Just like last year, I followed the tipsters for the 2022 Cheltenham festival. The table below shows the performance (profit/loss) of the traditional newspapers and recognised online tipping sources who made regular predictions.
Non-runner predictions were excluded from the analysis and a hypothetical stake of €10 (win) was assumed on the starting price of each prediction.
The results do not make for pleasant reading for the Tipsters. Only one tipster – Lambourn – returned a profit (€37.5). This was due to the performance of Maries Rock, who won at 18/1.
The losses are a reminder of how challenging it is to make money at Cheltenham when gambling on every race – some of the handicaps are very challenging. Added to this, the changing ground conditions may have made it particularly tricky this year. It is also a keen reminder of the limits of tipsters ability.
If one was to view the Cheltenham experience as a consumption good and accept losses maybe the numbers are justifiable. Taking the worst case scenario, if one was to follow The Sun tips for the 4 days, it would mean paying ~€50 per day for the entertainment. Of course, the product could be found cheaper elsewhere – you could have ‘bought’ the Cheltenham experience for as low as €4.30 per day by following the RP ratings.