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ITV Racing Betting Offers – Free Bets & Money Back

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goodwood2ITV is now the primary free to watch TV racing broadcaster in the United Kingdom having replaced Channel 4 in January 2017.  Channel 4 previously broadcast continuous racing from 22nd March 1984, a lot for ITV to live up to.

The decision not to renew by Channel 4 was influenced, in part, by low viewing figures and it was hoped ITV would be able to bring racing to a larger more mainstream audience.

The first five years of results have been promising for ITV, especially for the bigger races shown on the main channel.  Some criticism has been brought however for the high percentage of less prestigious racing that is shown on ITV4.

This change in broadcaster had little effect on the, hugely valuable, live TV racing offers from top UK online bookmakers. Betting sites provide generous price promises and free bets on live racing because the audience and the size of their book is bigger for live events in general, and this allows them to offer better odds and money back deals.

It ultimately matters little to the bookie who the broadcaster actually is, all they care about is that more people are interested in these race.

Best ITV Racing Free Bets & Offers

T&C’s Apply, 18+, BeGambleAware.org Gamstop.co.uk #ad
Opt-in required in the bet slip, minimum stake £5, min. odds EVS, ITV and select other racing only, free bet will match the win stake of your qualifying bet, free bet has 7 days validity, on horse racing only. Further T&Cs Apply #ad
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T&Cs apply 18+
Opt-in and back a winner at 5/1 or more on selected races and get a free bet up to £10. 18+. UK & ROI customers. Available on all ITV races & All UK/lrish Sunday Races from 07:30am on 26.08.2023. First real money single win or win part of e/w bets qualify. Opt-in Req. Min bet £/€1. Min Odds 5/1. If horse wins at 5/1 or greater customer receives a free bet up to £10 to be used on Horse Racing only, credited within 24 hours, valid for 7 days. Restrictions + T&Cs apply. #ad
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T&Cs apply 18+
bet365 will not be beaten on price on any horse for all UK and Irish races shown live on ITV Racing. Applies to bets placed on Win and Each-Way Fixed Odds markets from 10am on the day of the race up to 15 minutes before the scheduled ‘off’ time for each ITV race (excluding US racing). Prices matched against selected bookmakers. Bet restrictions and T&Cs apply. Registration required. #ad
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T&Cs apply 18+

Offers change periodically, especially between the flat and jump season. Keep an eye on this page and I will update all new offers as they come out.

Why Do ITV Races Have So Many Offers?

betway money back 2nd itv racing

Example offer for illustration purposes only

Ultimately it is about competition and bookmakers know that more people bet on ITV races simply because they can watch them easily.  The detailed race build up featuring ex-jockeys and other experts also helps inform people better about the runners and riders making them more likely to want to place a bet on the result.

There can be up to 50x more staked on a typical ITV race compared to an equivalent non-televised race, and while punters can now watch all races they bet on in the UK and Ireland by streaming it through a betting site it isn’t quite the same experience.  Streaming windows are small and low resolution and you don’t get the race build up and insight you get on tv.

Naturally ITV will also show all of the big races, especially the ones on their main channel, and big races are naturally more bet on than lower grade and class races that are non-televised.

Therefore, customers who like to watch and bet on live ITV racing would be wise to shop around as bookies run lots of different offers around televised racing and different deals suit different people.  It is common to find money back 2nd (3rd & 4th and sometimes if you lose), free bets if you back a winner over certain odds, enhanced prices, extra places, enhanced each-way terms and boost your own odds features.  Really if you bet on ITV racing and you do so without an offer you are doing yourself a disservice.

ITV Racing Major Meetings

itv racingIt came as a shock to many when it was announced that ITV would be replacing Channel 4 as the main free to air horse racing broadcaster in the UK.

But in many ways, this wasn’t that much of a shock. Channel 4 audiences for the big events have been in decline since they acquired them from the BBC in 2013, events like Champions Day, which drew in an audience of 1,100,000 back in 2013, had dropped below 400,000 in 2016.

The decision by Channel 4 not to renew their tenure seems to have been mutually beneficial with the rights owners. This coinciding with new interest from the more middle-of-the-road ITV also offered new ways to display top level racing to more people.

This already seems to have paid off with most meetings broadcast now showing viewing figures on the rise, especially those shown on ITV.  There have been ups and down, with the Cheltenham Festival in 2018 seeing a dip but the Epsom Derby attracting the most viewers since 2013.

