Cheltenham Festival Tips

The 2022 Cheltenham Festival will mark the return of crowds to the world's most popular national hunt race meeting, promising to add a carnival atmosphere to the heart-pounding on-track action.

A total of 28 races will be run over the course of the meeting, with seven races a day including 13 Grade 1 races and a daily championship race run during 15:30 time-slot.

In this guide we'll provide you with:

  1. our Cheltenham Festival 2022 tips
  2. a breakdown of who the newspaper tipsters are backing
  3. the top three bookmaker sign-up offers
  4. the best bookmaker promotions for Cheltenham 2022

Day One

The 2022 Cheltenham Festival will get underway on the 15th of March with the Grade 1 Supreme Novices Hurdle, the race that typically inspires the biggest roar from the Cheltenham crowd.

The Supreme Novices Hurdle offers more than its fair share of betting opportunities. 

For a start bookies tend to focus on the race for money back and place specials. Then there's the fact that the huge betting interest in the race tends to push down the odds on the favourites.

That means you want to avoid looking to the markets for guidance on this race, and instead do your homework and pick a horse offering more value - horses priced over 10/1 frequently win this race.

2022 Supreme Novices Hurdle tip

The favourite for the 2022 Supreme Novices hurdle is Dysart Dynamo winner of the Moscow Flyer Novices Hurdle. At the moment he's priced under 4/1 which means you can't back him each way.

A far better value option is Kilcruit. Priced at 14/1 he's never finished outside the places in three hurdles races and won his last outing by 21 lengths.

Place your bet at William Hill

Review our Naps table to find out who the newspaper tipsters are backing today.

Day Two

Day two of Cheltenham 2022 has a bit of everything, and includes four Grade 1 races, headlined by the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The Champion Chase is certain to grab the headlines with last year's Supreme Novices Hurdle winner, Shishkin, set to start the race unbeaten over fences in seven starts.

2022 Queen Mother Champion Chase tip

If you want to bet on a banker at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, you probably can't do better than Shishkin in the Queen Mother Champions Chase. A genuine class act, he's very likely to pay off on his under-Evens odds.

If you're looking for value among horses who could place in the race then, Envoy Allen, takes some beating. Priced at 20/1 he has won at Grade 1 level last time out, beating a small field by over 7 lengths.

Place your bet at William Hill

View our Naps table to find out who the newspaper tipsters are backing today.

Day Three

The Stayer's Hurdle is the championship race of the third day of Cheltenham 2022. However, there's plenty of interesting action happening around it, particularly in the Ryanair Steeple Chase which never ceases to get the adrenaline pumping over 2 miles 5 furlongs.

2022 Ryanair Chase tip

History tells us that when the Ryanair Chase creates a favourite under Evens, that horse will win the race. This makes Allaho a banker for this race.

If Allaho doesn't deliver or you want to be able to back a horse each-way, then Conflated is the horse to get behind. He won at Grade 1 level in Ireland last time out and is a good candidate to place.

Place your bet at William Hill

View our Naps table to find out who the newspaper tipsters are backing today.

Day Four

Day four will feature the running of the UK's biggest Grade 1 chase - the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This will be the focus of media attention and you can be certain to find some good special offers on the race tabled by bookies.

However, there will be some interesting action happening elsewhere on the card, with our focus falling on the Mares' Steeple Chase. This race tends to feature mares who have previously raced in much smaller fields, which leaves the door wide open for picking profitable outsiders.

2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup tip

The 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup is more open than this race has been in a while, with the favourites trading at close to 4/1. In this context there's good value to be had, and Protektorat is one of the best options on the card.

He's never finished outside the top two over fences and was a winner last time out at Aintree, taking a 3 mile 1 furlong race by 25 lengths. At 8/1 he's outstanding value.

Place your bet at William Hill

View our Naps table to find out who the newspaper tipsters are backing today.

Nap of the Day

Nap Time Racecourse # Tipsters Best Odds Racecard
Arclight 14:40 Doncaster 5 11/10
at Boylesports 		Racecard
  Indicated odds were updated on 2023-01-27 11:00:26 UTC. Please note that odds are subject to change.

Cheltenham Festival Naps Table

Nap Time Racecourse Tipster Best Odds Racecard

This table will display tips from all major newspaper tipsters for today's racing at Cheltenham Racecourse.

The Top 3 Bookmaker Sign-up Offers

If you are looking to create a new betting account and get access to a lucrative sign-up offers then these are your three best bookmakers to go with for the Cheltenham Festival.

2022 Cheltenham Festival specials

Bookmaker specials can make the difference between profit and loss at the Cheltenham Festival. If you use several bookmakers you should be able to get extra value on almost every race at the meeting.

