The Tote is quite unique and was originally created to combat illegal gambling. Back in the day, there were plenty of criminal gangs running illegal betting activities.

The Tote was set up in 1928 by Winston Churchill as a legitimate alternative to off-site bookmakers which ploughed some of the funds back into the horse racing business.

Horse racing bets involve placing a wager on fixed odds when using a normal bookie in the UK. Whereas Tote bets use a pool betting system to determine the returns on any winners.

Switching from normal betting to Tote betting might seem confusing at first but it can create opportunities once you get used to it.

Our guide will take you through what Tote betting is and how to use it.

As mentioned, Tote betting uses a pool system or pari-mutuel betting system as it’s also known.

This system sees all stakes for different bets in a race into pools. The pool is then divided among the winning tickets after the race has finished, less the Tote deductions (tax, commission etc).

Because of the way the system works, it’s impossible to know any payouts until after the race has finished.

Here’s the basic principles of how it works:

There’s several bet types available when using Tote betting. Some are easier than others and some offer potential for much higher rewards.

This is the easiest of all the Tote bets.

Placing a Tote win bet is very simple. You just click on the win pool (1.54) and this will add the bet to your betslip. You then enter your chosen stake in the win part of the betslip.

This is essentially similar to an Each Way bet but doesn’t split your stake between the win and the place and doesn’t involve place fractions.

The Tote will display how many places they are paying out on for a given race. When placing your bet, your horse needs to finish in one of those places, including 1st place.

The amount of places paid will depend on how many horses are in the race but typically looks like this:

As with the Tote Win bet, if your horses places, you’ll receive a dividend from the pool. In the majority of cases, the place pool is normally smaller than the win pool.

Very similar to placing a Tote win bet but this time, you click on the figure in the place column. Again, you then enter your stake in the betslip but use the place stake box this time.

The Tote Exacta bet is identical to a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-forecast-bet">straight forecast</a> bet but is a version created specifically for the Tote.

This bet is also known as an <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-an-exotic-bet-in-horse-racing">Exotic Bet</a> and is one of the easier bet multiples to place.

Basically, you need to pick two horses to finish first and second but they must be in the correct order to win the bet.

Exacta bets can be very rewarding and offer decent odds due to the difficulty of predicting the correct outcome.

When you enter a racecard, the Exacta Bet option is a tab to the right hand side of the win/place tab.

You then need to pick the horses you predict are going to finish 1st and 2nd and then enter your stake into the betslip.

This is the Tote version of the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-tricast-bet">Tricast Bet</a> and is similar to the Exacta bet but adds another selection.

This time, you’re picking three horses to finish in the top three places, but again, they must finish in the exact order you have predicted.

Placing a Tote Trifecta Bet

As can be seen from the above image, the Tote Trifecta bet can be accessed from the tab next to the Exacta bet tab.

Pretty much the same as placing the Exacta bet but this time you’re picking 3 selections instead of two.

The Swinger bet is exclusive to the Tote and mixes things up a bit. This time, you’re picking two horses that need to finish in the top three places.

The Swinger bet provides bettors with a little bit of breathing space as there’s a place to play with.

Some things to consider about the Swinger bet:

The Tote Swinger bet can be accessed form the right hand tab on the racecard. From there, you need to click on the “Add” button for the two horses you would like to bet on. You then need to add your stake amount to the betslip.

PLEASE NOTE - You aren’t restricted to the Tote when placing Tote bets. There’s plenty of bookies that act as agents for the Tote so you may be able to place Tote bets with your favourite bookie.

Because the Tote isn’t like the fixed odds you get at a normal bookies, you only get an estimated set of odds. The odds at the Tote are influenced by the amount of money placed into the pool. Just remember that the pool figure is the key here, not so much the odds on display.

Let’s take a look at a real example:

We have highlighted the key information for an upcoming horse race at Thurles. Let’s look at the figures for horse number 3, Can Happen:

All of the bets placed across multiple Tote betting outlets are fed into the same system. This means bettors placing wagers at different race meetings are all adding to the same betting pools.

Here’s an example of how it would work:

Based on this, the dividend would be £40,000 ÷ £5,000 = £8 per £1 stake. Therefore, if you placed a £10 bet, you would get £80 back.

We’ve covered the more common types of Tote bets. In addition to these, the Tote offer some significant potential returns with three large prize bets; Placepot, Quadpot and Jackpot.

