It’s only a matter of time until we hear the famous Cheltenham roar from the crowd as the 2024 Cheltenham Festival gets underway, with the first day of the Festival on Tuesday 12th March. In this article, we give our Cheltenham Day 1 tips, as well as listing the five top Cheltenham betting sign-up offers to take advantage of, and a recap of what happened on the opening day of last year’s Festival.
Cheltenham Day 1 Tips
Ahead of Day 1 of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, our horse racing experts have studied the card and picked out their best bet for each race, including their Cheltenham predictions for the four Grade 1 races on the card – The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Arkle Chase, Champion Hurdle and Mares’ Hurdle.
| TIME OF RACE | RACE | TIP |
| 1.30pm | Supreme Novices’ Hurdle | Firefox |
| 2.10pm | Arkle Novices’ Chase | Qulixios |
| 2.50pm | Ultima Handicap Chase | Monbeg Genius |
| 3.30pm | Champion Hurdle | State Man |
| 4.10pm | Mares’ Hurdle | Lossiemouth |
| 4.50pm | Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle | Wodhooh |
| 5.30pm | National Hunt Chase | Corbetts Cross |
Best Cheltenham Betting Sites For Day 1
Signing up for a new bookmaker for the Cheltenham Festival can be an excellent way to boost your betting funds, so we’ve researched all the bookmaker offers and chosen our five best offers you can take advantage of, with a pros and cons list to support each bookmaker.
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2. William Hill
William Hill are one of the biggest bookmakers in the UK and there are multiple reasons to choose them as your bookmaker. Their welcome offer of Bet £10, Get £60 Free Bets is a huge offer to take advantage of, and they’re also offering all customers a £5 free bet every day of the Festival. They offer extra place races every day, including each day of the Cheltenham Festival, and the only slight niggle we had was the verification process can be time-consuming.
| Pro/Con | Highlight | Reason |
| ✅ | Welcome Offer | Their Bet £10, Get £60 in Free Bets welcome offer is one of the best offers currently available. |
| ✅ | Cheltenham Offer for All Customers | William Hill are offering all customers a £5 free bet every day of the Festival, giving you £20 in free bets over the four days. |
| ✅ | Extra Place Races | Extra Place Races are on offer every day, which is useful for those each-way bets. |
| ❌ | Verfication Process | Their verification process takes a while to complete, which means it can take time to withdraw your money. |
T&Cs – 18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 18.10.2022 Maximum bonus £60. Bonus expires 72 hours from issue. New customers only. Minimum stake £10 on selected games. Wagering requirements apply. Online only. Virtual markets excluded. Further terms apply.
3. Copy Bet
CopyBet are making waves in the betting industry and that’s in no small part down to their excellent sign-up offer of £50 in Free Bets when you join and place a £10 qualifying bet. They also offer best odds guaranteed on all UK/Irish racing and extra place races each day. One negative we found was they don’t have live streaming, so you will need to find another way to watch the racing.
| Pro/Con | Highlight | Reason |
| ✅ | Welcome Offer | Their Bet £10, Get £50 in Free Bets offer is one of the best on offer at the moment. |
| ✅ | Extra Place Races | They offer extra place races every day, which can be extremely useful for Cheltenham Festival’s big-field races. |
| ✅ | Best Odds Guaranteed | Best Odds Guaranteed is offered on all UK/Irish racing. |
| ❌ | No Live Streams | They don’t offer Live Streaming for the racing, so you are unable to watch any racing on their app/website. |
T&Cs – New UK customers only. The qualifying bet should be a single bet, start at £10, and have 1.9 or greater odds. 5 Free bets include: 1 x £ 10 Free bet on horse racing, 1 x £ 10 Free bet on football, 2 x £ 10 Free bet in-play, 1 x £ 10 Free bet Acca. 7 day expiry.
