Cheltenham Festival

SportingBet are kicking off their Cheltenham festival horse racing betting, with a special refund promotion. The online bookmaker, who launch their Cheltenham Micro-site on Friday in anticipation of another great festival, will refund stakes if your horse falls during any race of the Cheltenham Festival. All of the racing action starts with the Supreme Novice hurdles on Tuesday, March 16th with all of the betting leaning towards unbeaten red hot favourite Dunguib. The Irish entrant is already a short price at 10/11 with SportingBet, with the main contender being Get Me Out Of Here, who is back at 11/2.

The SportingBet Cheltenham Micro-Site promises plenty of horse racing betting promotions for the Cheltenham festival, which of course culminates in the Gold Cup showdown on Friday between Denman (4/1) and Kauto Star (6/4). Along with great features, you will of course be able to get the best of the SportingBet horse racing prices, as well No Runner No Bet feature on all of the races. One of the biggest racing dates on the calendar, head on over to SportingBet to follow all of the action. SportingBet already provide great coverage on horse racing, including a radio service and a wonderful stats section.

There are just two weeks until the Cheltenham Festival, when the horse racing betting fans go wild, If you are already keenly studying Horse Racing Betting form ahead of the fantastic festival, then it will be worth checking out both Bet365 and Ladbrokes. Both of these online bookmakers have raced to the head of the pack, offering a “Non Runner No Bet” option for the festival. This covers all races at the Cheltenham Festival, and so if you have a punt on a horse with either Bet365 or Ladbrokes, and they are a non-runner, your stake will be winging its way back to you.

Totesport, as part of their website redevelopment, have now made an already excellent Horse Racing coverage even better, by linking up directly with the Racing Post. What does this mean? Totesport have integrated the in-depth analysis, verdicts and form straight into the race-cards on the online bookmakers website. This could be crucial when planning your betting strategies ahead of the Cheltenham festival, as the bookmaker teams up with one of the leading, and most trusted resources for Horse Racing news and form. This is just part of Totesport’s ongoing development on their website, which also includes direct betting links from their homepage to your betting slip. There will be a phase two of the all new Totesport sports betting website coming soon!

Paddy Power have also gotten their noses in front for the Cheltenham Festival, focusing on a special promotion for the Supreme Novices Hurdle. This is curtain raiser for the horse racing festival, and punters are always keen to get off to a winner, by betting heavily on this one. The promotion for the Supreme Novices Hurdle all surrounds Dunguib, priced at 4/5. If the unbeaten Irish favourite wins, then Paddy Power will refund all lost outright winner bets.

Many of us won’t need reminding that the highlight of the National Hunt season is taking place in March, with Cheltenham providing us with four days of high quality horse racing that represent one of the busiest periods of the UK betting calendar.

Starting on Tuesday 16th March and finishing on Friday 19th March, this four-day period will see the bookmakers really go to town with their free bet offerings. With so many people wanting to bet on the Cheltenham Festival these days, you will see many bookies increase their new customer bonus, while existing customers can also expect to see a few emails in their inbox which offer them a free matched bet.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not the world’s biggest horse racing enthusiast as the bookmakers don’t always specifically require you to place qualifying or free bets on a particular market. Therefore, if you’re predominantly someone who bets on soccer, tennis or cricket, then you can often simply take advantage of the firms wanting to appeal to the many potential customers who will be betting on some or all of the twenty-six races that are being run at Cheltenham.

It’s particularly worth keeping your eyes peeled for what William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral are prepared to offer new and existing customers. The ‘Big Three’ in terms of UK high street presence aren’t renowned for being overly generous with their free bet offering, although horse racing is a hugely important sport for these firms and we might expect to see them double their current £25 free bet offers or even quadruple them. Therefore, this might be the perfect time to open an account with these bookmakers if you haven’t already done so.

As far as betting on the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, the races are very competitive and it’s hard work to make a profit. If you are looking to place some horse racing wagers and increase your balance, you need to be disciplined and only pick a handful of races in which to place a bet. There are many ‘bankers’ that get tipped ahead of the Festival, although previous years have shown us that very few of these good things actually finish first in their race!