In the main side menu at Tote, they have links to take you to each of these betting options. Once you click on the links, it tells you which races are applicable to each bet type.

A placepot bet requires you to pick one horse from each of the first six races at one meeting. In order to win, each of your selections must place in the relevant race.

Sometimes, there will be one meeting to take part in the Placepot, other times they might offer multiple race meetings. Either way, your six selections must be from the same meeting.

Here’s an example of a Placepot meeting at <a href="https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/exeter/?utm_source=local-exeter&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_campaign=gmb">Exeter Races</a>.

As you can see, it displays 6 legs that display the races that you need to pick your horses from. You click on the + sign against your chosen horse and then click on the next Leg to pick your next horse and this continues until all 6 have been picked.

As you can also see, the Placepot prize for this bet is a lovely £25,000.

Similar to the Tote Placepot bet, the tote Quadpot bet requires you to pick four horses to place in four races form a specific meeting. However, this time you choose your selections from races 3 to 6.

Also similar to the Placepot, there might be multiple race meetings you can opt for. But remember, your four selections must be from the same race meeting.

Here’s an example of a Quadpot meeting at <a href="https://www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk/">Ayr Races</a>.

The Quadpot will display 4 legs (4 races) that you need to make your selections from. You click on the + sign against your chosen horse and then click on the next Leg to pick your next horse and this continues until all 4 have been picked.

Whilst the potential rewards aren’t as great as the Placepot bet, the winnings pool is not to be sniffed at.

The Tote Jackpot is usually restricted to one race meeting per day and punters need to pick the winner from the first 6 races at that meeting.

Here’s an example of a Jackpot meeting at Exeter races.

You get the gist of how this works now. Pick the horse you predict for leg 1 and then do the same for the remaining 5 legs.

There is no right or wrong with this decision. It very much depends on what type of bettor you are or factors that may impact the race outcome and odds.

You might choose a bookmaker when:

You might prefer Tote betting when:

It’s not unheard of for experienced bettors to use both options to enhance their chances.

Paul Trevor

A Beginner’s Guide To Using Tote Betting In The UK

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">Sports betting</a> has never been so popular and the betting markets are bigger than ever with so many <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/types-of-bets">different types of bets</a> available.

This means the bookies will throw offers at you to get your custom ahead of their competitors.

One way that they do this is to give sign-up offers to new customers.&nbsp; Once they have your custom, they don’t want to lose it so they try and come up with enticing promotions for existing customers too.&nbsp; One such offer is Best Odds Guaranteed or BOG as it’s often called.&nbsp;

Best Odds Guaranteed is a great offer that ensures you always get the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-are-the-best-odds-for-matched-betting">best odds</a> for your bet selections.

You will generally only find this offer on the UK &amp; Irish horse racing markets as well as greyhound races at some bookies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

If you place a bet and then the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-sp-mean-in-horse-racing">starting price</a> (the odds when the race starts) of your bet selection is higher than when you placed it, the bookie will pay out at the higher odds should your bet win.&nbsp;

The introduction of Best Odds Guaranteed was a genius incentive and big game changer in the sports betting industry.

It eliminates the risk of missing out if the odds on your selection drift out to a higher price after you’ve placed your bet.&nbsp; The assurance of BOG can make your betting experience more pleasurable because you know you’ll always get the best returns should your bets win.

When placing a bet on a horse or a greyhound, most bettors lock the price in when they back it. Bookies do offer the option to take the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-sp-mean-in-horse-racing">Starting Price</a> (SP) but given the amount of BOG races on offer from the bookies, it’s unlikely doing this will be of a benefit to you.&nbsp;&nbsp;

To expand on this, if the race was offering Best Odds Guaranteed and at the time you decided to back a horse, it had odds of 9 (8/1).

If you decided to take the SP and the odds then shortened to 4 (3/1) and the horse won, you would only get paid at 4 (3/1).

This is why it’s better to take the odds on offer at the time you place the bet.&nbsp; Had you taken the odds on offer at 4 (3/1), you would be paid at that price if your horse were to win.

On the other hand, let’s say you took the odds on offer at 9 (8/1) and then the odds drifted out to 11 (10/1) when the race started.

Should your horse win, the bookies would then pay your returns at the starting price of 11 (10/1).&nbsp; This is the beauty of Best Odds Guaranteed, you will always get the best price available.&nbsp; As always though, this won’t guarantee your horse will win!