4. BetVictor
BetVictor are one of the most well-known bookmakers in the Horse Racing industry and it’s easy to see why. Their betfinder tool is one of the best tools we’ve seen, making picking your horse racing bets nice and easy, whilst they also offer best odds guaranteed on all UK/Irish racing from 9am on the day of racing. Their new customer offer of Bet £10, Get £45 in Free Bets is a fantastic option to take advantage of ahead of Cheltenham Festival and the only real negative we could find for them was they don’t offer live chat functionality.
| Pro/Con | Highlight | Reason |
| ✅ | Betfinder Tool | The Betfinder tool is extremely useful and can save you plenty of time when picking your horse racing bets. |
| ✅ | Welcome Offer | Their new customer offer of Bet £10, Get £45 in Free Bets is excellent. |
| ✅ | Best Odds Guaranteed | From 9am on the day of racing, BetVictor offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK/Irish racing. |
| ❌ | No Live Chat | No live chat functionality does mean it can take a while to resolve any issues you have. |
T&Cs – 18+ New customers only. Opt in and bet £10 within 7 days of registration. Get £45 in Free Bets. Bonuses expire in 7 days. Debit Card/Apple Pay payments only. T&Cs Apply, See below. begambleaware.org | Please gamble responsibly
5. Betfred
There are plenty of reasons to sign up to Betfred at the moment, particularly due to their excellent welcome offer of Bet £10, Get £40 in Free Bets. Another reason to sign up is they offer Best Odds Guaranteed from 8am on the day of racing, which is considerably earlier than some rival bookmakers. Their Betfinder tool makes picking out your horse much easier and can save you a lot of time too. The only real downside we found was the fact you need to have a funded account to watch live streams, but that shouldn’t be an issue if you’re using Betfred as your main account.
| Pro/Con | Highlight | Reason |
| ✅ | Welcome Offer | Their Bet £10, Get £40 Free Bets offer is fantastic and well worth taking advantage of. |
| ✅ | Best Odds Guaranteed | Best Odds Guaranteed is offered from 8am on the day of racing, which is considerably earlier than rival bookmakers. |
| ✅ | Betfinder Tool | The Betfinder tool is a superb addition to Betfred, allowing you to quickly pick out your horses without needing to study the card. |
| ❌ | Funded Account For Live Streams | In order to watch live streams you do need to have money in your account. |
T&Cs – New customers only. 09:00 on 08/03/24 – 17:30 on 15/03/24. Register with CHELT50. First bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports which settles before 23:59 on 15/03/24. Free Bets: £20 Horse Racing, £20 Football Acca & 50 x £0.20 (£10) Free Spins on Fishin’ Frenzy within 10 hours. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply.
Cheltenham Day 1 Feature Race – Champion Hurdle
With Constitution Hill ruled out of the race and unable to defend his crown, this year’s race should at least be more competitive, although Willie Mullins’ State Man is now the odds-on favourite to win this year’s renewal. Having only finished second in last year’s renewal, he will be hoping to get one better this year and looks to have an excellent chance of doing so. The chief dangers look to be stablemate Lossiemouth, Gordon Elliott’s Irish Point and Fighting Fifth Hurdle winner Not So Sleepy.
Cheltenham Festival Day 1 Schedule
| TIME | RACE | CLASS |
| 1:30pm | Supreme Novices’ Hurdle | Grade 1 |
| 2:10pm | Arkle Novices’ Chase | Grade 1 |
| 2:50pm | Ultima Handicap Chase | Class 1 Premier Handicap |
| 3:30pm | Champion Hurdle | Grade 1 |
| 4:10pm | Mares’ Hurdle | Grade 1 |
| 4:50pm | Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle | Class 1 Premier Handicap |
| 5:30pm | National Hunt Chase | Grade 2 |
Cheltenham Festival 2023 Recap
Marine Nationale gave the Irish the perfect start to the festival, with a dominant performance to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and it didn’t take long for another Irish winner as Willie Mullins El Fabiolo powered to victory over Jonbon in the Arkle. Corach Rambler came out on top in a thrilling finish to the Ultima, before Constitution Hill extended his unbeaten record with an easy win in the Champion Hurdle. The wonder mare Honeysuckle continued her excellent record at the festival with her second victory in the Mares’ Hurdle, before young jockey Michael O’Sullivan rode his second winner of the day on board Jazzy Matty in the Boodles. Willie Mullins signed off day one with his second winner as odds-on favourite Gaillard Du Mesnil stayed on best to win the National Hunt Chase. At the end of day one the score in the Prestbury Cup was Ireland 5-2 UK.
What To Do If You Have A Gambling Problem
We understand that gambling can be fun, but it is always important to gamble responsibly. If you are struggling with a gambling problem, please do not hesitate to ask for help. There are people who can help you get on the road to recovery. Below, we have listed some helpful resources to help aid you on the road to recovery.
- National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133
- GamCare: https://www.gamcare.org.uk
- GambleAware: https://gambleaware.org/
