Cheltenham Betting Tips 2022

No sooner has the Cheltenham 2021 taken place, than bookmakers and jumps racing enthusiasts are looking forward to the meeting in 2022. 

We hope the many thousands of racegoers will be in attendance for the four-day fixture, from Tuesday, March 15 to Friday, March 18. The festival is the biggest betting meeting of the year. The varied races produce enough Cheltenham favourites to delight their backers at the jumps meeting that matters most.

The best horses trained in Britain and Ireland contest 28 races during Cheltenham week. Its programme features Graded races over hurdles and fences and distances. The championship National Hunt Flat Race, a cross country contest over a variety of obstacles and several big-field competitive handicaps.

Cheltenham racing is superb, betting is huge and race fans are already thinking about the major races.

Cheltenham Results – Favourites

The major races at any Cheltenham Festival provide pointers for the Grade 1 races at the next meeting 12 months later. There were some impressive performances in 2021 and the betting public have opinions.

Bookmakers have been quick out of the blocks and here are the current favourites for several championship races in 2022, from Day 1 on Tuesday to Day 4 on Friday. Even well in advance of the big meeting in the spring, they could be your Cheltenham betting tips:

*You should have in mind that the odds can change before the event. Make sure to check them regularly in order to make an informed decision when you want to place your bet.

Cheltenham Festival Favourites 2022: Our Selection For This Festival

The four days of the festival feature Grade 1 Championships races that bring together the best horses and big field handicaps in which potential winners can come from any part of the weights. In this section, we’ll speculate about some of the ante post markets that could offer some value.

The odds on some of the selections could be much bigger at this stage than on the day of the race in March. The trick is identifying those contenders so continue reading for the latest betting tips for Cheltenham today and updates nearer Cheltenham 2022.

Cheltenham Tips Tuesday

The first day of the Cheltenham Festival was voted Britain’s most popular race day. The Cheltenham Roar goes up when the tapes rise for the opener, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Sir Gerhard won the Champion Bumper in 2021, beating Kilcruit by half a length. However, the winner was better value than that winning distance and can confirm the form when both horses go novice hurdling.

Tuesday’s feature is the Champion Hurdle and it’s hard to see beyond Honeysuckle going back-to-back in the race. The mare gets seven pounds of the male horses and it will take an exceptional hurdler to beat Honeysuckle giving away that weight. She won 11 times in 11 starts over hurdles and could dominate the division for another three years.

Bob Olinger, Appreciate It and Quilixios won the novice events at Cheltenham in 2021. However, horses in their first season out of novice company can find the transition to Champion Hurdle level difficult to achieve. The winners of the races they won do not have a good record in the Champion Hurdle 12 months later so Honeysuckle has nothing to fear. Ferny Hollow could be the dark horse on collateral form despite not running at Cheltenham.

The Arkle Chase is previewed in a later section but the horses to beat at this stage are the leading contenders for the Champion Hurdle. The shape of the race depends on which contenders stay in the hurdling division or immediately embark on a novice chasing career. The Mares’ Hurdle early tip is Black Tears who won the equivalent novices’ event in 2021 while the handicaps have no betting.

Cheltenham Tips Wednesday

The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the feature of Day 2 of Cheltenham. The race distance is two miles and there are 12 fences. Potential winners must jump accurately at speed and any serious error at the fences usually puts a horse out of the race.

Winners of the novices’ equivalent, the Arkle Chase, have a good record. That makes Shiskin the favourite and tip for the Champion Chase.

Nicky Henderson is the trainer of Shiskin and he prepared Sprinter Sacre to win the Arkle Chase and then two Champion Chases. Shiskin had a facile win in the 2021 Arkle Chase and no horse in training has the ability or potential improvement to stop Shiskin from being the 2022 champion chaser.

Put the Kettle On won the race in 2021 but was well behind Shiskin on Official Ratings.

The Festival Novices’ Chase is the novices’ Gold Cup because it is run over a similar distance. The betting is dominated by graduates from staying hurdling and Thyme Hill was close to the best in that division so looks decent value. The Coral Cup is a handicap so there is no betting at this point in time.

Cheltenham Tips Thursday

The Ryanair Chase is the highlight of Day 3 which is St Patrick’s Day so any Irish winners will be celebrated with even more pints of their most famous drink. You should pay attention to horses in the colours of Gigginstown.

That operation is owned by Michael O’Leary who just happens to be the CEO of Ryanair. His best chance is Samcro but other runners are preferred (see more information about the Cheltenham runners). Envoi Allen, despite falling at Cheltenham, has the class and ratings to win the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham 2022.

Flooring Porter is the favourite for the Stayers’ Hurdle after the win in 2021. The long-distance hurdling championship race has a history of producing multiple winners.

However, it takes an exceptional horse to go back-to-back and Flooring Porter is not a standout winner on the ratings. Paisley Park ran a solid race behind Flooring Porter and can add to his 2019 win in the Stayers’ Hurdle of 2022. The JLT Novices’ Chase has not yet taken enough shape to identify the winner.

Cheltenham Tips Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most prestigious chase in the sport and probably the most sought after by racing professionals. The Grand National is a handicap so the best horses will not always win. The runner with the most manageable weight often prevails, given luck in running. The Gold Cup identifies the best long-distance chaser and there are rare lucky winners.

The intrigue is enhanced because the race brings together experienced chasers who are proven over the distance at the senior championship level with relatively inexperienced chasers.