The highlight event of the week is the Gold Cup, which takes place on Friday 19th March. There’s the exciting prospect of Kauto Star and Denman going head-to-head once again, with Paddy Power offering a best price 11/8 that the former wins this race for the third time, although it was Denman who won the event in 2008. Ladbrokes offer 9/4 that no other runner lives with the high cruising speed of the Paul Nicholls horse.

Dunguib runs in the first race of the Festival and will be heavily backed to get the punters off to a flyer. Paddy Power and Coral both offer 5/6 that there plenty of hats thrown into the air as the horse passes the post in first place, and this appears to be one of the few occasions where an odds-on favourite merits the price.

Does the bank manager, in the traditional sense of the term, still exist? I’m asking because, in these days of direct debits and internet banking, I rarely go into my high street branch nowadays. If he does, and I have one, I would just like to apologise in advance for extending my overdraft this week without his permission but ask him to understand that the Cheltenham Festival only comes around once a year and, thank goodness, only lasts four days. After a promising start, I’m afraid my fortunes have nose-dived in the same manner as a cormorant might drop in on a sardine so forgive me if I appear to be chasing my money here. However, there’s nothing fishy over Aachen‘s chances in the Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle, the second race on the card on the final day of The Festival. A prolific winner on the Flat for Andre Fabre in France, the five-year-old has made a successful transition to hurdles, with his six-length defeat of Big Eared Fran at Taunton working out particularly well. The runner-up won a Grade 3 handicap at Sandown on Saturday and is the 5-1 favourite for the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (William Hill and Victor Chandler) later in the afternoon. That will be off a mark of 133 so the less-exposed Aachen‘s introductory rating of 142 appears by no means harsh and I’ll be attempting to get out of trouble with either totesport or Paddy Power, who are both going 9-1 about the Rainbow Quest gelding whose trainer Venetia Williams landed a big-price handicap double on day three. The Gold Cup is, of course, the feature on the final day and I’m sticking with the sentiments outlined last week that Exotic Dancer (still available at 10-1) could be the value in the race against Paul Nicholls‘ trio of classy chasers. Cape Tribulation (a general 7-2) should also be the one to beat in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. Let’s hope some of my bank manager’s money is still in my pocket by the time that comes around!

Well, after a relatively successful first day at the Cheltenham Festival, day two turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for this column. The Irish among us won’t be too disheartened, however, as they’ve given the ‘home team’ another bloody nose. One remarkable fact  coming out of the closing Festival Bumper was that by the time impressive winner Dunguib sauntered past the winning post, the first English-trained runner was still at the furlong pole. So, having been well and truly put to the sword by the Irish so far, will it be the French who grab the headlines on day three? We certainly aren’t going to get rich backing Kasbah Bliss for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, even though Paddy Power and William Hill have slightly eased Francois Doumen‘s classy stayer to 5-4. I don’t happen to think there’s a lot between last year’s runner-up and the progressive Punchestowns on the form book so surely the latter at a general 7-2 is the better bet. The victory of Punjabi in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle ended a barren spell for Nicky Henderson‘s hurdlers at the Festival and Punchestowns‘ gallant attempt to give 8lbs to Big Bucks here in January may have been underestimated in some quarters. While opposing the favourite in one of the day’s feature races, I’m afraid I can’t find any reason to suggest the layers have got it wrong in the Ryanair Chase. Voy Por Ustedes wisely swerved a clash with the brilliant Master Minded in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and that decision should be rewarded with victory in this half-mile longer event. Paddy Power and William Hill will both lay Alan King‘s star chaser at 5-4 and they’ll probably have plenty taking them up on that offer as the eight-year-old is some way clear on official ratings, likes the track and proved his wellbeing with an effortless defeat of Gwanako at Ascot less than a month ago. The rest of the card is devilishly difficult but Philip Hobbs will be hopeful of a big run from Ballydub (11-1 with totesport and Stan James) in the Pertemps Final and I’ve heard the yard think quite a bit of young chaser Or Bleu, who goes for the more lucrative Freddie Williams Festival Plate rather than the opening Jewson’s Novices’ Handicap Chase. He can still surprisingly be backed at 20-1 on betfair and with sportingbet.

Royal Ascot, The Derby, Glorious Goodwood, Punchestown. All great occasions but for most horse racing enthusiasts, nothing quite matches the excitement (or the ability to empty the pocket) of the Cheltenham Festival and those who believe that short-priced favourites in many of the championship races mean that this year’s betting bonanza will be more predictable than the norm – think again! Take the Gold Cup, for example.