Let’s look at some examples of Best Odds Guaranteed to breakdown what the above would look like:

As you can see, if your horse/dog wins, you can’t lose out. The BOG is especially enjoyable when your selection wins and&nbsp; the SP is higher than the odds you took.

Examples Of Best Odds Guaranteed In Action

Going back to the previous examples of where one winner provided better odds from the Starting Price and the other winner provided better odds from the price it was backed at, let’s have a look at real life examples of those scenarios.

So in this case, the bettor has had £10 on the horse D Art D Art in the 2:50 at Punchestown and they opted to take the odds of 10.0 (9/1).

D Art D Art absolutely romped it home as a clear winner.&nbsp; When the final result is published, we can see that it ended up with a starting price of 7.0 (6/1).

As Best Odds Guaranteed applied to this race, the bettor was always going to get the highest price when their horse won. But what was the outcome from this bet?

So in this case, the bettor has had £10 on the horse Modern Utopia in the 3:15 at Nottingham and they opted to take the odds of 8.0 (7/1).

This time Modern Utopia cruised to victory.&nbsp; When the final result is published, we can see that it ended up with a starting price of 9.0 (8/1).

Again, Best Odds Guaranteed applied to this race so the bettor will get the best price. So what was the outcome from this bet?

As you can see, the bettor has benefited in both cases here. If BOG wasn’t available for the second example, the bet would have returned £10 less as they would have only got returns for the price they backed at and not the increased starting price.

Bookies Offering Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG)

Best Odds Guaranteed really is a fantastic offer from the bookies and it’s important to take value from the bookies whenever you get a chance to. Taking advantage of BOG offers helps bettors to maximise potential profits and lock them in.

As with a lot of betting, there are a ridiculous amount of rules and unlike the set in stone <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-rule-4-in-horse-racing">Rule 4</a>, each bookie has their own variation of rules when it comes to Best Odds Guaranteed.

Let’s have a look at what some of the top bookmakers are offering to help you find the best value on offer:

That’s a high level overview of what’s on offer but let’s dig a little deeper inside their offers.

Bet365 gains the upper hand when BOG can be used because they offer it on every single greyhound race and every single horse race within the UK and Ireland.

Any bets outside of this jurisdiction will not qualify though.&nbsp; Any bets placed after 8:00 am on the day of the race will qualify for Best Odds Guaranteed.

Bet365 BOG offer is eligible on all singles, each way, multiples and show cast bets.&nbsp; It’s also worth noting that Bet365 also include Bet Boosts and Extra Place races in their BOG offering.

The Best Odds Guaranteed exclusions from Bet365 are Tote bets, Ante-Post bets and Each Way Extra bets.&nbsp; One other thing, whilst some bookies put a cap on the maximum you can win using BOG, Bet365 don’t have a limit in place.

Sky Bet are nowhere near as generous as Bet365 and tend to make you jump through hoops to take advantage of their Best Odds Guaranteed offer.

To qualify for their BOG offer you have to be part of the Sky Bet Club which involves placing £30 of bets each week.

They do offer rewards for being part of the Sky Bet Club but it seems a bit steep to have to join it to get Best Odds Guaranteed when plenty of other bookies offer it as standard.

Once you’ve joined their club, what other hurdles are in your way? With Sky Bet it’s probably easier to tell you what types of bets don’t qualify.

Best Odds Guaranteed is available from 9:00 AM and only on UK and Irish horse racing.&nbsp; BOG doesn’t apply to Tote bets, Ante-post bets, Money Back races, Extra Place races, Price Boosts, enhanced accumulators or any specials.

If you like Sky Bet then the BOG offer is there but I don’t think anybody would think bad of you if you decided to give it a miss.

Okay, VBET aren’t amongst the biggest or better known bookmakers but they don’t lack in their Best Odds Guaranteed offering to customers.

As with some other bookies, they offer BOG on all UK and Irish horse races, but not on the greyhounds.&nbsp; Like Bet365, they also have no limit on how much you can win from a win on a Best Odds Guaranteed race.&nbsp;

One notable difference with VBET is that they offer BOG from midnight.&nbsp; If you’re a night owl, you might find some great odds that will be included in their BOG offering before the markets are open to the early birds.&nbsp;

As with all bookies, there are restrictions in place which means the BOG offer doesn’t apply to Tote bets, Ante-post bets, Price Boosts, VBET-packaged multiple bets or any other ‘specials’

As with most other bookies, Betfred offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish horse racing.&nbsp; Their terms state that BOG is available on selected races but in truth it’s available on pretty much every race unless it is a ‘Super Extra Place Race’ of which there can be one or two per day. Bettors can lock into the Betfred BOG offer from 8:00 am on the morning of the races.&nbsp;

As you’d expect, Betfred also have a list of exclusions from their Best Odds Guaranteed offer: Ante-Post bets, Tote bets, specials markets, boosts, Super Extra Place races, Lucky 15’s, 31’s and 63’s.

