Matchbook Cheltenham Offer 2026: Get Up to £100 in Free Bets for Cheltenham Festival

New customers can claim up to £100 in free bets at Matchbook for the Cheltenham Festival 2026. Register using bonus code GET100, place £50 across five separate events on the Matchbook Exchange, and receive £50 in free bets once all five bets settle. On top of that, any commission you pay on the Exchange before 23:59 on 8th March 2026 is refunded as a free bet, up to a further £50.

Matchbook Cheltenham Betting Markets 

Matchbook offers four core markets for Cheltenham races, all accessible via the Exchange at typically sharper odds than traditional bookmakers.

Win

Back a horse to finish first. As an exchange, Matchbook sources odds from other bettors rather than setting its own, which is why it consistently offers top price on more Cheltenham races than any fixed-odds bookmaker. If you're backing a favourite like Constitution Hill or a big-priced outsider, check Matchbook first; you'll rarely find better.

Place

Back a horse to finish within a set number of positions, typically Place (3) or Place (4). More places mean lower odds but a higher chance of a return. Place markets are particularly useful during handicap races at Cheltenham, where fields are large and results unpredictable. A Place (4) on a 20-runner handicap is a far safer play than a Win-only bet.

Forecast

Select the first and second-placed horses in the exact correct order. High risk, high reward, best suited to shorter fields where form is strong and the race shape is predictable, such as novice chases or Grade 1 hurdles with a small number of runners.

Reverse Forecast

Pick the first and second in either order. More forgiving than a standard forecast and worth considering when two horses are closely matched at the head of the market, for example in a two-horse race like the Champion Chase where the front two are often separated by a short head.

Matchbook and the Rise of Mobile-First Exchange Betting at Cheltenham

Mobile betting now accounts for the majority of wagers placed during Cheltenham Festival week, a shift that has fundamentally changed how punters interact with exchange platforms like Matchbook. This matters because exchange betting and mobile betting reward the same thing: speed.

Unlike traditional sportsbook apps built around promotional banners and pre-packaged accumulators, Matchbook's mobile interface is optimised for market depth and fast execution. During a four-day festival where 28 races run across condensed timeframes, the ability to find a market, check liquidity, match a price, and confirm a bet in under 30 seconds is a genuine competitive edge.

In-play exchange betting on mobile has become standard practice at Cheltenham, and punters now routinely trade positions during a race, laying off early leaders or backing horses making ground at the second-last fence. This is something no fixed-odds bookmaker can replicate. Matchbook's exchange structure supports this directly: odds update in real time, matched bets are confirmed instantly, and unmatched bets can be cancelled mid-race if liquidity dries up.

For 2026, this makes Matchbook's mobile offering not just a convenience feature but a core part of the value proposition — one that fixed-odds competitors such as Ladbrokes or William Hill cannot match structurally.

How does Matchbook's Cheltenham Offer compare with Sky Bet, bet365 & other online bookies?

At £100 in free bets, Matchbook's Cheltenham offer is the most generous on this list, though it requires a £50 qualifying stake across five separate bets, making it better suited to punters already planning to bet at volume during the festival. Sky Bet's offer is the lowest barrier to entry, with just a 5p stake unlocking £40 in free bets, while bet365's £30 offer carries the longest expiry window at 30 days, giving more flexibility on when to use them. See how all four compare in the table below: