The Cheltenham horse racing festival is like “Christmas” for bookmakers, the BoyleSports CEO has said.

It is the biggest racing festival in the Irish and UK calendar where over €5m in prize money will be up for grabs across 28 races.

Tens of thousands of Irish fans are also expected to travel to Cheltenham this year, which is located in Gloucestershire in the southwest of England.

Booming business

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning,  BoyleSports CEO Vlad Kaltenieks said he expects millions of bets to be placed over the four-day festival and is “very excited” for things to kick off today.

“Over 300,000 people are heading to Cheltenham and there are going to be millions of bets placed online, many millions," he said.

“It’s absolutely the Christmas for [betting companies], it’s very exciting.

“There are big sponsors there at the festival and it’s a big opportunity to promote brands to make sure you are seen.”

A race at Cheltenham, 10/3/09. Image: Independent / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Kaltenieks said Boylesports is looking to expand into new markets such as digital and the UK.

“We have 400 people [at head office] in Dundalk, things are going well for us and we are excited about the future,” he said.

“We are investing in our retail today and putting betting terminals into our stores, our stores are looking really good.

“I think there is also an opportunity to expand in the UK where we have 50 shops and digital is one of the biggest areas for us.”

Mr Kaltenieks said digital now constitutes more than half of all betting through BoyleSports.

Regulations

The CEO said it is important that gambling is properly regulated in Ireland.

“In Ireland, we have some way to go, particularly around advertising,” he said.

“We need to make sure that it doesn’t push people into the black market.

“This causes problems where there is no protection for customers, there is no safe gambling notes or banners and they are unable to seek help.”

BoyleSports is Ireland’s largest independently-owned betting company that has 283 shops across the UK and Ireland and employs around 2,500 people.

Main image: Waterford Jockey John Gleeson celebrates on A Dream To Share after winning the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, 15-03-2023. Image: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile