How pick winners at Cheltenham Festival in six simple steps

Everyone is desperate to beat the bookies whenever they can, but especially during the Cheltenham Festival. So, we've asked seasoned racing expert @VoiceOfValue to tell us best tips to make the most out of the upcoming Cheltenham Festival…

There are of course even more tips and hints to bear in mind when it comes to horse racing, if you want to enjoy the whole experience and try to make it profitable at the same time. Still, here are a few tips that I would suggest:

1. Shop around

There is no shame in looking for the best prices and using a few different bookies to do so. Use odds comparison sites to find the most competitive odds, it can make the difference between being in profit or making a loss across the Festival.

Of course, to take advantage of this you first have to make sure that you understand the odds and what they represent, but once you are well-versed in reading the odds, you can certainly find value in those differences between the bookies.

2. Use bonuses and promotions

The bookmakers will be bending over backwards to get new customers and also to attract existing customers to deposit their Cheltenham Festival cash. That's always the case ahead of big sporting events, so take advantage of this.

There are lots of new accounts offers here, which you can use to your advantage and remember to also keep your eyes open for offers for existing customers, if you already have accounts with certain bookies.

3. Don't get carried away

You don't need to bet on every race and you don't need to bet more than you normally would. There are 28 races over 4 days, so there are plenty of chances for us to have a bet.

Cheltenham is hugely competitive, so if you don't get a winner straight away, don't worry, and definitely don't start chasing losses. You'll quickly turn a bad week into a disaster when chasing losses, so just be patient and bet as you would normally do.

4. Set a staking plan

Get yourself a sensible staking plan by working out what you can afford to lose over the course of the week – worst-case scenario stuff – and then split that total across the four days to work out roughly what you want to stake each day.

When I refer to recommended stakes in ‘points' for example ‘2pt each way' you need to work out what you are happy to stake in total for the day then divide that by the number of ‘points' and that will tell you how much you should stake per recommended point.

5. Non-runner no bet (NRNB)

Be very careful with your bets at this stage. In most cases, you want to be taking ‘Non-runner No Bet' options which some (but not all) of the bookies are offering.

There are bigger prices available from bookies who are still running ante-post markets, but if the horse goes for another race or has a setback and doesn't run you won't get your money back. Tread carefully.

6. Do your research

Doing the research before placing any bet is crucial and that's especially true for horse racing. Listen what experts in the area have to say, read as much as you can about horses and jockeys, and combine all the information you find into your bet.

Most of all, enjoy the spectacle, it's a wonderful week of racing – best of luck!