Cheltenham Festival Tips

The 2023 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 2023 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 2023

Day One

The 2023 Cheltenham Festival will get underway on the 14th 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.

2023 Supreme Novices Hurdle tip

The favourite for the 2023 Supreme Novices hurdle is Facile Vega winner of the Paddy Power Future Champions Novices Hurdle. He's as good a lay bet as you'll find at the Festival and is underpriced and overrated given his recent performance at Leopardstown.

A far better value option is Impair Et Passe. Priced at 9/1 he was a winner by over 6 lengths in the Moscow Flyer Hurdle in January on heavy turf.

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 2023 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 dual Irish Grade 1 winner, Energumene, a hot favourite amongst tipsters and punters alike.

2023 Queen Mother Champion Chase tip

Reigning champion Energumene's price of close to Evens is a likely product of punters dog-piling the favourite. While he won the Champion Chase at both Chelntenham and Punchestown last season, his form in the new year has been nothing to write home about, and included a 6 length loss at Cheltenham in January.

The obvious candidate is instead Editeur Du Gite, who beat Energumene at Cheltenham in January, won the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton in December, and is still priced high enough to offer value on each-way bets.

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 2023. 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.

2023 Stayers Hurdle tip

The favourite for the 2023 Stayers Hurdle is Blazing Khal, who won his first raceday outing since 2021 at Navan in February. At 3/1 he looks underpriced given his lack of recent racing and the small field he beat in the Grade 2 hurdle February.

A far better value bet is Home By The Lee who won the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle over 3 miles at Leopardstown in December and offers value on each way bets at 7/1.

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.

2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup tip

Galopin Des Champs is the Gold Cup favourite following consecutive Grade 1 wins in the John Durkin Memorial Punchestown Chase and the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup. However, his preference for softer ground and absence of wins over fences at Cheltenham both suggest he is underpriced for the Gold Cup.

At 7/1 A Plus Tard offers far better value. The reigning champion was pulled up in his last race on soft ground, but his 15 length win last year can't be dismissed and at 7/1 he has a solid chance of making the places in the Gold Cup if he doesn't win outright.

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
Pillar Of Hope 16:00 Redcar 3 10/3
at Boylesports 		Results
  Indicated odds were updated on 2023-05-29 19:05:23 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.

2023 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 2023 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. 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.

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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 2023 Cheltenham Festival start?

The 2023 Cheltenham Festival gets underway on the 14th of March and will run over four days, with racing concluding on Friday evening the 17th 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.

Galopin Des Champs is one such horse at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. He has won two big Irish Grade 1 races this season and is priced near Evens to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

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 on 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.