Cheltenham Tips - Day Three

Below are all our Cheltenham Festival Tips for Day Three (Thursday 12th March 2026).

Our expert tipsters have selected their best tips for all 7 races, including their best bet of the day!

Our tips for Cheltenham Festival Day Three will be posted on Wednesday, March 11th March 2026.

In the meantime, we will be posting antepost tips every few days for the major races at the Festival. Check back on this page or follow @TWEnclosure on X for notifications.

When our Cheltenham tips for Day Three are published, our tipsters will add reasoning for each selection to this section.

Unlike every other day of the Cheltenham Festival, Day Three has not one but two Championship races.

Stayers' Hurdle

Time: 15:20

Distance: 3 miles

Click here to see our Stayers' Hurdle tips and find out more information.

Ryanair Chase

Time: 16:00

Distance: 2 mile 4 furlongs

Click here to see our Ryanair Chase tips

Key Information

• Gates Open: 10:30
• First Race: 13:20
• Last Race: 17:20
• Number of Races: 7
• Feature Races: Stayers' Hurdle and Ryanair Chase
• 2025 Attendance: 53,366

By the time our tipsters select their Cheltenham Festival Day Three tips, they'll have had two days of racing to identify key trends and differences compared to previous Festivals.

The main factor in selecting our Day Three bets is often the weather, and more importantly the impact that has on the going. No year of the Festival is the same, and different weather conditions both in the preceding weeks and months and in the first two days of the Festival make a difference as to the horses which will be best suited by the conditions.

Otherwise the approach our expert tipsters take to selecting their Cheltenham bets remains the same as the other three days.

Key factors considered include:

• The recent and long term form of the horse, trainer and jockey
• Previous Cheltenham performances
• Relevant results and entries for related horses
• Betting market movements

Our tipsters watch every jumps race throughout the season. This encyclopaedic knowledge gives them an excellent foundation coming into the Festival. They'll know the key horses to consider and will also have noted eye catching performances for potential outsiders.

2026 sees a significant schedule change for Day Three of the Festival.

The Mares' Hurdle has moved from its traditional opening day slot - where it was extremely popular in providing short price favourites for accumulators in previous years - to become the second race on Thursday.

The Plate Handicap swaps places, and with the two Championship features Day Three is now arguably the standout day of racing in terms of quality.

It may also be the standout day for a favourites accumulator. The Mares' Novice Hurdle, Mares' Hurdle, Stayers' Hurdle and Ryanair Chase have all had short priced favourites recently, and in 2026 and beyond this trend is likely to continue.

We have a full selection of Cheltenham Festival Day Three free bets: see our best 3 below, updated daily throughout Cheltenham week: