The Cheltenham Festival Placepot is a pool bet where you aim to pick a horse that will place in each of the first six races on a given day of the festival, with all winning stakes shared between successful tickets. It’s one of the most popular bets of the week because it offers the chance to turn a relatively small stake into a big return, especially when favourites get beaten, and the pool gets knocked out. This page is designed to help you make more informed decisions, with clear leg-by-leg selections for every day of the festival, suggested Placepot tickets, banker picks to keep your lines down, along with simple, practical strategy tips to give you the best chance of lasting all six races.
Cheltenham Festival Placepot Tips, Tickets, and Strategy (2026)
In this guide to Cheltenham Festival Placepots, we’ll break down the top tips, tickets and strategies in 2026 for punters who want to build strong Placepot lines for each day of the festival. You’ll find a balanced approach throughout, combining safer, more reliable selections with value alternatives that can boost the potential payout if favourites fail, alongside clear ticket examples to suit different budgets. The aim is to help you build sensible, structured Placepot wagers throughout the four-day festival, showing how to spread in tricky legs, bank when the race allows, and get the most out of your stake across all six races.
What Is a Cheltenham Festival Placepot?
A Placepot bet is a popular form of pool betting, which involves picking a horse to place in each of the first six races at Cheltenham Festival. When backing a horse to place, it does not necessarily mean they have to win the race, they will need to finish within the qualifying positions.
To build your Placepot for Cheltenham Festival, start by picking at least one horse to place in the first six races of your chosen day. In each race at least one of your selections needs to place for you to stay in the Placepot, and if you finish with a placed horse in all six races, you’ll receive a payout!
This type of betting is popular during the Cheltenham Festival because the races are highly competitive and often feature big fields, making it harder to land six placed horses in a row. When favourites get beaten or fail to place, large numbers of tickets are knocked out, which can send dividends rising. Add in the likelihood of shocks in deep handicaps and novice races, and even a small-stake Placepot can pay out very well on days when results don’t go to form.
How the Cheltenham Placepot Works
Placepot betting at Cheltenham Festival is built around the first six races, known as “legs”, with this option available for all four days. To remain alive in the pool, your chosen horse in each leg must finish in one of the designated place positions, which for the festival is usually top 2 for 5-7 runners, top 3 for 8-15 runners or top 4 for 16+ runners.
If your selection fails to place in any leg, your ticket is immediately eliminated from the pool. If you survive all six legs, you share in the Placepot dividend, which is calculated by dividing the total pool (after deductions) by the number of winning tickets.
In a Placepot, dead heats mean the dividend is shared between the tied runners for that position, while non-runners are usually replaced by the starting price favourite, which can suddenly boost or reduce your chances in that leg.
What makes the bet so different at the Cheltenham Festival is the unique mix of the track, stiff finish, huge fields, and championship-level pressure, all of which increase the risk of favourite horses failing to place. That combination makes Festival Placepots far less predictable than a standard Saturday card, but in turn gives them much bigger dividend potential.
Why Cheltenham Festival Placepots Can Pay Big Dividends
Cheltenham Festival Placepots can produce big dividends because the races are more unpredictable to solve than on a normal card, with large fields and deep, competitive handicaps making it harder for favourites to dominate. Novice races add another layer of uncertainty, as inexperienced horses are more prone to mistakes or failing to handle the occasion. When one or two shocks land in the early legs at the Cheltenham Festival, a huge chunk of Placepot tickets are instantly wiped out, reducing the pool of live bets and driving the dividend higher for those who survive all six races.
Cheltenham Festival Placepot Strategy (How to Build a Ticket)
Let’s start with the basics for building your ticket, as you need to select at least one horse to place in each of the first six races daily at Cheltenham Festival, with it requiring all chosen horses to place for a payout. Punters have the option to combine multiple horses in harder to call races to increase their chances, typically aiming for 1-3 selections per race to balance cost and coverage.
When making your selections, do not worry about if your horse ends up not running, as Non-Runner rule is often applied with your choice defaulting to the starting price favourite in this scenario. Another good tip is to choose one or two “bankers” in your bet, which are horses that you believe are unlikely to finish outside the top places to keep the costs down. When a race is very tight with lots of strong contenders, we would advise making a few selections, as this covers your bet and provides extra security for your stake. It’s important to balance survival and value so the ticket is not too expensive but remains competitive.
Next is to set your stake, with the minimum bet often being 5p or 10p per line, however if you wish to wager more you are able to do so. For example, with this type of bet a perm of 1x2x1x3x1x2 generates 12 lines (1×2×1×3×1×2 = 12), so if your unit stake is £0.50, your total outlay is 12 × £0.50 = £6.00. Once you have reviewed your selections and the amount you wish to bet, click confirm if you are happy and then enjoy the action as it unfolds.
