Cheltenham Festival 2025 Non-Runner No Bet Offers and a 4/1 Ante-post Tip

Now that 2024 is firmly in the rear-view mirror the thoughts of most horse racing fans inevitably turn towards the Cheltenham Festival and four days of top-class jumps racing action featuring some titanic clashes between the best horses around in what many fans have dubbed the ‘greatest show on earth’.

Taking place in March, the four-day 2025 Cheltenham Festival extravaganza sees 28 races going to post in total which includes no less than 14 Grade One contests spread across the fixture with each of the four days hosting one of the Festival highlight races.

Getting underway on Tuesday March 11^th the opening day sees the Champion Hurdle spearhead the day one card; while the Champion Chase headlines day two on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Thursday’s day three card takes in the Stayers’ Hurdle as the day’s feature race and Friday’s fourth day is dominated by the ‘Blue Riband’ – the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

 

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL 2025 NON-RUNNER NO BET

Non-runner no bet – often shortened to NRNB – provides punters with a safety net in the event an ante-post selection doesn’t run at the Cheltenham Festiva for whatever reason. Ante-post betting is popular with punters especially around the bigger racing festivals and races and getting in early at often much bigger odds than might be available on the day of the race can yield a big profit.

However, ante-post betting can be fraught with uncertainty and there is always a possibility that an ante-post-backed horse may not make it to the races for whatever reason. Anything from illness and injury through to a late-going change on the day of the race can see punters’ carefully planned ante-post bets go up in smoke.

However, with non-runner no bet punters are able to back their ante-post selections knowing they have a safety net available should their chosen horse not participate. In the event of a non-runner rather than lose their stake then non-runner no bet punters will receive their full stakes back.

This concession can also apply to multiple bets where any selections that don’t run are voided and the remaining horses in the bet are settled accordingly so an ante-post Lucky 31 placed using non-runner no bet would be settled as a Lucky 15 in the event there was one non-runner, for example.

One trade-off betting ante-post with non-runner no bet for the Cheltenham Festival, however, is that odds on offer are likely to be shorter and more in line with what punters could expect on race-day than they otherwise would be betting normally on ante-post markets.

 

WILLIAM HILL NON-RUNNER NO BET FOR CHELTENHAM 2025

At the time of writing, only William Hill has announced any non-runner no bet concessions for the entire 2025 Cheltenham Festival having done so on New Years’ Day. A leading name on the high street and online, William Hill is typically the first of the big bookmakers to deliver its’ non-runner no bet offering on the Cheltenham Festival and runs until Sunday March 9th 2025 after which ante-post betting on the Cheltenham Festival ends.

William Hill will also sponsor for the first time the competitive County Handicap Hurdle which takes play on day four of the Festival and recent years have seen Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins trade blows in the race. Since 2015 only Peter Fahey has stopped either trainer winning the race when his Belfast Banter took top honours in 2021.

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WHICH RACES ARE INCLUDED IN BET365’s NRNB?

• Champion Hurdle (Tuesday)
• Champion Chase (Wednesday)Stayers’ Hurdle (Thursday)
• Ryanair Chase (Thursday)
• Gold Cup (Friday)

Bet 365’s non-runner no bet offer on five major races at the Cheltenham Festival came into force from 5pm on Tuesday 14^th January and covers the main races on each day of the Festival – Champion Hurdle (Tuesday), Champion Chase (Wednesday), Stayers’ Hurdle (Thursday) and Gold Cup (Friday). In addition, the Grade One Ryanair Chase (Thursday) joins the line-up to complete the top-class quintet of races included in the Bet365 NRNB.

 

WILLIAM HILL NON-RUNNER NO BET CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL TIPS

RYANAIR CHASE – THURSDAY 13 MARCH

French-trained IL EST FRANCAIS (4/1 with William Hill NRNB) has been priced up for several races at the Cheltenham Festival, including both the Champion Chase and the Gold Cup. The former may be too short a trip for him, but his front-running style and bold jumping would make for a thrilling sight to behold were he to line up against the likes of Jonbon.

Meanwhile, the Gold Cup could prove too much of a stretch having perhaps failed to get home at Auteuil on his reappearance before running well in defeat at Kempton when defending his King George VI Chase crown, eventually finishing runner-up to Banbridge.

It may well be that the interim distance of the Ryanair Chase could prove a match made in heaven for the Karaktar gelding should he take his chance. Few got into the race at Kempton in the King George as the French raider made every post a winning one before Banbridge emerged from the chasing pack to hunt him down late on and he was only beaten around two lengths in the end with the front two pulling some ten lengths clear.

While Kempton is a totally different proposition to Cheltenham with the former being a flat, speedy track being able to jump and travel well is a huge asset and if he were to handle the undulations of Cheltenham with the same aplomb then he could prove hard to peg back from the front if taking his chances although the Melling Chase at Aintree – another flat track that suits speedy types – may well be a preferable option for connections.

Generally available around 8/1 ante-post, he could still be worth a non-runner no bet interest at around 4/1 with William Hill.

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4 Use NRNB for all 28 Cheltenham Festival races

 

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