Cheltenham Festival: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Everything

The 2021 Cheltenham Festival is upon us and punters everywhere will be preparing their bets for the biggest four days in the horse racing calendar. The Cheltenham Festival is certainly the biggest week in the year for racing punters, with 28 races across four days, with action-packed handicaps and top-class Graded races meaning there is something for all racing fans. We appreciate that football fans may not be up to date with all things horse racing but as it is Cheltenham, we want to get involved in the fun and guide you through the Festival just like we would do with the football.

Cheltenham naturally draws in more punters than everyday race meetings and therefore, bookmakers are handing out lots of free bets, prizes and offers to draw people in, so make sure you check out our page to see the best offers around. The Cheltenham Festival runs from Tuesday through to Friday, with the action starting at 1:20pm each day. The main race on the day, which is known as the ‘Championship Race’, is slap bang in the middle of the card at 3:05pm, with the action concludes each day at 5:30pm.

There are so many different races, with things such as big field handicaps giving punters more places and bigger prices and more chances to make a profit. Here at Footy Accumulators, we have put together beginners betting guide to the Cheltenham Festival, looking at the best ways to have a bet and a look at all the exclusive tips and offers.

So, as we have mentioned, there are 28 races across the four days at the Cheltenham Festival and whilst each race at the festival is a big event and each day does have a highlight race.The highlight race is known as ‘Championship Race’ and often pools the best horses from certain divisions together to see who is the best. These races will take place at 3:05pm each day as the biggest race of that day, so, if you’re going to miss a few races during the day, try and make sure you’re tuned in for the 3pm in front of the TV.

So, as we have mentioned, there are 28 races across the four days at the Cheltenham Festival and whilst each race at the festival is a big event and each day does have a highlight race.The highlight race is known as ‘Championship Race’ and often pools the best horses from certain divisions together to see who is the best. These races will take place at 3:05pm each day as the biggest race of that day, so, if you’re going to miss a few races during the day, try and make sure you’re tuned in for the 3pm in front of the TV.

Day One

All the months of anticipation and excitement is over, and the action begins. Day One of the Cheltenham Festival is seen by many racing fans as the biggest day of them all. Whilst there is a feast of action to look forward to on Day One, the main event is the Champion Hurdle, a race over two miles. The 2021 Champion Hurdle will see Epatante back to defend her crown but this year she takes on star mare Honeysuckle.

Day Two

The highlight on Day Two is the Champion Chase and the 2021 renewal looks a cracker. Altior is back after missing last year, as he seeks a third win the race but must contend with Chacun Pour Soi, who is aiming to give master trainer Willie Mullins a first Champion Chase. In addition, we have got last year’s winner Politologue and the very much improving First Flow, the 2021 Champion Chase is set to be a cracker.

Day Three

Thursday is day three and known as St Paddy’s day at the Cheltenham Festival. Here, the main race is the Stayers Hurdle, a 3-mile marathon event for staying hurdlers.2019 winner Paisley Park went wrong in the race last year, but he has got his career back on track this season and is aiming to take his crown back but must contend with the new kid on the block in the staying hurdle division, Thyme Hill.

Day Four

The best is saved till last however as the biggest race of the week takes place on the final day of the festival, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. For many, there is no bigger race and 2021 will see Al Boum Photo try to win a third Gold Cup in a row for Willie Mullins. He must fend off challenges from the up and comers such as A Plus Tard and Champ as he goes for the hat trick.

The 2021 Cheltenham Festival starts on Tuesday 16th March and will conclude on Friday, 19th March and each day there are seven races with a mix of big field handicaps and graded races, hurdles, and chases.

The action will begin at 1:20pm each day and the concluding race will not be off until 4:50pm, meaning over three and a half hours of top-class racing action for us to watch and bet on.

We have already looked at the main race on each day and the main event will be run at 3:05pm each day, bang in the middle of the day’s action.

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest betting events of the year and as we mentioned before, with everyone wanting to join in the fun, it means bookmakers have lots more offers to try and get punters in.

Keep an eye out on our free bets page for some of the best offers, such as Sky Bet offering money back, up to a maximum of £10, if your horse does not win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the first race of the week.

Offers like that are a no brainer, you either get your stake back or start the week with a winner.

Whilst many will be looking at single bets across the week, multiples, if done correctly, can often increase winnings. The standard multiple bets will be punters selecting two or three short, priced horses and putting them in a double or treble.

The 2021 Cheltenham Festival seemingly has more short, priced favourites than most years and this may lead to many punters selecting this option.

Horses such as Envoi Allen, Monkfish and Chacun Pour Soi are all odds on to win and punters may select to put them all in one bet to maximise profits.