Cheltenham: Millions Placed in Bets

The Cheltenham Festival is a regular event in the British horse racing calendar and has one of the largest race prize money pool in horseracing (only second to the Grand National). The majority of online betting odds for Cheltenham 2018 have gone live and it is expected that millions of pounds will be placed on bets during the festival. Although the majority of money at the weekend will be spent by visitors on bets, the jockeys will also have huge sums of money to compete for. With just under £5 million prize money available, they will be encouraging their horse to get to the finish line as soon as possible. The trainers and owners will also be hoping that the horse has been prepared well as they will also be hoping to get part of the impressive prize pool.

The popularity of the sport and the continuous investment into the sport & prize money has meant that more and more ‘famous figures’ have become involved in the sport. Although some people have become involved by becoming horse trainers, a lot of famous people have brought and invested their own horses in an attempt to increase their wealth by winning races. It is completely up to the owner what they do with their winnings, but a lot of the owners usually invest their money back into racing by improve the quality of their training, or buying another horse to compete for them.

Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the more famous and recognisable race horse owners. ‘Fergie’ started getting involved in horse racing in the latter part of his life, owning horses such as the “Rock of Gibraltar”. Although the “Rock of Gibraltar” horse is now retired, Ferguson’s current horse, Clan Des Obeaux, will be competing in the Gold Cup on Friday. Considering that his horse will be participating on Friday, there is a good chance that he will also be attending the festival himself.

Other celebrities which have ownership of horses include Steven Spielberg, Harry Redknapp, and the Duchess of Westminster. Although these celebrities aren’t likely to attend the festival, there is a good chance that their horses will be competing at one of the many races taking place this week.

There are thousands of race horse owners across the world, but how familiar are you with some of the more famous ones. Take this quiz and see what score you can get.

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