Bet On Cheltenham: The Best Races To Follow At The 2025 Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is widely regarded as the biggest betting event in the UK sporting calendar, with racing fans enjoying four fantastic days of action.
During Cheltenham week, there are several Grade 1 races, the most prestigious of which are the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase, the Stayers' Hurdle and the Gold Cup.
There are seven races for each of the four days of the Cheltenham Festival, making 28 races in total.
Cheltenham Offers
While it can be fun to take advantage of the many Cheltenham offers and bet on every race, there are some races which offer more excitement and betting value in particular.
Below, we profile the races you should target with your bets this year.
Tuesday – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
The famous “Cheltenham roar” accompanies the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the opening race of the Festival.
It’s great to get involved in the action with betting sites, and there are usually a few question marks about every runner, including the horses that feature near the top of the market.
We especially like betting on the Supreme at the Cheltenham Festival because there is often a big-priced youngster that can spring a surprise.
It’s not uncommon to see horse racing betting sites offering lots of extra places, which is great if you’re planning to have an each-way wager on a race which is run over a distance of two miles and half a furlong.
The Supreme is a fast-paced hammer-and-tongs affair, and it’s great if the horse you backed is still involved coming up that famous hill at Prestbury Park.
If you manage to bag a winner, then you can attack the rest of the Tuesday card with confidence.
Wednesday – Queen Mother Champion Chase
There is no better sight at the Cheltenham Festival than the best UK and Irish two-mile chasers flying over the big obstacles, and we’ve seen some brilliant winners over the years.
Horses such as Moscow Flyer, Sprinter Sacre and Master Minded have wowed the crowd with some scintillating performances and this is also a great betting race when it comes to the Cheltenham odds.
This year, Jonbon is the short-priced favourite, but he has yet to win at the Festival, and he faces some high-class performers in Wednesday's highlight.
It’s not always the case that the favourite wins, as we found out in recent years when the likes of Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi were all sent off at short odds with betting apps but failed to deliver.
The race involves jumping at high speed throughout, meaning that even the most efficient jumpers can make mistakes.
Often, a big-priced horse is strategically run to pick up the pieces and secure a place in the final reckoning.
Thursday – Ryanair Chase
Although the Ryanair Chase was only introduced to the Cheltenham Festival in 2005, when the meeting was extended to four days, this has quickly developed into a firm favourite with racing punters.
Viewers love the thrill of this encounter, which is somewhere between the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Gold Cup in terms of distance.
Twelve months ago, the Dan Skelton-trained Protektorat was an impressive winner, and he will attempt to retain his crown in 2025.
This is a Grade 1 encounter, and the extra element of the puzzle is working out which horses will run in this race or be pitched at an alternative contest at the Festival.
This is evidenced by the fact that the top four horses in the Ryanair Chase betting odds all hold entries in different races at the meeting.
Potential winners need a mix of speed, stamina and slick jumping to prevail, so not all horses are suited to the race.
Friday – Gold Cup
The biggest and most coveted race at the Cheltenham Festival, there’s huge betting interest when it comes to this encounter over three miles, two-and-a-half furlongs.
As the distance outlines, this is a race in which a successful horse must not only show great stamina but also negotiate 22 obstacles along the way.
It takes a special horse to win a Gold Cup, and the winner's list reads like a who's who of the greatest jumps horses of all time.
The leading UK betting sites will roll out some fantastic Gold Cup promos, and there might be the chance to enjoy extra places for each-way betting.
You can also expect odds boosts on several runners, and free bets are usually available to use on your selected runner.
This year's showpiece will see Galopin Des Champs attempt to make it a hat-trick of wins in the race, adding even more intrigue to an already tantalising tussle.
Elsewhere at the 2025 Festival, the brilliant Constitution Hill seems to have his swagger back and is one of the Cheltenham bankers of the week, while the exciting Majborough will hope to back up last year's Triumph Hurdle win by taking the Arkle Chase.
We can also look forward to Teahupoo looking to make it two Stayers' Hurdle wins in a row, and there are plenty of handicap races over the four days that can throw up surprises from big-priced runners.
Cheltenham 2025 promises to be another spectacular and drama-filled event, and Gambling.com have you covered with the latest updates, betting promos and free bet offers.
