The total number of winning starting price (SP) favourites is a Cheltenham Festival betting market based on how many favourites win across the meeting’s 28 races.
The market covers all four days of the Festival. A bookmaker may offer a selection such as eight or more winning favourites, or a range covering a specified number of winners. The bet is settled according to the bookmaker’s rules for SP favourites, including how joint-favourites and co-favourites are counted.
Six outright or joint-favourites won at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival. That result shows why the historical average is useful background rather than a prediction for the next meeting.
British Racecourses explains how the market works, examines previous Festival results and identifies the terms to check before placing a bet.
What Is a Winning SP Favourite?
The SP favourite is the horse with the shortest official starting price when a race begins.
If two horses share the shortest SP, they are joint-favourites. Where three or more horses share the shortest price, they may be described as co-favourites.
A winning SP favourite is a horse that starts as the favourite, joint-favourite or co-favourite and wins its race, subject to the settlement rules of the market.
The important point is that the starting price is established at the off. A horse that was favourite in the morning but drifts in the betting may not be the SP favourite when the race starts.
For example, a horse could be available at 2/1 early in the day before drifting to 4/1. If another runner starts at 3/1, the 3/1 runner is the SP favourite.
The distinction matters when assessing historical statistics. The shortest-priced horse in an early betting forecast is not necessarily the official SP favourite.
How Does the Total Number of Winning SP Favourites Market Work?
The total winning favourites market asks how many SP favourites will win across the Cheltenham Festival.
A bookmaker may offer selections such as eight or more, nine or more or ten or more winning favourites. Other markets may use a range, such as seven to nine winners.
If you back eight or more winning favourites, at least eight qualifying favourites must win for the bet to succeed. Seven winners would not be enough.
The available thresholds and odds change between bookmakers and meetings. Historical prices should not be treated as current offers.
Do joint-favourites count?
Joint-favourites and co-favourites may count towards the total, but you must check the bookmaker’s settlement rules.
Some markets explicitly include them. The terms should also explain how the bet is settled if there is a dead heat, an abandoned race or a change to the scheduled programme.
Do not assume that every bookmaker uses an identical counting method.
Does the market cover all four days?
The standard Festival total covers the races specified in the bookmaker’s market, usually the full four-day meeting.
Cheltenham stages 28 Festival races, with seven scheduled on each day. If a race is abandoned or the programme changes, the bookmaker’s rules determine how the market is settled.
Check the market description before placing a bet rather than relying on the usual race schedule.
How Many Favourites Won at Cheltenham in 2026?
Six outright or joint-favourites won across the 28 races at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, held from 10 to 13 March.
The meeting also produced several big-priced winners. Martator won the Grand Annual at 66/1, while Apolon De Charnie won the Triumph Hurdle at 50/1.
Those results illustrate the uncertainty involved in a market that combines the outcomes of 28 separate races.
A strongly fancied horse may have convincing form for an individual race, but that does not establish how many favourites will win across the Festival.
Cheltenham Festival Winning Favourites: Historical Standings
Historical results help show how the total number of winning favourites has varied between Festivals.
The figures below reproduce the historical standings from the existing British Racecourses article. They require a race-by-race verification before being used as a definitive statistical record. In particular, published sources differ on the 2025 total, and the treatment of joint-favourites must be consistent across every year.
| Cheltenham Festival | Winning SP favourites in existing article |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 |
| 2024 | 9 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2022 | 12 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2020 | 8 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2017 | 7 |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2015 | 7 |
The 2026 result was six outright or joint-favourite winners.
The historical table should be checked against the official results before publication. The same definition of a winning favourite must be applied to every race and every year. Until that work is complete, the figures should not be used to calculate a new long-term average or to support a betting recommendation.
How Often Do Favourites Win at Cheltenham?
Favourites win a substantial minority of Cheltenham Festival races, but the strike rate changes according to the period studied and the method used to count joint-favourites.
The existing British Racecourses article previously stated that 79 favourites won from 273 races across a ten-year period. That calculation needs a defined date range and a verified race-by-race dataset before it can be used as a current statistic.
There is also an important difference between strike rate and profitability.
A favourite strike rate tells you how frequently favourites won. It does not tell you whether backing every favourite would have made a profit. Profitability depends on the starting prices of the winners, the stakes placed and the losses from unsuccessful bets.
A favourite winning at 1/3 produces a very different return from a favourite winning at 4/1.
Do favourites perform differently in championship races and handicaps?
The type of race affects the betting market.
Championship races such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle can feature established horses with strong form at the highest level. A leading contender may start at a short price when its previous performances stand out from the field.
Festival handicaps bring together horses whose official ratings are intended to give them more closely matched chances. Large fields, different running styles and the demands of Cheltenham can make these races difficult to assess.
That does not mean every championship favourite is reliable or every handicap favourite is vulnerable. Each race still requires its own form assessment.
Why does the number of winning favourites change each year?
The Festival programme contains different types of races, and the strength of the market leaders changes from one meeting to the next.
A Festival with several dominant favourites may produce a higher total than one in which the leading contenders face closely matched opposition.
The going, field sizes, jumping errors and how individual races develop can also affect the results.
The total winning favourites market combines those separate outcomes. A strong favourite in one race cannot compensate for a losing favourite in another.
How to Use Cheltenham Favourites Statistics
Historical totals are most useful when they are treated as context rather than a forecast.
Before drawing conclusions from a set of figures, check the years included, the number of races run and how joint-favourites were counted.
A comparison covering Festivals with different numbers of races needs particular care. A raw total from a meeting with fewer races is not directly equivalent to one from the current 28-race programme.
It is also worth distinguishing between a favourite’s chance in an individual race and the chance of a particular total across the whole meeting.
The historical average does not mean that the next Festival must finish close to that number. A small number of unexpected results can change the total considerably.