Banker Legs vs Perm Legs (Where to Go Narrow or Wide)
In Placepots, a banker leg is where you rely on one strong selection to place, while a perm leg is where you use multiple horses to cover a more unpredictable race. At the Cheltenham Festival, banker legs are most often found in Grade 1 races with short-priced favourites who are clear class acts and expected to dominate, making it sensible to go narrow and save lines.
By contrast, wide-open handicaps and big-field novice races are classic perm legs, where several runners have a realistic chance to place and spreading across multiple horses is essential to survive. The key is to narrow down in races with obvious form and quality gaps, and go wide where competitiveness and uncertainty are highest, keeping your ticket balanced between control and coverage.
How Much Does a Cheltenham Festival Placepot Cost?
When making your selections, you can pick more than one horse per race, and every possible combination across the six legs forms what’s called a line. The total cost of your bet is calculated by multiplying the number of lines by your unit stake. Bettors often use two key strategies, the banker, a single confident selection in a leg, and the perm, a combination of multiple selections in different legs to increase the chance of staying alive.
For example, a perm of 1x2x1x3x1x2 generates 12 lines (1×2×1×3×1×2 = 12). If your unit stake is £0.50, your total outlay is 12 × £0.50 = £6.00. Should the final Placepot dividend return £40 to a £1 stake, your £0.50 unit would yield half of this, £20, provided all 12 lines survive, or proportionally less if only some of them do.
Cheltenham Festival Placepot Ticket Examples (Small, Medium, and Big Perms)
In this section, we’ll explain the different types of Cheltenham Festival Placepot Tickets, starting with a small survival ticket. This type of ticket is designed to maximise your chances of navigating all six races while keeping costs low, through combining trusted, consistent “banker” horses that are well-known for either winning or placing in races at the Cheltenham Festival, with smaller permutations.
Next is a mid-range placepot ticket, which combines a balanced costs with a reasonable chance of winning, with this stake normally being between £10 and £30 per day. This approach involves choosing a blend of “bankers” and multiple contenders (two or more horses in a race) to provide extra security in the highly competitive, high-field races.
Lastly, if you want to be slightly more aggressive in your approach is the larger perm ticket, which means you need to select multiple horses in each race with the aim of increasing your chances of hitting frequently high-paying dividends. Depending on your betting style, you can increase your potential returns by trying to find the horses that have higher odds or combine some favourites with more outsiders if you require more security in your wagers.
Cheltenham Festival Placepot Tips (Day-by-Day)
For anyone looking for daily Cheltenham Festival placepot tips, you are in the right place, as we’ll run through suggested picks, banker options and recommended tickets below. However, make sure to track any changes to the Cheltenham schedule as runners can change very close up to the festival, therefore you should always check against the final race order before placing any bets.
Day 1 Placepot Tips, Legs, and Ticket (Champion Day)
Looking at Day 1 of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, you’ll need to make one or more selections for the following races:
- The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
- The Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase
- The McCoys Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Race
- The Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase
- The Unibet Champion Hurdle
- The Sun Racing Plate
- The National Hunt Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
For those looking for “bankers” on the opening day, our advice would be to target Old Park Star, trained by Nicky Henderson, in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle has won his last three races heading into the festival and is currently the favourite at 47/25. While it’s not always the best approach to back the favourite in each race, when it comes to the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, it’s important to select horse with a balance of pedigree, form and handicap cover as this is a highly competitive race.
The same principle should be applied to the Champion Hurdle, as sometimes it’s more effective betting wide on this race, due to there being lots of top-class runners. This year the favourite is The New Lion at 11/4, while Brighterdaysahead at 3/1 and Constitution Hill at 9/2 are also strong contenders and worth considering.
Outside of the top races on the opening day, Jagwar at 5/1 in the Ultima Handicap Chase is one to consider as a “banker” option. Having won the TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase in 2025, the 7-year-old has a strong background at Cheltenham, and has a good chance of placing once again in 2026.
Day 2 Placepot Tips, Legs, and Ticket (Style Wednesday)
On Day 2, Style Wednesday, you’ll need to make one or more selections for each of the following races:
- The Turners Novices’ Hurdle
- The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase
- The Cup Handicap Hurdle
- The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Steeple Chase
- The BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase
- The Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Steeple Chase Challenge Cup
- The Weatherbys Champion Bumper
You’ll often find on the second day that the best approach balances the predictable Grade 1 contests with its most volatile races. Early novice chases and big-field handicaps often cause eliminations, so these legs are best played as perms, covering 3–5 realistic place chances to survive shocks. Final Demand and The Big Westerner are solid picks for the Brown Advisory Novice Chase, while Mighty Park and No Drama This End have realistic chances of placing in the Turners Novices Hurdle.
Meanwhile, short-priced favourites in top-class Grade 1 races can be used as banker legs, narrowing your selection and saving lines. By spreading the more unpredictable legs and banking on the strongest form where the market supports it, you can create a manageable placepot ticket that reflects the day’s typical volatility while still giving a solid chance of a payout.
In terms of “bankers” on Day 2, we’d suggest looking at Love Sign D’aunou in the Champion Bumper, with Willie Mullins’ new prospect emerging as the favourite after winning at Naas last time out.
Day 3 Placepot Tips, Legs, and Ticket (St Patrick’s Thursday)
On Day 3, St Patrick’s Thursday, you’ll need to make one or more selections for each of the following races:
- The Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
- The Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
- The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle
- The Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle
- The Ryanair Chase
- The Pertemps Network Final
- The Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Steeple Chase
For St Patrick’s Thursday, the key is balancing strong Grade 1 form with the day’s trickier handicaps. The Ryanair Chase and Stayers’ Hurdle feature short-priced favourites with proven festival form, making them ideal banker legs where a single selection is often enough to anchor your ticket. For 2026, we’d suggest Gaelic Warrior, Fact To File or Jonbon are solid selections to place in the Ryanair Chase, with Teahupoo and Honesty Policy strong contenders for the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Meanwhile, the supporting handicaps and novice contests typically involve big fields and unpredictable performers, so these legs should be spread across 3–5 plausible place runners to survive shocks. Using this mix keeps the ticket manageable for a normal staking level while still covering the races most likely to cause eliminations, giving a good chance of hitting a placepot payout without overcomplicating the lines.
Day 4 Placepot Tips, Legs, and Ticket (Gold Cup Day)
On Day 4, Gold Cup Day, you’ll need to make one or more selections for each of the following races:
- The JCB Triumph Hurdle
- The William Hill County Handicap Hurdle
- The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeple Chase
- The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
- The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase
- The Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase
- The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
For the final day of the festival, the focus is on balancing the headline race with the day’s unpredictable contests. The Gold Cup usually features a standout favourite with proven staying form, making it an ideal banker leg to anchor your ticket. This year, there are four contenders leading the way in odds, with any of Fact To File, Jango Baie, The Jukebox Man and Gaelic Warrior a decent pick.
In contrast, the supporting handicaps and intermediate races often throw up shocks, with big fields increasing the chance of upsets that can wipe out numerous lines. As a result, many placepots on Day 4 are decided by a single chaotic result in one of the early big-field legs, so spreading selections in those races is essential, while keeping bankers in the Grade 1 events helps manage cost and maintain a realistic staking level.
Cheltenham Placepot Races Most Likely to Cause Upsets
In each of the last five years, 32.1% of horses that were the starting price favourite went on to win the race, with that coming true in 2025 as nine of the 28 market leaders crossed the finish line first.
This means there are a lot of races that can cause upsets, especially in the big-field handicaps and novice contests. Handicaps often feature 15–20 runners carrying different weights, and even strong contenders can be caught out by the stiff finish, tricky ground, or the pace of the race, leading to surprise placings.
Novice hurdles and chases are another hotspot for shocks, as inexperienced horses may misjudge jumps, fail to settle, or simply struggle under festival pressure. By contrast, the top Grade 1 races usually have proven class acts, making them more predictable, so the early handicaps and novice races are where most placepot tickets are won or lost.
Cheltenham Placepot Mistakes to Avoid
One of the biggest mistakes with Cheltenham Placepots is banking too many short-priced favourites. Even strong Grade 1 horses can fall, make mistakes, or underperform under festival pressure, and relying on several of them makes your ticket fragile. If they all place, the dividend is often small anyway.
Another common error is going too wide too early. Using lots of horses in the first few legs quickly inflates the cost of your ticket and forces you to go narrow later on in the races that are actually the hardest to solve.
Punters also often ignore field size and place terms. Different races pay different numbers of places, and failing to account for this can mean backing horses that realistically need to finish much higher than expected. Non-runners are another trap, as they are usually replaced by the SP favourite, which can weaken your ticket if the race changes shape late.
Finally, many tickets are either too fragile or too expensive. Over-narrow perms leave no room for shocks, while over-perming every leg leads to bloated stakes with no clear strategy. At the Cheltenham Festival, the best Placepot approach is to balance strong form races with wider coverage in the most competitive legs.