NRNB specials

If you're placing bets ahead of the start of the 2022 Cheltanham Festival in order to capitalize on higher antepost odds you're going to want to bet at bookies offering non-runner no bet (NRNB).

This will refund your antepost bets if your horse does not compete in the race you are betting on for any reason. 

If you place an antepost bet on a Cheltenham Festival race that is not covered by NRNB and your horse fails to participate, you'll automatically lose your stake. Make sure you avoid this rookie error.

Place specials

The bulk of specials on offer every day will be place specials. These come in the form of bookies offering to pay out extra places on selected races. 

For example, your each-way or place bets could be paid out to 5th place on a race that would usually only pay out these bets on horses finishing in the top three places.

When shopping around for place specials look out for bookies who drop the each-way odds on offer for extra places. For example if a bookie is paying out four rather than three places, and then changes their each way payouts from 1/4 of the odds to 1/5 of the odds you'll get less value on your places.

Money back specials

Money back specials will refund your stake, typically as a risk free bet, if certain pre-race conditions are met during a race - for example the starting favourite winning the race.

Some bookies will offer money back specials on selected races every day of the festival, for example Boylesports is offering money back on your selection if it finishes second to the SP favourite in ANY 2022 Cheltenham Festival race.

Others will run a single special throughout the festival that covers a wider selection of races.

Money back specials can be invaluable as they give you a chance to win your money back even if you lose your races.

Ongoing specials

Some of the top UK bookies offer ongoing specials without much fanfare that can make a huge difference when it comes to your returns from Cheltenham Festival betting.

The standout is bet365, which offers some fantastic specials including its Feature Race 4/1 offer and ITV Racing 4/1 offer.

Both these offers will reward qualifying punters with a free bet of up to £50 if your horse wins a qualifying race at over 4/1.

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Betting specials

Feature race 4/1

Advertisement. Back a winner at 4/1 or more on a bet365 Feature Race and get a risk free bet on the next bet365 Feature Race (up to £50). Offer applies to first single bet placed. Applies to Win and Each-Way Fixed Odds markets and Enhanced Place Terms markets only. Bet restrictions and T&Cs apply. New and eligible customers only.
Claim it now

ITV Racing 4/1 offer

Advertisement. Back a winner at 4/1 or more and get a risk free bet on the next live ITV race (up to £50) at bet365. Offer applies to first single bet placed. Applies to Win and Each-Way Fixed Odds markets and Enhanced Place Terms markets only. Bet restrictions and T&Cs apply. New and eligible customers only.
Claim it now

New to the Cheltenham Festival? Read our FAQ!

Why is the Cheltenham Festival so important?

The Cheltenham Festival is England's national hunt racing championship. It features championship races for every national hunt format, contested by the most talented horses in each race category and format. 

The Cheltenham Festival also serves as an unofficial contest between Irish and British racing. Ireland's top trainers, jockeys and racehorses cross the Irish sea every year to compete against their British rivals, and are accompanied by tens of thousands of Irish racing fans.

When does the 2022 Cheltenham Festival start?

The 2022 Cheltenham Festival gets underway on the 15th of March and will run over four days, with racing concluding on Friday evening the 18th of March.

What are the main races to look out for?

If you're new to the sport of horseracing then you should look out for the Grade 1 races that take place during the meeting, particularly the daily championship race. 

The championship races are run at 15:30 and include:

These feature the best racehorses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the contestants run under the same weight. This means these races are genuine tests of ability of both jockeys and racehorses.

Betting on championship races is also easier than betting on handicap races (races where horses carry varying weights to even out the prospects of the field).

There are fewer factors to take into account when placing bets on championship races, and it can be easier to make sense of every entry's race record when selecting the horses you want to bet on.

What are the main horses to look out for?

Every year a handful of horses arrive at Cheltenham as celebrities. These are typically horses who have had repeat wins at the Cheltenham Festival, or promise to deliver additional wins.

The horses that get the most attention are those that are going for multiple wins in the same race, particularly championship races - these will usually attract attention from the mainstream media.

Shishkin is one such horse at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival. Unbeaten over fences and the winner of last season's Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, he's poised to star in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

While watching horses of this quality is great entertainment and a big part of the festival experience, as a punter you want to be more focused against high quality horses that don't carry as much hype.

These are the horses that will run at odds that offer genuine value. We've mentioned a couple of these in our tips for each day of the race.

How can I watch the racing and can I attend?

The Cheltenham Festival is broadcast live around the world. If you're in the UK and Ireland you can easily stream the race from any bookie offering free streaming, or simply on TV channels that carry the racing.

International viewers can watch the Cheltenham Festival on satellite or cable racing stations. Live streaming may also be available depending on your location.

If you're fortunate to be in the UK during the festival you can get down to the Cheltenham racecourse and watch the action live with 50,000 other racing fans - just make sure you book your tickets early to avoid disapppointment.