The Cheltenham Festival returns in March 2026 with four days of premier racing action to look forward to.
Below, we've picked out our favourite Cheltenham betting offers from the UK's best betting sites for the 2026 Festival.
Below are some of the best sign-up offers currently available for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
These welcome bonuses are designed for new customers and provide excellent value, whether you're betting on the Festival for the first time or joining a new betting site.
Betfred has one of the most generous welcome offers on the market.
New customers can claim £50 in free bets with just a £10 deposit. The free bets are split into five different £10 bets, which can all be used on Cheltenham racing.
You’ll receive: 3 x £10 free bets to be used on any sport, horse racing included, and 2 x £10 accumulator bets.
There are no wagering requirements or unfavourable terms hidden in this offer, so it’s a great way to boost your bankroll ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
The new customer welcome offer at Spreadex allows you to explore spread betting as well as the standard fixed odds fare.
When depositing your £10, you’ll be rewarded with £30 in fixed-odds free bets, and £30 in spread betting free bets.
The spread offers a different way to bet, with profit or loss determined by the accuracy of your prediction, rather than a single outcome.
Just keep in mind that losses can exceed your stake with this type of betting.
The Bet365 welcome offer might not be as generous as others, but its flexibility helps it to stand out.
Deposit between £5 and £10 and you’ll receive three times that amount in free bets.
This ability to choose your deposit and bonus amount is pretty unique - bet365 is one of the few betting apps that lets you fully customise your welcome offer.
You can use the free bets on any markets or sports you choose, which is also a big plus in our book.
Grosvenor's welcome offer stands out from the typical bet & get or matched deposit deals you'll find at most betting sites.
Place a £10 qualifying bet at Grosvenor and your odds will be doubled, with no minimum odds required.
You have up to 60 days to use your boost, giving you the option to save it for Cheltenham Festival week.
While odds boosts are common during the Festival, being able to choose which horse to boost adds a nice extra layer of control.
Like Grosvenor, LeoVegas takes a different approach to welcome offers.
When you deposit £10, you'll receive a 100% profit bonus on a bet worth up to £100 in free bets.
Here's how it works: place a £10 bet at 5/1 odds and your odds double to 10/1.
The offer excludes horse racing outside the UK and Ireland, but that won't matter if you're betting on the Cheltenham Festival.
Below are the top betting sites for Cheltenham betting offers ahead of the 2026 Festival.
With the best Cheltenham betting offers still to be confirmed, below are some of the best horse racing offers that I expect to see during the Festival.
The Stayers Club is Tote's take on a Free Bet Club, letting you earn up to £10 in free bets each week to use on pools.
Simply place six qualifying bets per week to claim your free bet reward.
Qualifying bets include exacta, trifecta, swinger, jackpot, placepot, quadpot and scoop6.
Place six bets of £2 or more to earn £2 in credit, £5 or more to earn £5, or £10 or more to earn £10.
Every year at Cheltenham, at least one massive outsider shocks the field with an unexpected win.
BetGoodwin protects you against this scenario by refunding your stake as a free bet up to £100 if your horse finishes second to one with a starting price of at least 50/1.
You can place either a £10 win bet or a £10 each way bet to qualify.
The offer applies to all bets throughout the Festival and requires no opt-in.
Like BetGoodwin's offer, Kwiff provides protection if your horse finishes second.
However, instead of covering outsiders, Kwiff protects you against the starting price favourite.
Bet up to £10 on a horse at minimum odds of evens and receive your full stake back as a free bet if it finishes second to the favourite.
With favourites winning 32% of races over the last three Festivals, this offer is well worth considering.
Pool betting is hugely popular during the Cheltenham Festival, and Ladbrokes is capitalising on this with a guaranteed £100,000 placepot each day.
A placepot requires you to pick six horses to place across six different races on a single Festival day.
Anyone who correctly selects all six placings shares the total pot - in this case, £100,000.
The Cheltenham Festival can be an intimidating environment for horses, particularly younger ones.
The 'No Horsing Around' offer at talkSPORT Bet refunds your stake up to £100 if your horse refuses to run or loses all chance of winning at the start.
If your horse balks in front of the Cheltenham crowd, you'll receive your stake back as cash to use on another race.
Horse racing bookies get creative with their Cheltenham betting offers, but most fall into a few common categories.
Here are the most popular types you'll find with UK racing bookies:
Many horse racing betting sites offer money-back specials throughout the Cheltenham Festival.
Place a qualifying bet and if it loses, you'll receive your stake back as a free bet to use on the rest of the Festival.
BetGoodwin offers the best selection of money-back specials in our experience.
Enhanced odds are among the most popular Festival offers.
Each day typically features a selection of horses with boosted odds - sometimes up to double their current price. Some sites enhance one horse per race.
Ladbrokes always has a huge selection of price boosts on Cheltenham Festival races.
For the larger fields at Cheltenham, extra place races are always worth seeking out.
Extending place terms to the first five or even six places lets you back a bigger outsider who might sneak into those extra positions.
BoyleSports consistently offers generous extra place terms and is a really good option for each way betting.
Non-Runner No Bet is essential for ante-post bettors.
With horses often rumoured for multiple races before the cards are confirmed, NRNB refunds your stake if your horse doesn't run in the race you bet on.
Best Odds Guaranteed ensures you get the best value when betting on the Festival.
