Even though the Cheltenham Festival takes place over just four days, the anticipation builds weeks and months in advance.
As you may know, there are essentially two different types of horse racing betting market for the big meetings: ante post, in which you can speculate on which horses will run where and (usually) get longer odds as a result, and those prices offered once the declarations have been made – these tend to be shorter, as there’s a certainty (pending a late withdrawal) that the selected horse will run.
There are punters who believe that January and February are amongst the best months to bet on the Cheltenham Festival. Most of the key horses have now enjoyed their seasonal returns, so there’s a sense of who will be in form heading into the March extravaganza.
We’ll also know more about the horses which have changed discipline, be it a hurdler that has gone chasing for the first time this season or, in rarer cases, the opposite.
In short, the early months of the year provide plenty of ammunition for punters – even if we don’t know what the going will be on raceday, which of course can be a key factor.
As you begin lining up your metaphorical tanks on the lawn ahead of Cheltenham it’s worth remembering that a number of bookmakers offer a Non Runner Money Back promotion – or a similar offer of different wording but the same intent and outcome.
By opting for this promo, you can place your Cheltenham Festival bets weeks in advance of the big off – knowing that you’re covered should your chosen horse go on to start in a different race or miss the meeting altogether.
So how do these ‘Non Runner Money Back’ offers actually work, and what are the terms and conditions that you ned to be aware of?
What Does Non Runner No Bet Mean?
If you are new to horse racing betting, the idea of a ‘non runner no bet’ style promotion may be alien to you.
In short, when you place your ante post wagers on the Cheltenham Festival, one of three things can generally happen:
- The horse you’ve backed will run in your selected race
- The horse you’ve backed will run in a different race
- The horse will miss the Cheltenham Festival altogether
As far as the settlement of your bets is concerned, this really is a key distinction to make. If you back a horse and they don’t run in the race you have backed them for, in theory you will lose your money – unless your preferred bookie is offering a Non Runner Money Back style promotion.
If your chosen horse runs in a different race to the one you’ve backed them for, your bet doesn’t simply cross over – you run the risk of losing your money completely unless the aforementioned promo is in place.
When Can I Get Non Runner Money Back for Cheltenham?
Although each bookmaker has their own take on the general theme, what you’ll notice is that many of the leading betting firms will start rolling out their Cheltenham ante post promos in January.
As mentioned already, this can be an excellent time to lock in some value if you think a horse will definitely be declared for a specific race – and even if they don’t, you will at least be covered by the money back aspect of said offers.
Don’t forget: ante post betting markets tend to close for meetings like Cheltenham Festival just prior to the declarations stage.
So, to be on the safe side, make sure you’ve placed your bets by the weekend ahead of the meeting – if you don’t, you’ll have to wager in the standard markets instead, where you may find the prices of your picks have shortened significantly.
Which Cheltenham Races Can I Get Non Runner Money Back On?
If you’re plotting your ante post punts, you’ll want to peruse the terms and conditions of your chosen bookmaker to see which races are eligible for the Non Runner No Bet promo (or whatever they choose to call it).
Noticeably, more and more firms are offering this promo on all 28 of the races contested at the Cheltenham Festival.
This is to drive more money into the market – presumably helping the books to balance their liabilities in advance, even for some of the more obscure races at the meeting.
Some firms will still only offer money back on non-runners for the headline races, such as the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase, so check out the small print supplied by your bookmaker before taking the plunge.
Non Runner Money Back Terms & Conditions
As you’re no doubt aware, the T&Cs of a bookmaker are long and occasionally a little confusing. What’s more, there are separate terms and conditioins for their bonuses and promotions.
Happily, the general theme of these Non Runner Money Back promos for the Cheltenham Festival is that they are exactly as they say on the tin – if you’re selection doesn’t run, you’ll get your money back.
Just make sure you’re aware of the semantics. Some firms will refund your stake to your account as withdrawable cash – others as free bet tokens, which of course you can’t withdraw and have to ‘turn’ into cash by placing a winning wager with them.
Note too that ante post multiple and accumulator bets will still run even if one or more of your selections is declared a non-runner – those will simply be removed from your betslip, and the remaining picks left to stand at revised odds and potential payout.
Does Rule 4 Apply to Ante Post Bets?
Picture the scene: a horse has soft declarations into the Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase.
A week ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, a trainer or connections signals their intent to run their horse in the Gold Cup – at which point some bookies would remove them from the Ryanair Chase ante post market.
If you had backed another horse for the Ryanair Chase, ordinarily your bet and its potential payout would be hampered by Rule 4, which would see the entire market reshaped by the withdrawal (presuming they were prominent towards the top of the odds).
The good news is that Rule 4 does not apply to ante post markets: so you can welcome the premature withdrawal of any of your pick’s rivals without your odds being recalculated.