2025 Cheltenham Festival Betting Odds
We’re getting closer to the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, with four days of amazing National Hunt racing about to take place at Prestbury Park. It’s the biggest race meeting of the season, with the bookmakers having priced up each encounter and there’s the chance to either bet antepost or alternatively wait until the day of the racing before getting Best Odds Guaranteed.
It's also guaranteed that the bookies will have lots of exciting promotions available when it comes to the Cheltenham racing. New customers will often be able to claim free bets on the Festival and there might also be a price boost for one of the big races. Existing players should also be able to land odds boosts and that can mean extra value on an encounter.
We’ve got many Cheltenham Festival races where there are big fields and the winner can often be hard to find. However, customers are often able to land extra places with their each-way bets and that’s particularly the case when it comes to the handicap encounters. It’s great to get paid out even if your horse is fifth or sixth.
Don’t forget that all the bookmakers showcased at Racing-Odds.com will also provide live streaming of every Cheltenham Festival race. While much of the action is screened on terrestrial television, the later races aren’t always televised, with customers able to log into their betting account and watch the action along with audio commentary.
Day One – Tuesday 11 March
We’re really excited about Day One of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and the action starts with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. The famous Cheltenham roar accompanies the opener getting started, with KOPEK DES BORDES looking like the one to beat. Willie Mullins trains a runner who has landed a couple of wins this season, with the five-year-old likely to be a popular selection for punters who want to get off to a profitable start.
There’s also a short-priced favourite when it comes to the Arkle Chase. The market leader is also trained by Willie Mullins and many punters think that MAJBOROUGH is a Cheltenham banker, with this JP McManus-owned charge having secured a couple of notable victories this term. However, L’Eau du Sud has also been putting together a string of wins this season and could be the fly in the ointment.
The Ultima Handicap Chase looks a wide open encounter and the likes of Crebilly and Gold Tweet are among the favourites, while this is followed by a Grade One encounter in the form of the Mares’ Hurdle. BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD has secured three successive victories this season, with Gordon Elliott training a horse who has won three times already this season. Lossiemouth is also entered although the mare might instead race in the Champion Hurdle.
Indeed, both of the market leaders for the above race are also entered in the showcase race on Day One of the meeting, although CONSTITUTION HILL is clearly the one to beat. The Nicky Henderson-trained charge looks back to his best this season and will be a popular Cheltenham accumulator selection, with State Man having won this race last season.
Day Two – Wednesday 12 March
There’s a quality encounter to kick off Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival in the form of the Turners Novices’ Hurdle. FINAL DEMAND has been installed as favourite to win an encounter over two miles and five furlongs. It’s no surprise to find this charge is trained by Willie Mullins, with the horse likely to be involved in a competitive encounter with The New Lion who has been really flashy for Dan Skelton this season.
There are also two horses trading at a short price when it comes to the second race on Day Two, with BALLYBURN potentially the one to beat. The seven-year-old has won three times this season and has a strong chance of winning the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, with Mullins having him and the second favourite, with Dancing City having racked up the victories this season.
The Coral Cup is definitely a race where customers are able to secure extra places and it might be KOPECK DE MEE who has strong credentials, although this is always a wide open encounter. Then comes the Cross Country Chase which is a unique race over different types of obstacles, with Stumptown and Galvin among the leading contenders.
The highlight race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, with this being an exciting encounter where the runners and riders battle it out over two miles and they travel over the big obstacles. JONBON has looked pretty flawless and the nine-year-old is now trading as the short priced favourite to overcome the field that also includes Gaelic Warrior and Marine Nationale.
Day Three – Thursday 13 March
Day Three of the Cheltenham Festival begins with the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle and the chance to watch some of the most talented mares in the business battling it out. They will compete over two miles and one furlong, with MAUGHREEN and SIXANDAHALF battling it out at a similar price. The former is trained by Willie Mullins and has looked promising, while the latter could go well for Gavin Cromwell.
The Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase is a brand new race at the Festival and JAGWAR has emerged as the favourite to win a Grade 2 encounter over two miles, four and a half furlongs. Nurburgring and Firefox are other big contenders for a race where No Flies On Him and Springwell Bay could be backable each-way chances.
The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle is always competitive and the chance to benefit from extra places, while the Ryanair Chase is one of the Grade One encounters on Day Three of the meeting. FACT TO FILE has the attributes of a winner and it could be yet another success for Willie Mullins who looks sure to be champion trainer at the Festival.
However, the eight-year-old has only won one of three outings this term, with Il Est Francais potentially an each-way bet to nothing. Gaelic Warrior and Spillane’s Tower could also go well at bigger prices.
The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle is always an entertaining affair, with a strong test of stamina on the cards for this three-mile encounter. TEAHUPOO is an eight-year-old who was successful in this encounter and this could be the Gordon Elliott-trained banker of the meeting, although Home By The Lee and Lucky Place have both recorded successive victories.
Day Four – Friday 14 March
In time-honoured fashion, the JCB Triumph Hurdle is the opening race on Day Four of the meeting. This is a Grade One encounter over two miles and one furlong, with LULAMBA likely to be the favourite for a race which will have a wide selection of talented four-year-olds.
The horse has won twice this season although it should be noted that a number of entrants have also landed successes. This includes East India Dock and James Owen saddles a quality runner who has been flawless so far this term.
