It’s the time of the year when bookmakers all around the land twitch nervously, wipe their brows every so often and are glued to one screen or another.
With Cheltenham Festival; one of the biggest betting bonanzas in sport, now in the rearview, the same bookies can breathe a sigh of relief. For another year, at least.
As is often the case going into the week, there are a number of ‘red hot’ favourites that for many appear to be “certainties” to deliver, with 10s of thousands often lost by bookmakers. There is always usually at least one shock.
A Mix Of Favourites And Long Shots
Going into the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, some of the ‘big’ races had a high-profile favourite, while with a couple, you couldn’t really call it. With Nicky Henderson favourite, Old Park Star delivering in the first race, later that day in the Unibet Champion Hurdle, it was well-liked favourite Lossiemouth who delivered in stunning fashion, with many bookies likely thinking “here we go again”.
However, they were saved in the second race of the festival, when Kargese at 7/1 upset the odds beating well-fancied favourites Lulamba and Kopek Des Bordes. Arguably the biggest favourite of the week to deliver, Majborough at 5/6 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase made error after error, finishing in a disappointing seventh.
Later that day, 66/1 long shot, Mariator produced a shock in the Grand Annual Handicap Steeplechase to sweep in at first place, beating last year’s winner Jazzy Matty, while at 40/1, White Noise was another accumulator-buster for punters, when winning the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Despite 5/6 favourite Woodhooh winning the Mares’ Hurdle, it was the only winning one that won that day, with another long-priced outsider, Home By The Lee, at 33/1 who came first in the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Although Gaelic Warrior was a popular favourite for the Gold Cup, pre-race it was quite an open field; the opinion being that any one from three or four could win.
WHAT. A. HORSE.
GAELIC WARRIOR WINS THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/JJRDu1aODa
— Coral (@Coral) March 13, 2026
There would likely have been quite a lot of money on the Willie Mullins-trained horse, while second-favourite, Jango Baie finished a place behind him.
One Of The Best Days Ever For Bookies
The fact is, that this Cheltenham Festival could have gone a lot worse for the bookmakers; of course, there are always going to be favourites who deliver, while some very lucky few punters have five or six figure payouts for a winning accumulator.
In the grand scheme of things, this year was not too bad. Indeed, William Hill reported via a press release that Wednesday 11 March 2026 was the most successful day in the bookmaker’s 90-year history at the festival.
Meanwhile, on-course bookie, Gary Wiltshire revealed that all four days had been profitable for the “layers” and spokesman for PaddyPower, Paul Binfield stated:
“Two races stand out as big swings in the week in our favour: Martator getting up on the line to deny Jazzy Matty meant we avoided the worst result and, similarly, Ask Brewster was a good result in the Kim Muir. Both were very close finishes that fell in our favour. We put that down to luck and it would have been very different if those two results were reversed.
“Overall staking was similar year-on-year, which was probably driven by competitive fields, lack of short-priced favourites and good concessions with extra places and free bet offers.”