Cheltenham Festival Betting 2025

Most Popular Ways To Bet On Cheltenham

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest horse racing betting events of the year in the United Kingdom and Ireland but is wagered all throughout the world, so there are plenty of betting options for bettors to choose from. Around £150,000,000 is expected to be placed in bets during the festival.

Our teammates in the UK are covering Cheltenham races all week long, so check out their daily updates here.

Live Betting

The thousands of racegoers that pour through the gates at Cheltenham can expect to place their crucial last-minute bets at stands throughout but for those of us not lucky enough to be attending, not all is lost. 

Most of the top online betting sites offer live betting, so the action doesn't stop when the races kick off. A few online platforms even stream some races live, too, so you can take them in and enjoy Cheltenham Festival betting action anywhere, including mobile betting sites.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting

It is fair to say that the Gold Cup is probably the best-known race on the National Hunt calendar, and alongside the Grand National, the horse race garners the highest excitement in UK and Ireland betting circles. It is no surprise that the Gold Cup generates the majority of Cheltenham’s television viewers. 

The first race, known as the Gold Cup, actually took place in July 1819, years before Cheltenham became the festival we know today.

The climactic event gathers interest months before taking place, with publications and fans alike offering consistent speculation as to who could be a potential winner. Winning the Gold Cup is considered a lifetime achievement for a professional jockey, and horses who win go down in the history books. 

Major horse racing events are priced well ahead of other minor races, and the Gold Cup is no exception.

What is the Cheltenham Festival?

The Cheltenham Festival features several Grade 1 races, including the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Stayers’ Hurdle, and the infamous Gold Cup. 

Cheltenham betting has grown exponentially since the festival’s humble beginnings in 1860. The race format has changed dramatically, growing from a two-day meeting to a four-day meeting with millions of pounds in prize money to be won every year. There are 28 National Hunt races at the festival each year, with the maximum audience capacity on the day of the Gold Cup being 68,000. 

There are two courses, known as the New Course and the Old Course, with the former being slightly longer.

Cheltenham's Feature Races

The following are considered to be the biggest races at Cheltenham:

• The Champion Hurdle: This race is open to horses aged four years and older and is run on the Old Course at an approximate distance of 2.5 miles. It is the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year on the festival's opening day.
• The Queen Mother Champion Chase: Open to horses aged five years or older, this race is also run on the Old Course but at a shorter distance of 2 miles. There are twelve fences for horses to jump. The Queen Mother Champion Chase features on the second day of the Festival.
• The Stayers' Hurdle: The Stayers’ Hurdle is open to horses aged four and older and is run on the New Course at Cheltenham at an approximate distance of 3 miles. This race features twelve hurdles and is the feature race on the third day of the Festival.
• The Cheltenham Gold Cup: The Gold Cup is the most prestigious of all National Hunt events and has featured some of the greatest racehorses to ever exist. Its winners list includes household names like Arkle and Best Mate. It is open to horses aged five and over and runs on the New Course.

Gold Cup Winners Since 2014