If you back a horse at 3/1 but it starts at 4/1, BOG pays out at the higher price - no need to wait until the last minute to place your bets.
Nearly all the horse racing bookies we recommend offer best odds guaranteed as standard.
| Site | Free Bets | Live-Streaming | Best Odds Guaranteed | Non-Runner No Bet | Extra Place Races |
| Betfred | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ✔ |
| Tote | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| bet365 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Spreadex | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| BetGoodwin | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Betway | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| William Hill | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ✔ |
| Coral | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ladbrokes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Read through this page and choose the betting sites with the best Cheltenham betting offers for your style - whether you like price boosts, money back deals or big sign-up bonuses, there's something for every type of bettor here.
Open up an account with one or more of the sites recommended here. Enter your personal details and verify your account to start betting and claiming offers.
Many offers, especially sign-up deals, will require you to opt in. This may be clicking a button during sign up, or entering a promo code. Make sure to check T&Cs to make sure you are fully eligible.
Place your qualifying bet. Make sure you are betting on the correct race, market and odds, and make sure you are depositing with an accepted payment method.
Once your qualifying bet has settled, your free bets will be on the way. Always check the expiry date of the free bets so they don't go to waste, and make sure to do your research ahead of placing your bets.
When claiming Cheltenham Festival betting offers, keep these tips in mind to maximize the value of your free bets.
With so many enhanced odds and extra place promotions available, it's tempting to claim them all.
However, it's essential to research the horses and races you're betting on.
Study the form of both horse and jockey, particularly their Cheltenham Festival record.
Just because an odds boost is available doesn't automatically mean it offers good value.
Each site and offer has its own terms and conditions that need careful reading.
Some offers require minimum odds, qualifying stakes, or have expiry dates on free bets.
Don't make the mistake of claiming an offer without meeting all requirements - you'll miss out on your free bets entirely.
With a huge range of Cheltenham betting offers available across nearly every UK betting site, setting a strict budget for the week is crucial.
This means being selective rather than chasing every offer.
Focus on the ones that provide the best value or suit your betting style.
With four days of racing ahead, ensure your budget lasts the entire Festival.
| Time | Race | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1:20pm | The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle | 2m 78y |
| 2:00pm | The Arkle Novices’ Chase | 1m 7f 199y |
| 2:40pm | The Hallgarten and Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle | 2m 87y |
| 3:20pm | The Ultima Handicap Chase | 3m 1f |
| 4:00pm | The Unibet Champion Hurdle | 2m 87y |
| 4:40pm | The TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase | 2m 4f 44y |
| 5:20pm | The Princess Royal National Hunt Novices’ Handicap Chase | 3m 5f 201y |
| Time | Race | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1:20pm | The Turners Novices’ Hurdle | 2m 5f |
| 2:00pm | The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase | 3m 80y |
| 2:40pm | The Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle | 2m 5f |
| 3:20pm | The Glenfarcas Cross Country Handicap Chase | 3m 6f 37y |
| 4:00pm | The BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase | 1m 7f 199y |
| 4:40pm | The Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase | 1m 7f 199y |
| 5:20pm | The Weatherbys Champion Bumper | 2m 87y |
| Time | Race | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1:20pm | The Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle | 2m 179y |
| 2:00pm | The Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase | 2m 4f 127y |
| 2:40pm | The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle | 2m 4f 56y |
| 3:20pm | The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle | 2m 7f 213y |
| 4:00pm | The Ryanair Chase | 2m 4f 127y |
| 4:40pm | The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle | 2m 7f 113y |
| 5:20pm | The Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase | 3m 2f |
| Time | Race | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1:20pm | The JCB Triumph Hurdle | 2m 179y |
| 2:00pm | The William Hill County Handicap Hurdle | 2m 179y |
| 2:40pm | The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase | 2m 4f 127y |
| 3:20pm | The Albert Bartless Novices’ Hurdle | 2m 7f 213y |
| 4:00pm | The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup | 3m 2f 70y |
| 4:40pm | The St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase | 3m 2f 70y |
| 5:20pm | The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockey’s Handicap Hurdle | 2m 4f 56y |
The 2026 Cheltenham Festival starts on Tuesday the 10th of March 2026. The greatest show on turf will last for 4 days, with 28 races for bettors to enjoy. Each day of the Festival comes with a traditional highlight race, which will always take place at 4:00pm.
The 2026 Cheltenham Festival lasts for 4 days, beginning on Tuesday 10th March and ending on Friday 13th March. Each day comes with its own highlight race to look forward to, including the Gold Cup, Champion Chase and Champion Hurdle.
The 2026 Gold Cup will be run at 4:00pm on Friday 13th March. Last year’s race was won by Inothewayurthinkin, who started the race at odds of 15/2. Gavin Cromwell’s horse is the early antepost favourite this year, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Galopin Des Champs and win back to back Gold Cups.
I normally expect to see betting sites announce their Cheltenham betting offers in the week leading up to the Festival. However, some promotions such as non-runner no bet may be available earlier with the antepost. You may also find some early price boosts when looking at antepost betting months ahead of the Festival.
This depends on the site, but more often than not - yes, existing customers will have plenty of Cheltenham betting offers to claim. The most popular types of offer you'll find are enhanced odds, extra places on certain races and money-back offers.