This week’s Cheltenham Festival brings us four days of top-notch racing to enjoy. Anyone looking to add a different dimension to their punting should consider a spread betting account with Sporting Index*.

As well as allowing you to back your favourite horse to do well, spread betting allows punters to lay runners that they don’t fancy. So even if you’re struggling to pick a winner in any of the races, you could still be quids in!

They offer a number of spread betting markets on every race at Cheltenham along with a choice of free bets for new clients and some interesting promotions open to all account holders:**

Free £25 per Length Racing Bet**
Open a Sporting Index account* and place ten bets (risking £20 per bet) to claim a free £25 per length racing bet.

If that doesn’t grab you, then you could go for a free £200 per goal football bet or £100 free cash (after opening an account and placing ten bets risking £20 per bet, as above).

Cheltenham Festival Promotion**
Sporting Index and bethilo are offering all clients (old and new) a helping hand for the Cheltenham Festival:
Buy (bet ‘high’ on) any horse in any race at the Cheltenham Festival, and if it falls or unseats its rider at the first or last fence, they’ll refund your losses.

Sporting Index Cross Country Chase**
Sporting Index and bethilo are running a promotion for all clients (old and new) to mark the inaugural running of the Sporting Index Chase at the Cheltenham Festival:
Buy (bet ‘high’ on) any horse in the Sporting Index Cross Country Chase on Tuesday 15th March at 4.40pm, and if he falls they’ll refund your losses.

Wise words:
To help you get started, we spoke to the Senior Racing Trader at Sporting Index for his opinion on the Sporting Index Cross Country Chase:
“Spotthedifference is a versatile sort who, despite being a twelve year old, is arguably in the form of his life. He had a recent spin over hurdles to freshen him up and pre-Christmas was dual course and distance winner. With regular pilot J T McNamara on board he has a solid chance of getting another cheque from Sporting Index.
“Comanche War Paint had an ideal preparation for this race when recently successful over hurdles. This lightly-raced eight year old is the choice of stable jockey Ruby Walsh and is preferred to stable-mate French Executive. At a competitive looking 10st 3lbs, he has a big pull with Spotthedifference and is weighted to reverse the form.
“Gun’ N Roses is a bold-jumping recent Haydock winner who’s shown a liking for challenging fences in the past, and this course should be ideal. In the care of up-and-coming trainer Paul Keane, this old boy could be the surprise package.
“Personally though, my money will be on Comanche War Paint; I fancy Ruby Walsh to have a great week.”

*Credit and suitability checks, **terms and conditions apply. See site for full details about an account with Sporting Index. Sports spread betting is high risk and is not suitable for everyone. You can lose more than your original stake so make sure you understand the risks involved. Sporting Index is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.