The excitement is building by the hour as the 2022 Cheltenham Festival is now very much on the horizon – the tape goes up on the first race at 1:30pm on Tuesday 15th March.
However, if you are new to betting and not totally sure how to bet on Cheltenham – don’t worry, as here at SportsLens we’re here to help with the perfect guide.
How to Bet on Cheltenham 2022: Select a Cheltenham Betting Site
To get started you just need an online bookmaker in your corner.
Only one to begin with, but once you get the hang of opening up an account, then having several bookmakers on your side will certainly help to get the best Cheltenham betting odds and offers.
Best of all, these bookmakers are crying out for your business, so most will reward you with a free bet and on going offers just for signing up – we’ve complied a list of the best Cheltenham betting sites and offers below – plus, we’ll give you the top tips on how to bet on Cheltenham races.
Bet £25 Get £36 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets
Bet £30 Get A £30 Free Bet
Bet £5 Get £20 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £10 Free Bet
Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets
Bet £10 Get £10 Free Bet
Bet £10 Get £30 Free Bets
Bet £15 Get a £10 Free Bet
Bet £10 & Get £30 In Cheltenham Free Bets + £10 Casino Bonus
Get a Free Bet Up to £25 + 10 Free Spins
50% Up To £50 Welcome Bonus
Bet £10 and Get a £20 Surprise Bet
How to sign up to a Cheltenham Betting Site
- Pick your favoured bookmaker from the list above, click on the link and head to the join tab
- Enter a few simple personal details (all secured safely) and create a unique username and password.
- Deposit your desired amount via many different payment options – and you are good to go!
How to Bet on Cheltenham
With the Cheltenham Festival the biggest horse racing event on the planet, most bookmakers will make it easy for you to navigate their Cheltenham Festival sections – making it simple for you to put a bet on a Cheltenham race.
There are 28 Cheltenham races across four days (7 each day), so many bookmakers will have each day’s races sectioned together (Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four) – you can see a full running order of the Cheltenham races below.
Once you’ve found a Cheltenham race to bet on, click on the race name and you’ll be taken to a page with that specific race that will show the runners (horse names), jockeys, trainers, form and race info (time, trip, name etc).
And, most importantly, the Cheltenham betting odds on that race against each horse – you can see how to add a horse to a bet slip in more detail below.
Finding the Dedicated Cheltenham Betting Page
What’s great about the Cheltenham Festival is that it’s a huge event. Therefore, most bookmaker sites will make it extremely easy to show you how to bet on the Cheltenham races.
Many will also have dedicated Cheltenham Festival sections or micro sites – with all the Cheltenham races in one place, plus big race previews and expert tips from leading professionals to help you along the way.
These bookmakers will have a separate ‘Cheltenham Festival’ tab in the top or side navigation bars – if not, then simply head over to their ‘horse racing’ section in the nav menus – find these and click away!
How to place a bet on Cheltenham races
Here’s how to add a horse (bet) to your betslip
- Click on the odds next to the horse you want to bet on (odds will be shown in either decimal of fractions)
- This will then add this horse (and the current price) to what’s called a ‘betslip’
- Betslips are normally pop-up that will appear to the right side of the betting page (see below)
- In the below example, we’ve click on the horse called ‘A Plus Tard’ which created that selection in a betslip and have entered a stake of £5 in the box next to the horse name. You will also see the odds of 10/3 under the horse name, plus potential winnings calculated for you.
- Once you are happy with your selection (horse) and stake – just click the ‘Place Bets’ button – this will then give you a confirmation message to say your bet has been place. While, you can also check all outstanding bets placed in your personal account section.
How to Collect your Winnings After Placing a Bet on Cheltenham
Then, after the race has run – if you’re a lucky punter and have backed a winner (or two), then getting hold of your winnings could not be any easier.
Gone are the days of having to hot-foot back down to the high street bookie and queue up to collect your winnings.
Online winnings are calculated for you and then added to your bookmaker account balance – plus, you can also head over to your ‘account page’ for a full breakdown of bets, winnings, deposits and much more – meaning you can keep on top of all your Cheltenham bets in one place.
Even better, is that winnings are generally added back to your account automatically within 5-10 mins of the race finishing (but this can vary slightly between bookies)
What About Withdrawing Your Cheltenham winnings?
Again, this is extremely easy with an online bookmaker.
Head over to your dedicated account section (normally found at the top right of the site) and there will be a ‘banking section’ here.
Click here and you’ll have options to withdraw your cash straight back to the payment method you used to deposit in the first place.
The time that money will take to hit your actual bank account can vary between bookmakers, but I will always be shown next to the withdrawal method.
2022 Cheltenham Festival Race Schedule and Times
Cheltenham Day 1: Champion Day – Tuesday, March 15
- Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – 1.30pm
- Arkle Novices’ Chase – 2.10pm
- Ultima Handicap Chase – 2.50pm
- Champion Hurdle – 3.30pm
- Mares’ Hurdle – 4.10pm
- Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – 4.50pm
- National Hunt Novices’ Chase – 5.30pm
Cheltenham Day 2: Ladies Day – Wednesday, March 16
- Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle – 1.30pm
- Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase – 2.10pm
- Coral Cup – 2.50pm
- Champion Chase – 3.30pm
- Cross Country Chase – 4.10pm
- Grand Annual Handicap Chase – 4.50pm
- Champion Bumper – 5.30pm
Cheltenham Day 3: St Patrick’s Thursday – Thursday, March 17
- Turners Novices’ Chase – 1.30pm
- Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle – 2.10pm
- Ryanair Chase – 2.50pm
- Stayers’ Hurdle – 3.30pm
- Paddy Power Plate – 4.10pm
- Mares’ Novice Hurdle – 4.50pm
- Kim Muir Challenge Cup – 5.30pm
Cheltenham Day 4: Gold Cup Day – Friday, March 18
- Triumph Hurdle – 1.30pm
- County Hurdle – 2.10pm
- Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – 2.50pm
- Gold Cup – 3.30pm
- Festival Hunters’ Chase – 4.10pm
- Mares’ Chase – 4.50pm
- Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle – 5.30pm