Preparing for the Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest horse racing meetings of the year and looked forward to by the vast majority of horse racing enthusiasts. However, it’s also a key point in the year for matched bettors and general punters due to the increased number of betting offers that become available from several bookmakers such as the ones found at bookmaker-ratings.com. For many matched bettors, it can be the most profitable four days of the year and can give your bank a huge boost due to locking in profits from free bets, refunds, price boosts and more.

Common Cheltenham Betting Offers

Below, we’ve listed some of the most common types of betting offers that you’ll likely find in the run-up to and throughout the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.

Free Bets

Free bets are the cornerstone of any matched bettors profits and there are several of them available throughout the Cheltenham Festival. Many bookmakers will be offering ‘Bet X Get X’ offers for several of the big races such as the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and of course, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Money-Back Specials

Money-back specials are another common racing offer and one which you’ll find available on Cheltenham races this year. Some examples of money-back specials are ‘Money Back if your horse finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th’, ‘Money back if your horse finishes 2nd to the SP favourite’. Refunds are usually credited as free bets but some bookmakers do refund as cash.

Some bookmakers which regularly run money-back specials for racing are Paddy Power, Betfred, Sky Bet and William Hill.

Non-Runner No Bet

Although not strictly a matched betting offer, non-runner no bet is an offer which you’ll see many bookmakers running in the run-up to the Cheltenham Festival. NRNR mainly applies to ante-post bets where there is a risk of your horse getting injured or not participating in the race for any other reason. When NRNB is available, you’ll receive your stake back if your horse doesn’t run.

Faller Insurance

Cheltenham racecourse is considered the ‘Home of Jump Racing’ and so it’s inevitable that some horses will fall. This would usually result in your bet losing if you had backed one of these horses but with Faller Insurance, you’ll receive your stake back should this happen.

Extra Places

One of the most popular betting offers in racing is Extra Places. Extra Places apply to each way bets and when available, the bookmaker will pay out on additional places compared to the standard number of places. A common matched betting technique is to back and lay a horse for a small qualifying loss and if the horse finishes in one of the extra place positions, you make a profit.

There will be several Extra Place offers available for many of the races taking place at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.

Summary

With under 3 weeks to go until the 2021 Cheltenham Festival gets underway, it may be a good idea to start preparing for it. It’s a good idea to open as many bookmaker accounts as possible so that you can take advantage of any betting offers which become available and make sure that you have the time free to place your bets on each of the four days of racing.