. Coral’s Fail to Finish promotion is perhaps the best example of this. You receive your stake back up to a set limit if the horse does not complete the race for any reason. Other bookmakers just stick to refunding horses who fall, unseat their rider or get brought down in National Hunt horse races over jumps including those which take place at the Cheltenham Festival.
There is a trade-off here between the insurance and the best odds available. You can make this offer work for you by using it on those occasions when you believe a horse is talented but has a history of failing to complete the course. With the Festival’s fierce competition, this is one of the most underrated Cheltenham betting offers available.
Cheltenham Faller Insurance is worth bearing in mind for the long distance chases such as the National Hunt Chase or the Festival Novices’ Chase. Inexperienced horses are often caught out by the bigger fields and faster pace at Cheltenham after competing in lower grade races during the winter. The going is another important factor to consider as there are always fewer finishers if the going is soft or heavy.
The Coral offer of money back as a free bet if your horse falls, is brought down or unseats its rider applies up to a maximum of £25. This applies to all races under National Hunt rules with your free bets credited by midday the following day.
It is possible that among the best Cheltenham betting offers you see in the build-up to The Festival 2023 is the Bet Through the Card deal.
Offers like this one are great if you want to have an involvement in every race of the day, something many of us feel compelled to do as we so often have firm opinions on every event during the week.
When that’s the case, betting in singles can be dangerous. We need to stake a lot of money with seven races in a day. We can bet in accas using insurance, see below, but also grab a Bet Through the Card deal if you can.
So how does it work? Well, bookmakers most likely offer you the chance to place a bet on the first race of a card, say for £10 or £20. After that, you receive a free bet on every other race on the same card, probably at £5 or £10.
This is a great deal for those who want to bet on every race, but need to budget their stakes. If the opening bet wins, you are most definitely doing well.
If you’d taken this on day one of the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 and backed Constitution Hill at 9/4 for £20, then you’d have started the day £45 up. After that, finding the likes of Corach Rambler and Brazil at 10/1, Marie’s Rock at 18/1 or any other winner for that matter with free bets, it is all clear profit.
Naturally, what the bookmakers are looking for is for you first bet of the day to lose. After that, free bets are OK as they don’t expect to lose a whole lot and they have your actual stake in the bank.
Cheltenham punters love accumulators, or ‘accas’ as we’ve become fond of calling them. The thing to remember however is that bookmakers love them too. Multiple selections mean more chances for a bet to lose.
With this in mind, bookmakers are increasingly adding incentives for punters to bet in accas of four horses or more.
Some of the best Cheltenham offers now involve a form of acca insurance or related promo. Acca bonuses, ‘edit your acca’, ‘bet through the card’ and other deals will no doubt be seen as Cheltenham 2023 offers.
Basic acca insurance is one of the most popular deals punters take advantage of during the Cheltenham Festival, something which allows bettors to crank up the potential profit on multiples. Betting through the card has also really come to the fore of late and will be prominent among Cheltenham 2023 offers.
Acca insurance is a deal offered by bookmakers to compensate players for getting only one selection wrong from their multiple bet, or acca, of 4 or more individual selections.
The thing to remember is that different bookmaking brands may offer every so slightly different terms for acca insurance, such as the minimum number of selections required. In general, the basic parameters for acca insurance will be:
Acca insurance to some is synonymous with football bets. Racing punters however, especially those betting on the Festival, have really taken to it and is will be among the best Cheltenham offers available in 2023.
Always remember that sports betting is intended to be fun and, for this to be the case, you should only bet what you can afford. There is more public awareness of the potential risks involved in gambling than ever before. Free advice and help is always available if you feel that you, or someone you know, has a gambling problem.
Key notes to remember include taking regular breaks, never chasing your losses and never to place a bet when your judgement is impaired. Bookmakers now provide the opportunity to set your own budget and staking limits. You can set your own weekly or monthly limit for your own protection. You can also pause your account for a set period.
If you need to discuss a possible gambling problem, do not hesitate to use the free support which is now a legal requirement on sports betting sites. Excellent organisations like BeGambleAware and Gamcare are there to assist you, 24 hours a day.
Useful Links
Gamcare – https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/ Live chat
BeGambleAware – https://www.begambleaware.org/ Live chat
National Gambling Helpline Freephone 24-7 Tel. 0808 8020 133
There may be a better four days of betting action over the course of the year than the Cheltenham Festival, but we certainly can’t think of them off the top of our heads. No doubt the 2022 Cheltenham festival will be as thrilling and drama packed as all those to have gone before. What better way to ramp the excitement up still further than with an excellent betting offer or two? Remember to keep an eye on this page for all the details of those Cheltenham Festival betting offers and bonuses, just as soon as they become available.
Your top questions about Cheltenham Festival offers answered.
Many different promotions will be on offer. Among them are expected to be acca insurance, bet through the card, acca bonuses, acca bet boosts and free bets for new customers.
It will become clear closer to the 2023 Festival who is giving out free bets. For racing and sports customers generally, bet365, Sky Bet, Tote, Paddy Power, William Hill and more offer free bets to new customers.
There are no exact dates. After Trials Day at Cheltenham at the end of January, more Festival deals will become apparent. In the 2-3 weeks leading up to the event, most deals will have been published.
If you back your horse after the final declarations, then yes. If you bet using the ante-post markets and your horse doesn’t make the race, you are not entitled to a refund unless you specifically get a ‘non-runner, no bet’ deal.
Not necessarily. All of the major brands will most likely offer BOG on every Cheltenham race, however certain bookmakers limit the ‘best odds guaranteed’ races they cover, while some can’t offer it at all.
Harvey Mayson has worked as a horseracing writer, blogger and tipster for several of the UK’s leading bookmakers and numerous other specialist racing sites. Harvey has great knowledge of horse racing history and was the author of the Paddy Power Cheltenham Festival and Aintree Grand National blog for three years. Harvey’s blog at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014 included a 100,000-1 ante-post four-timer while he correctly forecast the first four winners on Grand National day in 2015. He also tipped three Grand National winners in a row and eleven consecutive winning nap selections.