Coral’s offering is pretty standard in that they only offer BOG on all UK and Irish horse races and you can take advantage of the offer from 8:00 am on race day. The usual restrictions apply regarding Ante-Post and Tote bets, special offers, boosts etc. They do have some additional exclusions such as betting without and place markets.&nbsp; If you are unsure, always check the terms and conditions at the bookmakers.

There are a couple of things that stood out with Coral’s Best Odds Guaranteed terms though:

You can get involved in the Best Odds Guaranteed offer at Paddy Power from 8:00 am every day and it applies to all horse racing in the UK and Ireland.&nbsp; However, to be eligible for their BOG offer, you must opt-in on the promotions page.

Best Odds Guaranteed at Paddy only applies to singles and multiple bets on win or each-way markets.&nbsp; In terms of exclusions, pretty much the same as most of the other cookies but worth checking their terms if you’re unsure.

One surprise with Paddy Power is the cap they have in place on winnings from Best Odds Guaranteed.&nbsp; The maximum payout a customer can receive is £1,000 per day.

You can place bets on all UK and Irish horse races from 9:00 am to take advantage of the Best Odds Guaranteed deal from BetVictor.&nbsp; They do restrict customers to a maximum of £10,000 in winnings per day.

Other than the winnings cap, BetVictor are pretty relaxed about everything else.&nbsp; Unlike the others, they don’t impose any restrictions to bet multiples, special offers or boosts.&nbsp;

So in the previous section we looked at what each of the top bookies are offering with the Best Odds Guaranteed deals.&nbsp; Whilst they each have their own little twists to the offering, let’s look at some generic things to consider when choosing which bookie to use Best Odds Guaranteed with:

Betting Strategies To Maximise Best Odds Guaranteed

Best Odds Guaranteed is a good addition to any betting strategy but to make the most out of it, there are some things you might want to consider:

Mistakes To Avoid With Best Odds Guaranteed

We know that BOG is a great promotion but in order to maximise your chances of success, there are some common mistakes you need to mindful of:

Using BOG As Part Of A Matched Betting Strategy

Best Odds Guaranteed can be an extremely useful offer when it comes to <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a>. Whether you’re doing <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/horse-racing-refunds">horse racing refunds</a>, horse racing reloads or using free bets, BOG has the potential to increase your profits above expectations.

Let’s have a look at a couple of scenarios where matched bettors might benefit from Best Odds Guaranteed.

As the bookies started getting more competitive, most of them rolled out the Best Odds Guaranteed offer.&nbsp; At first, BOG included boosts and promotions but then things started to tighten up.

A lot of bookies realised they were giving a little bit too much value away so they started adding exclusions to their BOG offering.&nbsp; One such exclusion was horse racing refunds where bettors can get money back if their selected horse finishes second or third.&nbsp;

Fortunately, there are still one or two bookmakers that allow racing refunds and BOG together.&nbsp; One of the bigger players that allows this on selected horse races is Betfred.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

What Is Best Odds Guaranteed?

If you’re not an experienced bettor, you can find a confusing <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-terminology-101">array of terminology</a> on a bookie’s website.

As well as endless abbreviations (<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-sp-mean-in-horse-racing">SP</a>? <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/best-odds-guaranteed-in-matched-betting">BOG</a>? W/O?) you’ll have to navigate a variety of terms that the bookies seem to think are so self-explanatory that there’s no need to tell you what they mean.

If you’ve found yourself looking at the ‘accept all odds movement’ option and wondering what exactly will happen if you click it, you’re not alone.

But you don’t need to wonder any longer - in this article, we’ll explain exactly what it does and whether you should choose it when <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">sports betting</a>.

What Does ‘Accept All Odds Movement’ Mean?

‘Accept All Odds Movement’ is an option that, if you choose it, means that your bet will be placed even if the odds change between your adding a selection to your betslip and your bet being placed.

This may not happen frequently if you tend to place <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-single-bet">single bets</a>, but it’s much more common when placing <a href="https://outplayed.com/sports-accumulator-betting-guide">multiples</a>.

