There is a new start time for the 2009 Cheltenham Festival and that is 1:30 instead of the regular 2pm start. The reason given by the management was that a lot of punters arrive early for the festival as they want to soak up the athmosphere and as such they have to wait too long for the first race.
Managing Director Edward Gillespie outlined the new plans by saying “One of the lessons we learned from the unusual circumstances of The Festival in 2008, was that a significant number of our customers enjoyed the earlier start that we had on Thursday and Friday. With the gates opening at 10.30am, it can seem a long time until the first race, so we are going to commence racing at 1.30pm. It will also mean that five races on each day are now broadcast live on Channel 4.”
Another change to the festival is that the main race on each day will be the fourth race which will go off a 3:20 providing a betting build up for TV.
Lastly, Conditional Jockeys will be given a chance to shine at The Festival for the first time, making a total of 26 races, with seven race cards on Wednesday and Friday. The Conditionals’ Hurdle will be a handicap over an extended two and a half miles on totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Day.
| Neptune Collongues Cheltenham Gold Cup Odds | 14 Jul 2008 |
| Henrythenavigator Unlikely Derby Starter | 29 May 2008 |
| Cheltenham Festival Gamble Leg Spinner Backed For Swinton Hurdle | 08 May 2008 |
| Take The Stand Cheltenham Champion Hunter Chaser | 08 May 2008 |
| 2000 Guineas Betting | 29 Apr 2008 |
| Punchestown Festival Winner Reinforces Cheltenham Form | 25 Apr 2008 |
| Punchestown Festival - Day 3 | 24 Apr 2008 |
| Tote Jackpot to hit £1 Million | 22 Apr 2008 |
| Scottish Grand National Tip | 18 Apr 2008 |
| Scottish Grand National Runners | 15 Apr 2008 |
| Cloudy Lane Grand National Drifter | 05 Apr 2008 |
| Grand National Pricewise Tips Up Bewleys Berry | 05 Apr 2008 |
| Paul Nicholls Grand National 3 | 04 Apr 2008 |
| Tote Beats Grand National SP on 37 out of the 40 runners | 04 Apr 2008 |
| Grand National - Look Out For the Irish Heavy Mob | 03 Apr 2008 |
| Paddy Power | Paddy Power £250 Free Bet |
|---|---|
| Ladbrokes | Ladbrokes £200 Free Bet |
| Boylesports | Boylesports £20 Free Bet |
| William Hill | William Hill £25 Free Bet |
| Sportingbet | Sportingbet £10 Free Bet |
| Bet365 | Bet365 £200 Free Bet |
| VCBet | VCBet £125 Free Bet |
Paddy Power are our firm number one choice for your Cheltenham Festival bets. When you open an account with Paddy Power you can claim a free bet of upto £250.
When the racing starts in March many of the listed bookmakers on our site provide special betting markets and cashback offers. As soon as these are revealed we will be adding them to our site to ensure you have all the latest Cheltenham offers at your disposal.

Following on from last year, we are delighted to announce that we are featuring horse racing tips from Channel Four Racing presenter, Tom Lee. Tom appears on Channel 4's Morning Line and covers live Racing in the afternoon as well fronting RTE's Racing coverage in Ireland, his Cheltenham Festival Tips and previews of each day's Racing will be available during the Festival and supported with opinions and views from our Racing writers.
On this section you can get an overview of the each of the races and official going for each day of the festival. In addition we have previewed each race with all the form, tips and odds to assist you in backing a Cheltenham Festival winner.

We now have the latest antepost betting odds for the main Cheltenham Festival 2010 races. These odds are updated regularily to ensure that you in touch with all the market moves in the build up to the festival.
All the bookmakers will be putting up Special Offers on top of their Cheltenham Festival free bets for the festival. Generally you can get extra value with various cashback offers should your horse finish second or if it falls which are just a couple of the different types of offers you will find on this site during the Cheltenham Festival Races.
For those of you who do not have accomodation or tickets for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival, we have some useful tips to assist you in having a great week at Prestbury Park. Wheter you are looking for Cheltenham Festival accomodation or Cheltenham Racecourse Directions we should be able to help.