Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest and most exciting horse racing events across the world. This year, the bookmaking industry is expecting to see Cheltenham Festival betting exceed £1Billion over the four-day meeting.
- Bookies going ‘Evs’ on over £1bn staked
- Layers predicting 210,000 pints of Guinness drunk
- 17,500+ champagne corks to pop at 10/11
Cheltenham Festival is celebrating its 100th year in 2024 – and currently attracts over 65,000 people per day. The record currently stands at 280,627 in 2022 across the four days. Even though there are some reports of ticket sales being slightly down, the Prestbury Park course is still going to be packed to the rafters.
Also billed as ‘Horse Racing’s Olympics’, or by some in recent years as the ‘Willie Mullins Show’, Cheltenham Festival is not only notorious for its 28 races. But also the extras that come with it – from the alcohol consumed and the volume of bets wagered.
With this in mind, we’ve taken a look at these well-publicised subplots at the Festival and compiled a list of odds for:
- How much will be bet?
- How many pints of Guinness will be drunk?
- How many bottles of champagne will be popped?
Head of News Lee Astley said: “With the cost of living crisis taking a firm grip on so many Brits, our traders think the projected numbers on all fronts will take a hit. Our traders reckon there will be just shy of a billion GBP staked on the festival, around 210,000 pints of the black stuff consumed and around 17,500 champagne corks popped at the festival. It’s a highly unlikely scenario but if all favourites were to win at the festival, our traders estimate a catastrophic hit of over £500m to bookies.”
Cheltenham Festival betting: How Much Will Be Wagered?
- 4/5: Over £1bn staked
- EVS: Under £1bn staked
Due to its ever-growing popularity, Cheltenham Festival betting could easily exceed £1bn this year – with both online and on course betting predicted to be up on last year.
How Many Pints Of Guinness Will Be Drunk?
- 10/11: Over 210,000
- 10/11: Under 210,000
Cheltenham Festival and a pint of Guinness go hand-in-hand. The good news for racegoers is that the track still have their 2022 price-freeze on a pint of the ‘black stuff – which sits at £7.50.
There is, of course, the famous Guinness Village at the course too, plus this year the track has also built a pub – called ‘The Mandarin’ and named after the 1962 Gold Cup winner.
So, everything is in place again for Guinness drinking records to be smashed – but just how many pints will be sunk?
Over 220,000 pints are expected to be drunk at the 2024 Festival. So after a quick calculation at £7.50 a pint, this means £1.65m will also be spent.
How Many Bottles Of Champagne Will Be Drunk?
- 10/11: Over 17,500
- 10/11: Under 17,500
Guinness is not the only popular drink during the Cheltenham Festival, as visitors also enjoy making the most out of their time with a glass (or bottle) of champagne.
Reports say that during the festival, we could see as much as 20,000 bottles of fizz consumed by racing fans – averaging around 5,000 per day.
Therefore, the spread with the odds compilers here sits at over or under 17,500 champagne bottles – both at 10/11.
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