As it takes longer to add all your selections to your bet slip, the chances of the odds on at least one of those selections changing before you place your bet become higher.

If you don’t have the ‘accept all odds movement’ option ticked, if you try to place your bet and the odds have shifted, you’ll see an alert to let you know of the change in odds. Your bet won’t be placed until you confirm you’re happy with the new odds.

Without knowing exactly what it means, people sometimes make the assumption that this option means you accept all odds changes right up until the start of the event.

This makes a certain amount of sense - after all, it does say ‘all’ odds movement - but that isn’t actually the case. This option refers only to changes in odds between adding a selection to your betslip and the bet being successfully placed.

Where Is ‘Accept All Odds Movement’ Applied?

You won’t always see the ‘accept all odds movement’ option in the same place.

Some bookies won’t display this option at all, while others will show it in the betslip, and some in the main settings page of your account.

For example, PaddyPower show the option at the bottom of your betslip when you click to enter a stake:

BetMGM, meanwhile, allow you to choose an overall preference from the settings section, which you can find right at the bottom of the sports betting homepage:

As you can see, BetMGM allow for a slightly more nuanced approach - you can choose between automatically accepting any odds changes, accepting only those where the odds have gone up (thereby giving you a higher potential profit, which should always be a good thing), or asking for approval every time.

There can be a lot of reasons for odds to change, because betting odds are determined by a number of factors. These reasons can be divided roughly into two different categories, however.

1. The likelihood of an outcome has changed

To most people, this is the most obvious reason for odds to be adjusted. A bookie might have discovered that a particular horse or jockey is showing signs of not being on form, or that a football team might be missing one of its star players.

Similarly, the weather forecast might have changed, which could favour some competitors but not others.

Whatever the reason, a shift in the likelihood of a particular competitor winning an event will result in the odds moving for all other competitors as well.

This is the less obvious side of oddsmaking to most casual bettors.

A bookie will aim to have roughly even liability on either side (or on all sides) of an event, so that their profit remains the same regardless of the outcome

If betting becomes skewed too much towards one competitor (or several), bookies will adjust the odds to make the others more attractive, encouraging bettors to put their money on them.

Odds tend to move much more rapidly just before an event begins, so you’re far more likely to find yourself getting caught out when betting shortly before a race or match.

They continue to change constantly during the course of the event, which can make <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/in-play-betting-explained-in-depth">in-play betting</a> something that requires a brisk pace - though it can be all the more exciting for it.

Are Bookies Allowed To Change Their Odds?

Yes, there’s nothing nefarious about a bookie changing their odds. It’s part of how their systems work, and it doesn’t always work against you - sometimes, the odds for your selection will increase, meaning you’ll end up making more money (if you win) than you’d originally expected.

As annoying it can be to start placing your bet only to have your expected odds swept out from under you, it is entirely legitimate.

Without this system in place, it’d be far too easy for punters to take advantage of shifting odds if having a selection in your betslip allowed you to reserve the odds at the time.

Bettors would be able to hold a variety of selections in their betslip and wait for the odds on some of those selections to go down, before placing their bets at inflated odds.

While this would be very nice for bettors, it would take a pretty significant slice out of <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-betting-sites-make-money">bookies’ profits</a>, which is, as you might expect, not something a bookie wishes to happen.

It might not sound like the most helpful answer, but really it depends. If you’re betting on an event because you think (or hope) that a certain team or competitor has a good chance of winning, it’s possible that you won’t care all that much exactly what the odds are. If so, it’s entirely up to you whether you think it’s still worthwhile to place your bet at the updated odds (obviously, there isn’t really any reason not to accept higher odds than originally offered).

As a rule, though, we’d advise against selecting the ‘accept all odds movement’ option. If the odds change, you’re always given the option to accept the new odds and place your bet anyway.

Not choosing the ‘accept all odds movement’ option means you may spend a few more seconds placing your bet, but ensures that you always have the chance to consider the new odds first, rather than being landed with worse odds no matter what.

Accept All Odds Movement And Matched Betting

If you’re getting started with <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a> (or even an experienced matched bettor), a change of odds can be more of a spanner in the works.

Your expected profit will change, sometimes significantly, if the odds move while you’re placing a bet, and for this reason it’s definitely not a good idea to turn on ‘accept all odds movement’ if you’re a matched bettor.

