The Cheltenham 2026 Festival was a weird one in terms of who won between the bookies and punters. I think it was one-sided, but it might have appeared to be closer during the week than what it was.
Generally, the bookies win a couple of days, and then there is one day where every short-priced favourite wins, and it evens itself out. Personally, I found it hard to find much success this year, and I think overall it was a win for the bookmakers.
Cheltenham 2026: Wins for the bookmakers
For the bookmakers to win, they need the favourites to lose and the outsiders to win.
Thankfully for the bookmakers, we only had seven favourites win during the week, even though it felt more.
There were some huge-priced winners, such as:
- 50/1 – Apolon De Charnie (Triumph Hurdle)
- 33/1 – Home By The Lee (Stayers' Hurdle)
- 66/1 – Martator (Grand Annual Chase)
- 40/1 – White Noise (Mares' Novice)
Cheltenham 2026: Big wins for punters
Considering there were only seven winning favourites, there weren't a lot of great moments for the punters (as a collective).
Day one got off to a flyer, with Old Park Star being a winning favourite for antepost backers and on the day punters in the Supreme. He won at odds of 15/8, and was strong in the market before the off.
Lossiemouth ensured it was a good day for the punters, as she was heavily backed in the Champion Hurdle, winning in emphatic style.
There were a couple of strong handicap favourites who won. Supreme West and Madara for the Skelton team were very strong in the market, both winning easily, showing how good the Skelton teams are. However, there wasn't much more success for the shorties in the handicap.
The biggest win for a punter that I've seen/heard about was when a 69-year-old punter won a total of 558,000 Euros from a 50-cent each-way Lucky 63 bet.
For the most part, it was a tough week for the punters as a collective.
Cheltenham 2026: Lack of odds-on shots
Normally, we have a few odds-on shots throughout the week, but this year was different. There were only two odds-on shots, which is something I prefer, as we all want competitive action.
However, the odds-on shots are normally heavily punted in the multiples and even singles if you've got the cojones.
This week at Cheltenham, we had two odds-on favourites. Majborough Lost, and Wodhooh won.
When there are a lot of odds-on shots, many punters put them in a multiple bet, but this year, it was struck by injuries or non-runners. Fact To File was fancied to win the Ryanair, but he was pulled out at the last minute. Narciso Has would've won the Triumph if he had turned up, but had a setback. If you were planning on that four months ago, it wouldn't have won, as Majborough lacked in the jumping department.
Cheltenham 2026: Superboosts
One way that punters try to make the most profit is to back the superboosts by certain bookmakers.
This year, it was a bloodbath for the punters who backed the boost on every day with Bet365.
Day 1 – Kopek Des Bordes or Lulamba to win the Arkle (LOST)
Day 2 – Majborough to win the Champion Chase (LOST)
Day 3 – Fact To File to win the Ryanair Chase, was then changed to Jonbob or Impaire Et Passe to win the Ryanair Chase (LOST)
Day 4 – Gaelic Warrior to finish Top 5 in the Gold Cup (WON)
One winning boost across the four days points towards another huge win for the bookmakers.
Cheltenham 2026: Bookies vs Punters conclusion
Rounding all punters together, it was definitely a loss for this Cheltenham Festival. The bookies had far too many winning days, and with a lack of winning favourites, it was always going to be a tough week.
However, many people will have won, and we've seen articles across the internet of some huge wins, which is great to see.
Another honourable mention is the punter who landed £81,202 from a £20 bet which included each-way trebles from five horses.
Some of the key horses he had were White Noise, Home By The Lee and Ask Bewster.
GambleAware