The Most Profitable Bet Types in Cheltenham History

Last Updated 5 hours ago

Some of the great Cheltenham gambles have become part of Festival folklore. Past performance guarantees nothing, but studying these monumental payouts shows what to look for.

The most profitable bets in history were rarely lucky punts. They came from spotting a hidden gem or having the nerve to back a contrarian view. Five types recur.

The ante-post accumulator on an Irish banker

The most famous is the ante-post accumulator built around an Irish banker, the tale of a punter who stacked a small fortune on a multi featuring Willie Mullins superstars such as Hurricane Fly and Quevega and turned a modest stake into a fortune.

The key was identifying a near-certainty like the brilliant Quevega and building out from there, always months in advance to secure the biggest prices.

The plot horse in a handicap

The plot horse is the holy grail for many professional punters, a horse deliberately prepared and kept from the handicapper for a specific race.

The signs are a light campaign, a shrewd trainer with a history of such plans, and a mark that looks lenient against hidden ability. When one lands at 20/1 or 33/1, the returns are enormous, which is why the winter is spent searching for horses better than their rating suggests.

The big each-way punt in a large field

While everyone hunts the winner of the Coral Cup or the County Hurdle, real money can come from targeting a place at a huge price.

The profile to seek is a 25/1 or bigger shot with solid each-way credentials, a strong late effort last time, a good draw, or a trainer and jockey pairing that excels in these races. A place payout on a 50/1 shot can feel almost as good as the winner.

The debutant novice

Sometimes a trainer has a novice so highly regarded that the traditional trials are bypassed. With a towering home reputation but no public form, the price can be generous.

When such a horse arrives and wins the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on its first start, those who took the early 10/1 or 12/1 are well rewarded, which makes the hype from the most powerful yards worth following.

The against-the-crowd champion

The boldest of all is opposing a seemingly unbeatable favourite in a championship race. The favourite may have a question over the trip or the ground, or a fresh, improving rival may have been overlooked.

Backing the 5/1 or 6/1 shot that topples a 4/6 favourite in the Champion Hurdle pays out in cash and in pure satisfaction.

These five represent the dream of every Cheltenham punter, and all require patience, research and sometimes a leap of faith. The principles behind them feed into the hunt for long-odds value, the workings of handicap races and the case for ante-post betting, with more in the site’s Cheltenham Festival betting guides.