With reigning champion Denman noticeably under par when well beaten by Madison du Berlais on his belated reappearance at Kempton, everybody has been keen to jump aboard 2007 champion Kauto Star. They forget, however, that the multiple Grade 1 winner will have to do what no horse has ever done before (i.e. regain chasing’s Blue Riband) and his tendency to ‘miss out’ the odd fence means his best quote of 15-8 (sportingbet, William Hill and extrabet) is singularly unatttractive.

Stablemate Neptune Collonges, third last year and 6-1 with sportingbet, Ladbrokes and William Hill, has his supporters but can anyone explain to me why he should be half the odds of Exotic Dancer? You see, I’m not convinced the grey would have held off the latter at Leopardstown in December had he stayed on his feet and Jonjo O’Neill has deliberately given the nine-year-old a relatively light campaign this winter as he bids to build on his third and fifth in previous Gold Cups. At 12-1 with sportingbet, Ladbrokes and extrabet, Exotic Dancer appeals as the value at this late stage.

By contrast in the Champion Hurdle, I think the layers may have got it right. Binocular was the best two-mile novice hurdler around last year and has progressed again this season. Tony McCoy hardly had a moment’s worry as the five-year-old cruised to victory at Ascot in December and, though now only a best 13-8 with bet365 and sporting bet, Binocular looks the one to beat. Reigning champion Katchit didn’t do himself justice at Ascot but Cheltenham brings out the best in him and at 16-1 with Ladbrokes he certainly warrants an each-way interest.

And what of the other races? Well Diamond Harry has impressed me in looks and ability every time I’ve seen him and can still be backed at 4-1 with bet365, sportingbet and Paddy Power for the Ballymore Properties Novices’ Hurdle, while Gone to Lunch looks to have ideal credentials for the RSA Chase. Jerry Scott‘s chestnut (a general 8-1) jumps well and will be able to maintain an end-to-end gallop better than most. Ireland, of course, will also have their share of winners and should again dominate the Festival Bumper in particular. Dermot Weld‘s Rite Of Passage (a general 10-1) may well be a star in the making and could thwart the Willie Mullins team in Wednesday’s finale and I think former Festival winner Drombeag may be the pick of Enda Bolger‘s challengers in the Cross Country Chase. At 14-1 with Paddy Power and Stan James, he’s the final name in this hopeful punter’s ante-post portfolio. Good luck!

You might tell your better half that Christmas or your anniversary or some other family occasion is your favourite time of year. Paddy Power know the truth though and after a year of racing it’s the only festival we love to celebrate the Cheltenham Festival and it’s just over a week away.

The big race of the opening day is the Smurfitt Kappa Champion Hurdle. Ireland have been cleaning up in this two miler over the last decade but Katchit lead home a British 1-2-3 last year though he’s an outside shot this time round for a repeat though Binocular should mark another one up for Britain. The JP McManus owned horse will be making a first run of the year and is expected to win impressively.

Wednesday gets an extra race for the first time and the best of the seven is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Master Minded’s win in this one last year was so impressive that no one really expects anything other than the same again this year. Nothing’s guaranteed at Cheltenham and if there’s going to be an upset, who could it be?

Ladies Day is when we make all our fillies and whips puns but it also has two cracking races in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase. There’s no Inglis Drever this time round so Kasbah Bliss leads the betting to replace the three time winner. Voy Per Ustedes is a big favourite after winning in Ascot though there are many who believe an upset is on the cards and suggest you cast your eye a little further down the betting.

Denman and Kauto Star will be going at it again in the showpiece Cheltenham Gold Cup on the Friday, which just happens to be the thirteenth. One of them is going to be unlucky but could both. Neptune Collonges trailed them both in last year’s race and could improve upon that third placed finish and while a horse like Exotic Dancer could upset the odds it’s looking likely that Paul Nicholls will be celebrating another Gold Cup success. Will Denman make it a double though?

Paddy Power have made the Cheltenham their top top priority this year and offer everything a punter could wish for.

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They have published some funny TV ads which you can also watch here:

Paddy Power Cheltenham TV ad featuring Carlton Palmer

Paddy Power Cheltenham TV ad featuring Richard Dunwoody