For individual races, our horse racing form guide explains how to assess previous performances rather than relying on a horse’s position in the betting market.
Cheltenham Festival Favourites and Starting Prices
The official SP records the starting price of a horse when the race begins.
The SP favourite is the runner with the shortest official price, but the market can change considerably during the day.
A horse may be favourite when ante-post markets first open, lose that position after declarations or become favourite shortly before the off.
That is why a list of early favourites should not be presented as a list of winning SP favourites.
The official race result and SP are needed to establish which horses count towards the historical total.
What does the favourite’s price tell you?
Shorter odds generally indicate that the betting market assigns a horse a stronger chance than runners at bigger prices.
The odds are not a guarantee. They also reflect bookmaker margins and the way the market has developed.
A horse at 2/1 may be the favourite in one race, while a different race has a favourite at 1/4. Both count as one winning favourite if they win, even though their prices imply different chances.
Readers comparing prices can use our horse racing betting odds guide to understand fractional odds and potential returns.
Betting on the Total Number of Cheltenham Winning Favourites
Betting on the total number of winning favourites differs from backing a horse in an individual race.
An individual race bet depends on the result of one selection. The Festival total depends on how many qualifying favourites win across the meeting.
The odds available for a total can change as the Festival approaches. They may also change during the meeting if the bookmaker offers an in-running version of the market.
Check whether a price applies to the whole Festival before racing starts or to the remaining races after some results are known.
Check the settlement rules
The settlement rules should explain which races count, how joint-favourites are treated and what happens if the programme changes.
A market described as including joint-favourites should not be assumed to operate in the same way as one that does not state its counting method.
Read the full terms before placing a bet.
Compare the actual odds
The same total may be offered at different prices by different bookmakers.
A higher price does not change the likelihood of the outcome, but it changes the return if the bet wins.
Compare like-for-like markets. An offer on eight or more winning favourites is not the same as one on exactly eight.
Our horse racing betting sites comparison covers the wider bookmaker features to consider alongside the available racing markets.
Ante-Post Betting and Non-Runner Rules at Cheltenham
Ante-post bets are placed before the final declarations for a race.
A horse’s price may be bigger in an early market, but an ordinary ante-post bet generally loses if the selection does not run, unless the applicable terms or a specific promotion provide otherwise.
Do not assume that every bookmaker refunds ante-post non-runners.
Some bookmakers offer non-runner no bet on selected Cheltenham races or from a specified date. The eligible races, starting date and conditions differ between operators.
Check that non-runner no bet applies to the exact selection and market before placing a wager.
The total winning SP favourites market has its own settlement terms. Rules for an ante-post bet on an individual horse should not be assumed to apply to a Festival specials market.
Extra Places and Each-Way Betting at Cheltenham
Bookmakers may offer extra places on selected Festival races, particularly large-field handicaps.
The number of places and the fraction of the win odds vary between offers. A promotion available on one race may not apply to another.
Each-way betting also has a different purpose from the total winning favourites market. An each-way bet on an individual horse has separate win and place components, while the favourites total depends on the number of qualifying race winners.
Check the actual place terms and eligible races rather than relying on a general claim that a bookmaker offers extra places throughout Cheltenham.
Free Bets and Cheltenham Promotions
Bookmakers may offer free bets, money-back promotions or other Cheltenham specials to eligible customers.
Each promotion has its own terms. A qualifying bet, minimum odds, opt-in, expiry date or restriction on eligible races may apply.
Promotional credit is not necessarily withdrawable cash, and a money-back offer may be paid in free bets rather than returned to a cash balance.
Check the live conditions before accepting a promotion. Our horse racing free bets guide explains how qualifying bets, promotional tokens and expiry rules work.
A promotion should not be a reason to increase your planned stake or place a bet you would otherwise avoid.
Cheltenham Festival Winning Favourites FAQs
What is an SP favourite?
The SP favourite is the horse with the shortest official starting price when a race begins. If two or more horses share the shortest price, they are joint-favourites or co-favourites.
How many favourites won at Cheltenham in 2026?
Six outright or joint-favourites won across the 28 races at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
How many races are there at the Cheltenham Festival?
The Festival has 28 scheduled races across four days, with seven races on each day.
Do joint-favourites count towards the total winning favourites market?
They may count, depending on the bookmaker’s rules. Check the market terms to establish how joint-favourites and co-favourites are treated.
Does a morning favourite count as the SP favourite?
Not necessarily. The official SP favourite is determined by the starting prices at the off. A horse that was favourite earlier in the day may no longer be the favourite when the race begins.
Is backing every Cheltenham favourite profitable?
A strike rate alone cannot establish profitability. The result depends on the prices of the winning favourites, the stakes placed and the losses on the other bets.
Can historical favourites statistics predict the next Cheltenham Festival?
Historical figures show what happened at previous meetings, but they cannot establish how many favourites will win at a future Festival. The runners, prices, going and race conditions change each year.
Are ante-post bets refunded if a horse does not run?
Ordinary ante-post bets generally lose if the horse does not run, unless the applicable terms or a specific promotion provide otherwise. Check whether non-runner no bet applies before placing the bet.
Are Cheltenham free bets available on the total winning favourites market?
That depends on the bookmaker and the promotion. Some free bets are restricted to selected sports, races or bet types. Check whether Festival specials are eligible.
Summary
The total number of winning SP favourites market is based on how many qualifying favourites win across the Cheltenham Festival.
Six outright or joint-favourites won at the 2026 meeting. Historical results provide context, but the total varies from year to year and depends on the outcome of each race.
Before placing a bet, check the live odds, the races included and the bookmaker’s rules for joint-favourites and settlement. Historical totals should be verified using a consistent counting method before they are used to calculate a long-term strike rate.
