2013 Arkle Novice Chase Betting Tips Part 1

The Arkle boasts a very significant favourite as one of the key festival bankers is set to take a significant step forward and win his second Cheltenham Festival race on the bounce as Simonsig looks to follow up his Neptune Novices’ score from last year with another rousing success here against a more talented group of novice chasers. 

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Undefeated this season, Simonsig has been one of the stories of Nicky Henderson’s yard since debuting back in 2011. He’s had an impressive run of form since shipping in from the point to point circuit to win his debut novice hurdle at Ascot in November of 2011. Since then, he’s lost only once, finishing second to Fingal Bay in a Grade 2 Novice Hurdle at Sandown, since then he’s rattled off six wins in a row. 

It’s not just the impressive run of victories but it’s the manner of those victories that really tells the story. He scores a Cheltenham/Aintree double last year before taking two novice chases within the space of a week and winning them by a combined 84 length margin. These were Grade 2 contests against capable horses, mind. 

A prohibitive 8/11 favourite in the ante post market, he is one of the shortest prices for the entire festival. Look for him to make a big statement here - and to go somewhere near 4/11 on the day. 

The only real contender getting any play in their attempt to beat Simonsig to the line is the talented son of Barathea - Overturn. He’s been out three times this year, all in novice chases featuring only four runners.

He’s taken all of them - by very significant margins as well. 14 lengths, 25 lengths and 29 lengths tells the story, but you have to wonder about whether he can really stand up against a favourite like Simonsig. He doesn’t have the graded experience but was right in the mix over hurdles last year - finishing second to Rock On Ruby in the Champion Hurdle.