One of the biggest weeks of the year for punters is upon us and all eyes in the racing world will be trained firmly on Cheltenham as the best jump horses in the world descend on Gloucestershire for four days of thrills and spills.

There is plenty to get excited about this year with superstars like Honeysuckle and Shishkin both gearing up for another crack at the obstacles at Prestbury Park. A Plus Tard and Galvin go head-to-head for Gold Cup glory on the Friday and will Paul Townend justify his favourite tag in the Top Jockey betting?

If you are still in search of some inspiration ahead of this week, we have reviewed where buyers and sellers came out on top in last year’s Festival.

Please remember that when spread betting, losses can exceed deposits.

ENVOI ALLEN 50-25-10 (SETTLED AT 0)

One great market if you fancy getting against a favourite is our 50-25-10 Race Index and those who sold Envoi Allen in the Marsh Novices’ Chase last year were in the money. As the horses went to post, the spread was 34-37 and with 50 points awarded for a race win, 25 for second and 10 for third, buyers needed Jack Kennedy to guide Envoi Allen over the line in front.

However, the previously unbeaten runner came down at the fourth fence leaving plenty of punters crestfallen. Sellers meanwhile were trying not to snigger in front of their mates as they galloped away with a win equal to 34x their stake.

JEFF KIDDER BINARY (SETTLED AT 100)

The biggest priced winner of the Festival last year came in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle as the Noel Meade trained Jeff Kidder came home in front of the well-backed Saint Sam. Returning at a fixed odds price of 80/1, there was also a healthy win for buyers on the Binary market.

This is just a straight win/loss market with the race winner being awarded 100 points and zilch for the rest. With no one giving Jeff Kidder much of a hope, the pre-race spread was set at 3-5, but those who were shrewd enough to find the winner in this one were left cheering home a winner equal to 95x their stake.

THURSDAY MULTI-MULES (SETTLED AT 317)

Multi-Mules can be another exciting market to play if you are after an interest in every race without necessarily having a runner on side in each of them. This market is based on the race winner’s racecard number multiplied for the horse that came second and this is then aggregated for the whole day’s racing.

The Ryanair Chase was the best result for sellers as Allaho (racecard one) beat Fakir D’Oudairies (racecard four) by a whopping 12 lengths, a result which meant only 41 points had been accumulated after the first three races of the day.

A couple of bigger first/second combos occurred in the handicaps later on the card but with a final makeup of 317 against an original spread of 523-573, sellers were claiming a win amounting to 206x their stake.

FRIDAY SQUARED NUMBERS (SETTLED AT 1209)

Much like the Multi-Mules market, the Squared Numbers spread offers you the chance for an interest in every race on the card without necessarily nailing down a selection. This is the sum of the racecard number of each winner squared and before racing got underway, the spread was 704-779.

Belfast Banter winning the County Handicap Hurdle whilst wearing 26 and Vanillier’s success in the race after wearing number 17 were the two real big bonuses for buyers. Despite Colreevy claiming the Mares’ Chase in number one, the market settled at 1209 with buyers landing a win equal to 430x their initial stake.