The William Hill County Handicap Hurdle comes next on Day Four, with McLaurey and Kopeck De Mee heading the market and both horses are owned by JP McManus. Then comes a Grade 2 encounter in the form of the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase, with DINOBLUE almost certain to be the mare who goes off favourite here.
Allegorie De Vassy runs for Willie Mullins although the eight-year-old has only won on one of her four outings, with Limerick Lace and Only By Night trading at similar odds and some will fancy an each-way tickle on one of these charges.
There’s a quality staying race next on the racecard in the form of the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, with THE YELLOW CLAY having secured four consecutive victories coming into the Cheltenham Festival. Final Demand might well take up an entry here, with The Big Westerner operating at single figure prices and this is always an entertaining encounter.
Then comes the headline act in the form of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, where GALOPIN DES CHAMPS is bidding to make history with a third consecutive success in this race. Willie Mullins’ charge could prove too strong for the other contenders and that is reflected in the price.
Cheltenham Festival FAQ
On every day of the Cheltenham Festival meeting, the first race takes place at 1.20pm UK time, with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle getting us under way on Day One of Cheltenham. The races then take place at 40-minute intervals throughout the day, with this providing customers with the chance to look ahead to the next race and plan which horses they are going to back on the Cheltenham racecard.
There are seven horses races during each of the four days of the Cheltenham Festival and that means twenty-eight races in total. These include the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup. There are a number of Group 1 races along with a succession of handicap races and there are a wide range of betting opportunities as a result.
On every day of the Cheltenham Festival meeting, the first race takes place at 1.30pm UK time, with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle getting us under way on Day One of Cheltenham. The races then take place at roughly 35-minute intervals throughout the day, with this providing customers with the chance to look ahead to the next race and plan which horses they are going to back on the Cheltenham racecard.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most famous horse race at the Cheltenham Festival and this always occurs on Day Four of the meeting, with the Gold Cup being the fifth race on a seven-race card. This race generally goes off at 4pm UK time which means that it attracts a large audience of spectators on the Friday wanting to watch the race.
It’s generally the case that you won’t make money backing the favourites every time at the Cheltenham Festival. While a handful of horses heading the market often win at Cheltenham, many short-priced runners are beaten and you have to take into account that every race has a high-class field of horses. Sometimes it only takes one horse to beat a race favourite and triumph at the Festival.
The going at the Cheltenham Festival depends on the weather conditions leading up to the meeting, although we traditionally find that the ground is good to soft on the first day of the meeting. Sometimes heavy rain will mean that the going is soft or even soft to heavy, although Cheltenham racecourse is a fairly good drying track and you’ll find that good to soft tends to be the case. It’s worth bearing this mind when you bet on the various horses.
There are a number of handicap horse races at the Cheltenham Festival, with this meaning that each runner is carrying a certain amount of weight depending on their official rating. The Ultima Handicap Chase and Juvenile Handicap Hurdle take place on Day One, while the Ballymore Novices’ and the Coral Cup are handicap Cheltenham races on Day Two, while others include the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup and Martin Pipe Conditional Hurdle.
There are twenty-eight races at the Cheltenham Festival meeting and you can go through the racecard each day and pick out the horses that you expect to win. You should look at each horse’s form for the season and also pick out trainer comments which can be quite telling in terms of each horse’s chances of winning. Some punters also look at the betting market and see if there’s been money for any of the horses.
There are several bookmakers who have a Bet and Watch service when it comes to horse racing. That means you can log into your betting account, place a bet on the Cheltenham Festival race you want to watch and then access free live streaming. You can watch a Cheltenham race through your mobile device and sometimes there are live in-running odds available during the early stages of a race.
There are a number of ways to score free Cheltenham Festival bets. Sometimes there is the chance to get a free bet when you open a bookmaker account during Cheltenham week and that means you can get a deposit bonus when you have placed your first bet on the racing. Sometimes a bookie will give you a free bet on the next race if you have backed a winner, while there are sometimes money-back specials.
There are lots of ways to try and back winners at the Cheltenham Festival and you might even fancy placing a Cheltenham accumulator. It’s possible to either select horses that are running on different days of the meeting or alternatively place a daily Cheltenham acca on the action, with the odds of each selection combining so that you can get a bumper return on the selections if they all end up winning.
The majority of bookies have Cheltenham antepost betting available and this means a chance to bet on a Cheltenham race well in advance of it taking place. Sometimes you can back a horse antepost at a big price and those odds are considerably larger than you would find on the day of the race. However, antepost racing betting is also more risky as you have no guarantees that the horse will line up for that race.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the biggest horse race at the Cheltenham Festival, although there is also the chance to bet on other huge Group 1 races. This includes the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Stayer’s Hurdle that take centre stage on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the meeting. There are other big races like the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Arkle Chase and Ryanair Chase.
The vast majority of bookmakers offer Best Odds Guaranteed at the Cheltenham Festival. That means you can bet on a horse to win by taking an early price and then getting paid out at the Starting Price should this end up being bigger. The BOG Cheltenham prices are always worth taking and means that you always get the value on Cheltenham.
You can bet each-way on all of the Cheltenham Festival races and it’s a simple case of splitting your stake between win-only and place. The place terms for each Cheltenham race depend on the bookmaker and the number of runners in a race. For a big Cheltenham handicap race, you might find that you can get five or even six places, although that won’t be the case for a smaller field.