The Big Winners at Cheltenham Down the Years

In 2019, one lucky punter began the festival with a bang as his £2 bet on the opening day of then saw him land over £180,000 in return.

The punter attended Prestbury Park on an annual visit and placed a £2 bet in the on-course Tote Placepot, where you must pick a horse to place in every race. The placepot bet is a bit different to a normal accumulator as the winnings are pooled together in a dividend and split based on how many people enter the pool, and the total of more than £900,000 was shared by just 10.5 winning units.

Only one favourite won on day one and a shock in the Champion Hurdle also meant many slips in the bin. However, for this punter, everything worked out and he landed his biggest ever win, which helped him pay for his children’s university fees. The punter chose the winner of the first three races in Klassical Dream, Duc Des Genievres and Beware the Bear before Melon placed in the Champion Hurdle.

He then saw Stormy Island grab second in the Mares Hurdle and there was never a moment of worry in his last leg as A Plus Tard ran out an impressive winner of the Novice Handicap Chase, which gave him a final return of £182,567.

The 2018 Cheltenham Festival was a particularly good one for one lucky man from Birmingham whose £1 each was lucky 31 netted him a whopping £168,000.

The punter placed the bet with Betfred and used his winnings to take his friends on a holiday of a lifetime to Las Vegas. All five of his selections crossed the line in front and the win was rounded off by Missed Approach just getting up to win the final race of the day, the Kim Muir, by a noise to give the punter the win.

Before that, the punter relied on Gordon Elliott to get him off the mark as Shattered Love won the JLT at 4/1, Delta Work won the Pertemps in a photo finish at 9/1 and The Storyteller was an impressive winner of the Plate Handicap Chase at 7/1. Penhill winning the Stayers Hurdle at 12/1 was his fourth selection before he watched Missed Approach’s victory at 10/1 in his local Betfred shop.

The £1 each way bet was boosted by Betfred’s 50% bonus offer on lucky bets, which increased his winnings over £50,000.

The bets we have discussed so far were big wins that were placed on the day of the races however this punter in 2020 showed the value of ante-post betting as his £5 ante post accumulator returned a cool £2625. The 27-year-old placed a treble at Christmas time which began with Clan Des Obeaux winning the King George.

The remaining two horses were Ferny Hollow in the Champion Bumper who was delivered late by Paul Townend on the final race on Day Two and the bet was a winner when Samcro won the Marsh Chase on Day Three.

It was an agonising wait for the punter to see if his bet was a winner as Samcro crossed the line in a tight photo finish with the Willie Mulllins trained Melon and a decision took longer than usual due to how close it was. The punter was on course at Cheltenham to see both races and it was a long night after Ferny Hallow won, however, the joy of Samcro’s win more than made up for it.

The bets we have looked at so far gave big returns from small stakes so this one takes a different approach however this punter enjoyed a couple of days at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival.

The punter chose five horses across day two and three to win or place and watched on nervously as he landed a whopping £850,000 in return. The first of his five horses were Diego Du Charmil who landed the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle at 13/2 on day two before watching Ballyandy win the Champion Bumper the race after at 5/1.

It was a nervous night for the punter between days two and three, however, the racing fan relied on the trustworthy combination of Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh to do the business with Vatour in the Ryanair Chase before watching one of the bankers of 2016 in Thistlecrack in the Stayers Hurdle to give him a third victory.

His fifth and final section was also a Mullins and Walsh runner, in the Mares Novice Hurdle, as Limini went off at 8/11 and returned the goods to give the fan a life-changing victory.

A super Heinz bet in 2019 by a golfer returned a whopping £48,200 from his initial stake of £240,000. A super Heinz bet consists of seven selections and 120 individual bets made up of all the possible multiples from each of the seven selections.

The punter's selections were across the seven races on day two, where Kilultagh Vic in the Coral Cup was the only horse who did not win on the bet. Things started well when the Paul Nicholls trained TopoftheGame landed the RSA Novices’ Chase and after that things were straight forward after defeat in the Coral Cup. Altior won the Champion Chase at 4/9 as his odds suggested and the punter watched Grand National hero Tiger Roll win the Cross Country Chase with a minimum of fuss.

The next selection was the well-backed Band of Outlaws in the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle who stormed home from an unpromising position to the land the gamble. Going into the final race, the punter was already looking at a good return, but it was about to get a whole lot better as Envoi Allen announced his name on the big scene by fending off Blue Sarri to win the Champion Bumper.

They are just a few big bets won at the Cheltenham Festival in the last few years. There are so many opportunities at the festival and it’s an ideal time to have a bit of fun and chuck a few of your selections together to chase a big win.

Sometimes, you just never know!