The best novice chasers of any season are often targeted at the Gold Cup. Winners Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020) and Minella Indo (2021) may not be in the same class as the champion novice chaser, Monkfish.

Cheltenham Tips for the Arkle Chase

The Arkle Chase is difficult to analyse because it attracts different types of runners. Some of the best novice hurdlers bypass championship races in that discipline and so straight to novice chasing. Other young and inexperienced chasers could emerge over the months so at this stage it is a race to approach with caution and small stakes in ante post bets.

Champion Chase Prediction

We’ve posted all our colours to the mast and without fear of contradiction, Shiskin is the Champion Chase prediction. Trainer Nicky Henderson has won two Champion Chases with Altior and Sprinter Sacre and Shiskin could build up a sequence of wins.

He is taking the traditional route from the Arkle Chase for novices over two miles to the Champion Chase.

The horse was a mile ahead of the best two-mile novice chasers and can confirm the form in the next level chase. Shiskin has graduated through the jumping ranks without turning a hair. The horse appears in the betting for the Ryanair Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup. However, the two-mile specialist is the banker in the two-mile Champion Chase.

Guide on How to Bet on Horse Racing: Tips for Beginners

Before we jump into the Cheltenham Festival betting tips 2021, it’s important to lay some groundwork. For anyone new to horse race betting, we’ll give a short guide on how to place a bet on horse racing.

Betting has gone hand in hand with horse racing since the sport’s early days. This hasn’t changed in the centuries since. What has changed is the fact that now you have the resources to do research before every major event and make an informed bet. You also have all the advantages of online betting like comparing the odds of multiple operators.

But before you start looking for the best odds you should know the most common betting types.

• Win only bets are the most straightforward ones – you simply pick a horse you think will win and bet on it.
• Each way bets are very common since they give you an increased chance of winning. You, essentially, bet that a horse will either win the race or be the top 4.
• With place only bets you bet that a horse will place second or third.
• Forecast bets are where you predict the winner and runner-up.
• Tricast bets are where you predict the top 3.

Now that you have the very basics on how to bet on horse racing, we can turn to Cheltenham tips. If you want more information to watch the race, check our page with all the streaming info to watch Cheltenham Live.

*You should have in mind that the odds can change before the event. Make sure to check them regularly in order to make an informed decision when you want to place your bet.

Cheltenham Betting Tips: the Old Course and the New Course

Cheltenham festival is spread across four days, with races run on three courses- the Old Course, the New Course and the Cross Country Course. Each of the courses has different characteristics and should be considered for the Cheltenham Festival betting tips 2021.

The Difference Between the Old and the New Course

As the most well-known course in Cheltenham, the Old Course will be the home of the first two festival days. Some of the races it will host include the Arkle, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Champion Hurdle.

The Old Course is tighter, with four starting positions. The course makes for a shorter run from start to finish, which is why it suits the prominent racers with a turn of foot.

After the initial two days, the attention moves to the New course. There, you will get to watch the Ryanair Chase, Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle, JLT Novices’ Chase and Gold Cup.

The New Course features five starting positions. It has a much longer run from the final bend to the finish line. With only two flights of hurdles in the final six furlongs, the course primarily challenges the runner’s stamina. It also leaves enough room for comebacks.

What the courses have in common is that they are both left-handed with stiff fences. Both of the courses also have uphill finishes in the last half mile. So, how can this help you decide how to place a bet on Cheltenham?

As you could see, the courses put different attributes to the test: strength and endurance respectively. So, it’s important to make sure you pick the right horse for the race.

How to Bet on Cheltenham 2022: Our Cheltenham Betting Tips

Although Cheltenham is still a while off, you can still check out the latest Cheltenham betting tips. Since we’ve already briefly gone through the conditions, below we’ll focus our Cheltenham races tips on other relevant aspects.

Finally, we’ll list our top Cheltenham favourites. Hopefully, by the end, you will have a clear idea of how to place a bet on Cheltenham successfully.

The Trainer Statistics

Trainers are arguably the main deciding factor in determining the success of a horse. It is their duty to get the most out of a horse in a healthy and safe way. Most racing horses are selectively bred to have the highest genetic advantage. So, it is up to trainers to mould the raw potential into success.

In terms of betting tips for Cheltenham today, we’ll go over some of the important trainer related points.

The first thing you should look at is the statistics of the trainer’s past performance. Which courses have they had more success on? Do their horses do better on routes or sprints?

See whether there are particular jockeys they prefer working with and for which types of races.

Find out whether their horses perform better earlier or later in the event. At times, horses need time to get into the groove, so they have a tendency to perform better later.

These are the kind of statistics you can use to get a clearer insight and predict how well a horse might perform.

The 2021 top Cheltenham Festival trainer was Willie Mullins, who beat Henry De Bromhead with more seconds and thirds.

The Jockey Statistics

Compared to the role of the trainer, jockeys play has a less important role in a horse’s performance. A properly trained horse with good lineage is, in general, more likely to no matter who’s holding the reins. Still, it’s no coincidence that certain jockeys are more successful than others.

Much like with trainers, it can prove useful to check jockeys’ past performance. Quite often, some jockeys tend to do better on certain courses. In general, you should avoid betting on horses whose jockeys have a strike rate lower than 14%.

The 2021 top jockey was Paul Townend, who recorded 6 wins.

Horse racing betting tips on other major British events

Are you looking for more British horse racing betting tips? Have a look at the tips on the following events:

• Grand National betting tips
• Royal Ascot betting tips