Cheltenham Festival Betting Preview: St Patrick's Thursday comes next at Cheltenham with Day Three having TWO MASSIVE Championship races!

Day Three at Cheltenham is St Patrick's Thursday with two massive races held on this day including the Ryanair Steeple Chase

The Cheltenham Festival continues with Day Three St Patrick's Thursday with two huge Championship races held on this day which celebrates the Irish patron saint.

The Ryanair Steeple Chase is the first of two big races on Day Three at the Festival and bookmakers are offering odds on which horse will come out on top in this race.

Envoi Allen is the current favourite with bookies to win the 2:50pm Ryanair Steeple Chase with the latest betting odds putting Rachel Blackmore's mount as the leader.

Paddy Power's latest odds for the Ryanair sees Banbridge and Stage Star as second and third favourites at 7/2 and 5/1 respectively.

The Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle is the second Championship race held on Day Three of Cheltenham

Straight after the Ryanair on Day 3 of Cheltenham is the 3:30pm Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle which looks an extremely competitive race once again this year.

Teahupoo is the current favourite at 7/4 with sponsors Paddy Power putting Crambo and Noble Yeats as the 11/2 joint second favourites in the betting market.

Teahupoo has ran once this season beating Impaire Et Passe in the Hatton's Grace Hurdle in December at that form could well see him win again in this race.

Trends are here for Day Three at Cheltenham with every race given full analysis

Racing Trends are up for Day Three of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival with a look at the best runners and riders for each day.

OLBG's Racing Trends look at the previous running of each race at the Festival and check out each horse against those specific trends markers too.

Thursday 14th March

• 13:30 at Cheltenham - Turners Novices Chase
• 14:10 at Cheltenham - Pertemps Network Final
• 14:50 at Cheltenham - Ryanair Chase
• 15:30 at Cheltenham - Stayers Hurdle
• 16:10 at Cheltenham - Festival Plate
• 16:50 at Cheltenham - Mares Novices Hurdle
• 17:30 at Cheltenham - Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

The OLBG Tipster Competition for Cheltenham continues with £1500 up for grabs

The OLBG Cheltenham Festival tipster competition continues once again on Day Three with a total prize fund of £1500.

This year's top prize is £500 for the winner with £200 for second and £100 for the third, fourth and fifth placed tipsters plus there will be £5 paid for the next 100 places.

Day Three New Customer Offers

BetMGM

You can kick things off, if you don’t have an account already, with a huge BetMGM welcome offer that runs just until the end of the Cheltenham Festival, and is exclusive to new customers only. You will have seven days to place a qualifying bet, and will receive six free bets made up of:

• Four £10 horse racing bets
• Two £10 Acca free bets.

In addition to the welcome offer, during the week, BetMGM are giving their users:

• Second Chance/Money Back: Money back as a free bet on the first race of every day.
• Golden Silks: Double your odds on any horse each day (Up to £20)
• 10 Places in the BetMGM County Hurdle (14:10 on Friday 15th March)
• Double Your Odds on any horse in the Gold Cup (Up to £20)

Betfair

As well as their usual selection of Extra Places, Lengthened Odds and Non Runner Money back, Betfair are giving punters a completely free bet on multiples every day of the festival. Opt-in is required, and this is for new and existing customers to take advantage of. There is limit and one bet per day, and the offer runs just for the week of Cheltenham. You'll also get £40 when you bet £10 on the Cheltenham Festival.

BoyleSports

Bet £10, Get £20 + £10 Casino Bonus + NRNB on all Cheltenham Races

Matchbook

Bet £50 on Cheltenham, Get £50 on major sporting events. BONUS CODE: CHELT

This is for new customers only. Bet and settle £50 on Cheltenham 2024 Festival Markets at odds of 1.8 or more, and on a minimum of 4 different markets by 23:59 GMT Thursday 14/03/2024. Get £50 in Free Bets for specific Major Events on Matchbook. This will be split as the following:

• 1x £10 Free Bet on Cheltenham Gold Cup 
• 1x £10 Free Bet on Euro 2024 Outright
• 1x £10 Free Bet on Bet Builders
• 1x £10 Free Bet on August Masters 2024
• 1x £10 Free Bet on Grand National 2024

Please note: We will keep searching and reviewing the best offers in the UK, updating this section leading up to, and throughout, the entirety of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.

Horse Racing Author Information

Horse Racing Expert

James is our Horse Racing expert with over 20 years experience in the sports betting and horse racing industry. For any information on Horse Racing, James is your go-to man with full in-depth knowledge of the sport.

- James Banting, Tipster competition assistant

News Content Editor

Jake is our News Content Manager. He reviews all content, fact-checks the data, edits the copy and enhances all of the OLBG News content from our expert team ahead of publication.

- Jake Ashton, Senior news editor