William Hill Reveals Most Profitable Day Ever at Cheltenham Festival

William Hill revealed the operator enjoyed its “most profitable day” at the Cheltenham Festival in its history on Wednesday.

Ahead of Friday’s Gold Cup, the festival’s flagship race, the Evoke-owned brand said it made a remarkable recovery on Wednesday, as bad results on the opening day of the festival on Tuesday pushed “losses into the millions thanks to two winning Epic Boosts.”

On Day Two, there were some standout losses for favourites including No Drama This End, Romeo Coolio, Majborough and Be Aware.

Putting that into context

The Cheltenham Festival pre-dates William Hill, with the first festival running in 1860. William Hill was founded in 1934, putting into context the significance of William Hill’s result. This follows William Hill’s claim earlier this week it expects an industry total of £450 million will be wagered on the event across its four days.

William Hill said only “a few renewals of the Grand National” had generated larger profit on a standalone horseracing event. William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps said earlier this week:

“The battle between us and the punters over the four days of the Cheltenham Festival is unrivalled in jumps racing.

“We’re expecting around £450m to be wagered over the four days, which makes it the most bet-on racing festival of the year, and it’s a hugely important week for us. One day the fancied runners can go and get beat and everyone on the trading floor is cheering, and the next it can swing right back to the punters. Bring it on!”

Future concerns

There have been recent concerns regarding how operators could reduce marketing spend in horseracing as a result of upcoming online tax increases.

In April, remote gaming duty, paid on online casino bets, will rise from 21% of gross gaming yield (GGY) to 40%. In addition, general betting duty (GBD), paid on online sports bets, will go up from 15% of GGY to 25%, in April 2027.

While bets on horseracing will be exempt from the GBD rise, the increases can still have an impact on the sport, as operators are expected to reduce marketing spend to mitigate the impact.

In January, Coral, owned by Entain, announced it would be ending its sponsorship of the Cheltenham Festival, referencing the tax increases as part of its reasoning for concluding its sponsorship of the Coral Cup.

Coral had sponsored the race since its inception in 1993, and Coral had been a sponsor at the Cheltenham Festival since 1974. At the time, Entain’s UK PR and Sponsorship Director Simon Clare said this “reflects the need to reassess where and how we invest under the new cost landscape.”

William Hill remains

William Hill has offered on-site, fixed-odds betting shops at Cheltenham since 2018. The operator will sponsor the William Hill County Hurdle on Gold Cup Day today (Friday).

According to William Hill, all 28 races held at Cheltenham across the four days last year made it into the 31 most bet-on races in 2025. The only other races making it into that list were the Grand National, Derby and Scottish National.

Daryl West, William Hill’s Head of Media and Sponsorship, said earlier this week:

“As William Hill celebrates over 90 years in the industry, we’re embracing our heritage and being part of horseracing’s biggest days is something we’ve done throughout our history. Racedays don’t come much bigger than Gold Cup Day, so we’re delighted to be a part of it and will be back again for the Cheltenham Festival in 2026.”