If the odds do change just as you’re adding a selection to your betslip, it’s best to adjust them in the <a href="https://outplayed.com/products/oddsmatcher">oddsmatcher calculator</a> to check whether your qualifying loss or profit is still at an acceptable level. If not, we’d recommend removing the selection from your betslip and finding an alternative event to bet on.

If the odds change on the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-betting-exchange">exchange</a> after you’ve placed your back bet, however, there’s less you can do. In this situation, it’s best to amend the odds in the oddsmatcher and place your lay bet at the new available odds. While you can hang around to see if the odds go back up again, you’re risking them decreasing further as well.

Hopefully, the change won’t reduce your profit by much.

What’s The Difference Between Accept All Odds Movement And Starting Price (SP)?

Starting Price (SP) in horse racing refers to the official odds on a horse at the start of the race.

These are standardised across bookies, roughly based on the average odds being offered across all major bookies at that time (for a detailed breakdown, check out our <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-sp-mean-in-horse-racing">full guide to SP</a>).

It’s not at all uncommon to get these two concepts mixed up.

If you haven’t quite understood how the ‘accept all odds movement’ function works, it’s relatively logical to assume that using it will result in your eventual odds being those offered when the race begins.

However, these are two completely different concepts.

While ‘accept all odds movement’ does, confusingly, use the word ‘all’, it refers only to movement between your choosing a selection and actually placing a bet.

Your odds won’t continue to change until they end up at the SP at the off.

After all, if they did, what would be the point of having a separate ‘SP’ option available on a racecard?

‘Accept all odds movement’ may save a bit of time if you’re betting in a hurry, but we’d recommend keeping the option turned off.

You’ll always be given the opportunity to accept the new odds anyway, and having the chance to change your mind if the odds have become worse is definitely a good thing.

For matched bettors, this is even more the case.

Your profits can be significantly reduced if a change of odds means your match is no longer as close, so it’s much better to have the chance to review the new odds before deciding if you want to go ahead with your bet.

Unless you’re betting solely as a fan of a team or player, and aren’t fussed about the odds you get, we’d firmly recommend keeping ‘accept all odds movement’ off.

Stephanie Sorrell

What Does 'Accept All Odds Movement' Mean?

With the biggest horse racing festival in the world upon us, plenty of racing enthusiasts will start preparing for the most prestigious event in the National Hunt racing calendar.

The Gold Cup has produced some of the most unforgettable moments in racing history, it crowns champions and defines legacies.

Every year in March, Cheltenham’s new course hosts the world’s best staying chasers in a demanding contest that requires courage, speed and stamina in equal measure.

So, let’s see what makes the Gold Cup so great and why is it the pinnacle of jump racing?

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the holy grail of National Hunt racing. Covering 3 miles and 2.5 furlongs with 22 fences, it is one of the most demanding jump races. The horses will require speed, bravery, skill and stamina to succeed.

Staged in March each year on the last day of the Cheltenham Festival, it’s often known as Gold Cup Day and the winner can expect to be elevated into racing history.

The very first Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in 1819 at Cleeve Hill, which still exists and overlooks the current venue. That race was actually a flat race that covered 3 miles. The winner of the race was Spectre who won 100 guineas.

Things changed in 1924 when the Gold Cup changed to a Steeplechase race run over an extended 3 miles. Horses aged 5 or older could enter with 5 year old horses allowed to carry less weight than the older horses. The winner of the race took home £685 which was a lot less than the winner of the National Hunt Chase at the time. The winner of the 2026 Gold Cup can expect to take home a staggering £351,687.

In 1959, the Gold Cup was switched to the “New Course” which is the track used today.

The Gold Cup has produced some incredible winners over the years:

There are several reasons that the Cheltenham Gold Cup is so unique and one of the most demanding fixtures in racing:

What Type Of Horse Makes A Gold Cup Winner?

Whether you're studying <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-read-horse-racing-form">horse racing form</a> to pick a winner or eyeing up an outsiders chances, there’s certain traits that are key:

Here’s a few things we’ve noticed from previous Gold Cup races:

The Gold Cup isn’t just another horse race, it’s a part of British sport culture and the pinnacle in National Hunt racing.

It combines world class competitors, excitement and tradition. This event is huge for owners but for trainers and jockeys it is the top achievement in their career.

Few sporting events manage to combine so many aspects into one event.

Whilst this event is massive for casual punters, there’s also great potential for matched bettors to take advantage of the Gold Cup.

Outplayed Blog

Matched Betting

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