The pandemic certainly helped the fortunes of ITV with more people than ever tuning into weekend racing that was largely held behind closed doors.  The lack of other sources of entertainment at that time meant there were more people around to watch the live broadcasts.  The effect seems to have been long lasting too with ITV enjoying even higher viewing figures when covid restrictions were listed than before the outbreak.  The 2022 Cheltenham Festival attracted viewing figures of around 1.6 million people for the Gold Cup.

Live ITV Racing

Date Meeting 1 Other Meeting(s) Feature Race/Event
Monday 1st January Cheltenham Musselburgh
Saturday 22nd January Ascot Haydock Park Clarence House Chase
Saturday 29th January Cheltenham Doncaster Festival Trials Day
Saturday 5th February Sandown Musselburgh & Wetherby
Saturday 12th February Newbury Warwick Betfair Handicap Hurdle
Saturday 19th February Ascot Haydock & Wincanton
Saturday 26th February Lingfield Kempton & Newcastle Winter Derby Stakes
Saturday 2nd March Doncaster Newbury & Kelso
Tuesday 15th March Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle
Wednesday 16th March Cheltenham Festival Queen Mother Champion Chase
Thursday 17th March Cheltenham Festival The World Hurdle
Friday 18th March Cheltenham Festival Cheltenham Gold Cup
Saturday 2nd April Ayr Newbury Scottish Grand National
Thursday 7th April Aintree Grand National Aintree Hurdle
Friday 8th April Aintree Grand National Melling Chase
Saturday 9th April Aintree Grand National Grand National
Saturday 25th April Sandown Haydock Jumps Finale
Saturday 2nd May Newmarket Goodwood 2,000 Guineas
Sunday 3rd May Newmarket Hamilton 1,000 Guineas
Saturday 16th May Newbury Newmarket Lockinge
Friday 5th June Epsom Derby Meeting Oaks Stakes
Saturday 6th June Epsom Derby Meeting Derby Stakes
Tuesday 16th June Royal Ascot Queen Anne Stakes
Wednesday 17th June Royal Ascot Prince of Wales Stakes
Thursday 18th June Royal Ascot The Gold Cup
Friday 19th June Royal Ascot Coronation Stakes
Saturday 20th June Royal Ascot Diamond Jubilee Stakes
Saturday 29th June Newcastle Newmarket & York Northumberland Plate
Saturday 4th July Sandown Haydock Eclipse
Saturday 11th July Newmarket July Festival Ascot & York Super Saturday
Saturday 25th July Ascot York King George
Tuesday 28th July Glorious Goodwood Lennox & Vintage Stakes
Wednesday 29th July Glorious Goodwood Sussex Stakes
Thursday 30th July Glorious Goodwood Goodwood Cup
Friday 31st July Glorious Goodwood King George Stakes
Saturday 1st August Glorious Goodwood Nassau Stakes
Wednesday 19th August Ebor Festival Juddmonte Stakes
Thursday 20th August Ebor Festival Yorkshire Oaks
Friday 21st August Ebor Festival Nunthorpe Stakes
Saturday 22nd August Ebor Festival Goodwood Ebor Heritage Handicap
Saturday 5th September Haydock Kempton & Ascot Sprint Cup
Saturday 12th September Doncaster Chester & Chelmsford St Leger
Saturday 26th September Newmarket Haydock Park Stakes
Saturday 3rd October Newmarket Ascot & Redcar Chariot Stakes
Saturday 9th October Newmarket York Fillies’ Mile
Saturday 10th October Newmarket York Dewhurst Stakes
Saturday 17th October Ascot (Champions Day) British Champions Day
Saturday 24th October Cheltenham Newbury & Doncaster Handicap Chase
Saturday 31st October Wetherby Ascot
Saturday 7th November Wincanton Aintree & Doncaster
Saturday 14th November Cheltenham Lingfield November Meeting
Sunday 15th November Cheltenham Fontwell November Meeting
Saturday 21st November Haydock Ascot Betfair Chase
Saturday 27th November Newbury Long Distance Hurdle
Saturday 28th November Newbury Newcastle Hennessy Gold Cup
Saturday 5th December Newbury Newcastle
Friday 11th December Cheltenham Bangor International Meeting
Saturday 12th December Cheltenham Doncaster International Meeting
Saturday 19th December Ascot Haydock
Saturday 26th December Kempton Winter Festival Wetherby King George VI Chase
Sunday 27th December Chepstow Kempton Winter Festival Welsh Grand National
Monday 28th December Newbury

NOTE – Table above shows live racing on ITV, most races and meetings (around 90%) will be broadcast on ITV4 or ITV3.

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