As a bookie, standing in the betting ring at Cheltenham is like stepping onto the pitch at Wembley. It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of and worked for. On the drive up, you’ll be anxious, excited, probably a little bit ratty, but most definitely desperate to get stuck in.
The festival occupies your mind from the moment the last race finishes the year before, growing into an obsession that builds exponentially the closer you get to the following year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the roar that accompanies it.
It can literally make or break you.
Those four March days can set you up financially and mentally for the whole year ahead. A bad Cheltenham inevitably means a bad year; a good one usually means a good ‘un.
When my brother and I launched DragonBet the online business, we had to sell our prized Cheltenham pitch. It was a decision not easily made, but to be frank we needed the money to get going.
It was a huge risk. At that point, on average, those four days would account for about a third of our annual bookmaking profit. It was in a prime position, right on the rails opposite the Guinness Village, running along the paddock horse walkway. A location that was great from a business point of view, attracting a lot of the hospitality guests who surrounded the area and the flow of people leaving both the madness of the drinking area and the paddock.
You could literally smell the horses as they went down to post and taste the palpable excitement of the stable staff leading them on to course. The elation of connections and joy of the victory parade once the champions were forged will forever stay with me.

But it wasn’t just the financial implications or the loss of the location that made the sale so difficult—it was more the memories. When you’ve stood on the same few yards of metal, on the same few days of the year, for at least a quarter of a century, there are plenty of them.
For me, it’s the racing and the betting that make Cheltenham, but it’s even more about the people—and each person’s countless mini triumphs and defeats—that elevate it to something you can only truly understand if you’ve been there and experienced it.
You’d have people you’d only see once a year greet you as old friends, while simultaneously readying themselves for battle against you. You’ll see things you don’t see elsewhere and take bets you won’t take at other tracks.
Some of the best memories will be the most painful. For instance, I vividly remember the payout queue stretching back to Cleeve Hill when Sprinter Sacre regained his Champion Chase Crown. We did our absolute stones on the race and barely took a bet on the next, as we spent the whole time paying out. But it was worth every penny just to ‘be there’ and experience the collective ecstasy of the crowd when it happened.
So, this year I’m pleased to announce that DragonBet is re-entering the festival betting ring. As an online business, staying true to our roots has been essential. Racecourse bookmaking is in our DNA and flows through everything we do, whether it’s laying a ‘fair’ bet in all senses of the word or offering the traditional real bookmaking values that being born from the betting ring demand.
The new pitch isn’t along the lower rail but up in Tattersalls, or the main ring as it’s sometimes known. It’s pitch number five, so it’s right in the line of fire of the big hitters, and we’ll feel privileged to be able to take bets in an area where countless hearts have been broken and fortunes favored over all those years.
I also feel grateful that the business has gone well enough, and what feels like full circle—after taking the punt of selling the old pitch in the first place—to be able to buy back in after such a short sabbatical.
So here’s to making new memories. I’m ready for the inevitable triumphs and disasters that will come. I hope you are too, let’s battle!

