We are a week away from the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, and of course, everyone is beginning to get themselves sorted and put their thoughts in order.

I’ve been spending plenty of time recently looking at the form book, re-evaluating my selections that I’ve already made, and looking out for the ‘obvious good thing’ that I’ve missed.

My notebook is brimming with thoughts, but one overriding thought is in my mind as I sit here with a week to go. I think this is the most competitive Cheltenham Festival we’ve seen for a number of years, and a real test for punters over the 28 races.

It looks tough, I think winners will be hard to come by, and I think it’ll be a week for the bookmakers. But of course, that won’t stop us from trying, and my big race preview for the Championship races will be out next Monday.

Just Three Odds On Favourites So Far

The first aspect of my thoughts comes with the betting markets we are currently seeing across the 28 races at the festival.

As I write, there are just three odds-on favourites across the entire festival. These are Majborough (Champion Chase), Bambino Fever (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle) and Fact To File (Ryanair Chase).

I do think there will be one more, I think Lossiemouth will run in the Mares’ Hurdle, the race she won last year and the year before, and I think she’ll go odds on for that race when it’s confirmed.

But I’m not sure there will be any others. For the past couple of years, two big Cheltenham Festival talking points have been the field sizes and the number of odds-on shots. It’s a trend across racing as a whole, but this year, the festival looks different.

To put this into context against last year, we had four odds-on favourites just on the first day at the 2025 festival, and a few more after that across the three days following.

Majborough is also a key horse as part of this. He wasn’t odds on until earlier this week when Marine Nationale was ruled out of Cheltenham, so he’s adding to the number of odds-on shots when he wasn’t expected to be that kind of price.

What is the Cheltenham Banker?

It’s the week when everyone starts talking, the Cheltenham preview evenings are in full swing, and opinions are everything. The most popular question is, of course, what is the Cheltenham banker? And to be honest, this year, I’m not really sure there is one.

Fact To File will be the obvious pick for many, a dominant horse that’s got great form, and looks to have the Ryanair Chase at his mercy, building on his 2025 Ryanair Chase success. There’s a small chance he goes for the Gold Cup, but I really don’t think that will happen. He’ll be the most popular banker of the meeting in the Ryanair.

Away from him, though, I don’t think there’s much else to go at. Majborough lost when odds on last year, will enough people trust him at such a short price? I think Lossiemouth will be popular in the Mares’ when confirmed, but did get beaten last time out.

Then you’ve the Champion Hurdle, The New Lion has plenty to prove as favourite, and finally, the Gold Cup looks as wide open as it has been for years.

Unless something jumps out at me over the next few days, I’m inclined to say I won’t have a Cheltenham banker this year, and I think that’s something else that feeds into the narrative that this year looks wide open.

But having said all of this, I am getting myself ready for the battle in what could be one of the most level-playing-field and open weeks at Cheltenham I can remember.