Sky Bet and Paddy Power are now offering Non Runner No Bet markets on all 28 races at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival - and our experts have a couple of tips to consider.
The offer is live on all Festival races, but if you don’t want the safety net and reduced prices there is still the option of betting in the traditional antepost markets without the concession.
With six weeks until Gold Cup day at this year's Festival, Sky Bet's Head of Sports PR Michael Shinners is delighted to announce the offer, saying: "With the Cheltenham Festival moving closer, we are going Non Runner No Bet on all races from Friday.
"Running plans for many horses are still up in the air, so the safety blanket of getting your money back if you don’t get a run will be appealing to a large number of our customers. However, we are also keeping our standard antepost book available for those customers who are prepared to take a risk for bigger prices."
Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield said: “It’s always an exciting time of year when we go NRNB and our traders have gone the whole hog incorporating all 28 Festival races, including the handicaps, into the initiative.
“Picking winners at the 'Olympics of Jumps' racing is always fun, but NRNB ensures that punters don’t lose their money if their fancy goes for an alternative contest and backers still have the option of a bigger price as our ante-post markets are all still available.
"My friend Max McNeill sure deserves a Festival winner and hopefully No Drama This End will do the business in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, but if connections were to change their mind and decide to go to the Albert Bartlett instead, NRNB is a perfect vehicle for a wager at this stage.
"I also like Minella Study in the Triumph as I think trainer Adam Nicol is right, if he were trained by someone like Paul Nicholls or Willie Mullins, he wouldn’t be such a big price and wouldn’t it be great for Nicol's Northumberland yard to have a winner in March?"
We asked our tipping experts to come up with the best NRNB bets they could find...
PANIC ATTACK - Ryanair Chase (20/1)
by Matt Brocklebank
Dan Skelton's PANIC ATTACK has looked a totally transformed individual so far this season, winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup, Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, and then putting in an exhibition round of jumping when sauntering home by 14 lengths under a penalty in Grade 3 company back in West Berkshire last time out.
She looks a Grade 1 chaser this term and while a shot at the Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase might be the more obvious port of call for connections (around an 8/1 chance there), I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were tempted into having a crack at what looks quite an open edition of the Ryanair Chase, for which Panic Attack holds an entry.
Her bold jumping, attacking style of racing and excellent course form would all make her a real threat to no matter what turns up for this year's Ryanair - a race the Skeltons won in 2024 with Protektorat - and, in receipt of weight from the geldings, she might be a very hard horse to peg back if holding her form right into the spring.
WENDIGO – Ultima Handicap Chase (16/1)
by Ben Linfoot
Jamie Snowden has reiterated time and time again that WENDIGO is going for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase but that has only seen this horse’s Ultima Handicap Chase price hold up and 16/1 NRNB is worth taking.
Wendigo looks a staying novice chaser out of the top drawer and he fully deserves his place in the Brown Advisory line-up, but with Final Demand dominating the market Snowden wouldn’t be the first to assess a Mullins beast and opt for an easier option at the Festival.
After Wendigo’s Ayr stroll on Thursday that fourth steeplechase run ensured he is qualified for an open Festival handicap chase and he’d be just about favourite if the Ultima option proved too tempting to resist in a race that definitely suits lightly-raced individuals.
If Snowden sticks to his guns he'll be in the Brown Advisory, but if he changes tack there will be an Ultima price collapse, so he's the perfect NRNB bet.
Published at 10:00 GMT 30/01/26
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