BET365 Cheltenham Open Betting Preview PT 1

As we near the kick-off of one of the biggest National Hunt events of the early portion of the season, it appears as though Present View is the outright favourite to take down the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham next Saturday. He got off to a rather inauspicious start to the season, switching back to hurdles in a novice contest where he was only able to finish second to Vicente by a head. 

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That result isn’t likely to worry Jamie Snowden and the rest of the team as he will be back over proper fences here and the bookmakers don’t seem perturbed by the result one bit as they have him floated at a 15/2 price tag which puts him a solid distance ahead of the rest of the competition who tend to be hovering around double digits. 

Punters can expect that price to shorten once the final declarations are made and we are coping with a very large field here but that presents plenty of opportunities as there are more than a few who are definitely going to be in the mix for this one. 

Present View won at Cheltenham last year and was able to conquer the Novice Handicap Chase at the start of the festival. Even though it’s only a listed contest he was still able to get the better of 18 other contenders and still triumph by a half-length margin. He was up there near the top of the weights but received the price wise selection for the day and didn’t disappoint the punters. 

Speaking of well-weighted runners, one of the next best-priced selections is the Evan Williams charge Buywise who is sitting at a 10-4 weighting for this one that makes him a very attractive prospect. Unlike Present View he actually got his season started off with a win over hurdles after switching back from handicap chases last year. While it was about as weak a race as you will find - a 3k novice hurdle at Ludlow - he still triumphed by a three length margin and delivered at a relatively short price of 10/11.