Betting on horse racing: Cheltenham, Punchestown & the Grand National in Ireland: the 2026 guide

Where to find the best odds on horse racing in Ireland

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Horse Racing through a value lens

Cheltenham is a four-day championship meeting built entirely around National Hunt racing, where the best jumps horses in Britain and Ireland clash in races like the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle, and Irish-trained raiders often arrive as the form horses. The Grand National is a different animal altogether, a single, sprawling field over an extreme test of stamina and jumping where fitness, experience of the fences and a favourable draw matter as much as pure class.

Punchestown closes the jumps season at home and is, for a lot of Irish racing followers, the meeting that matters most: the same Irish yards that travel to Cheltenham run their squad again on home ground, often at shorter, sharper prices once the market has seen the Cheltenham form confirmed or overturned.

Leopardstown carries the same weight over the winter, with the Dublin Racing Festival in February the clearest form guide for the following month's Cheltenham entries, so a punter who follows Leopardstown closely often reads the Festival better than one who only tunes in for the week itself.

Both of the biggest meetings draw huge betting volume from casual punters who bet once or twice a year, which means the sharpest prices get found by anyone who does their homework: going each-way on a well-handicapped outsider, reading trainer and jockey form into a specific course, and comparing best-odds-guaranteed offers across two or three sites before a race, since the difference between a fixed price and the returned starting price can be significant on a big-field race like the National.

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Bet types worth playing on horse racing

The core markets are the win and each-way bet (a place typically pays a fraction of the odds across the first three to six places, depending on the race and field size), outright ante-post prices taken weeks or months ahead of the Festival or the National, Best Odds Guaranteed offers that lock in the better of the ante-post or starting price, and non-runner no bet terms that protect an ante-post stake if the horse is withdrawn.

Our tips for betting on horse racing

Read the specific conditions of the race, not just the horse's overall record: ground, course experience and jumping technique matter enormously at Cheltenham and the National in a way they don't in a routine handicap. Take ante-post prices on a fancied outsider early if the each-way terms and non-runner-no-bet protection are favourable, since value tends to shrink as the race approaches. And always check which operator offers Best Odds Guaranteed, it can turn a modest punt into a materially better return if the price shortens by race day.