Latest Cheltenham Betting Preview Pt 3

The likes of Champagne Fever, Don Cossack, Annacotty, Le Bec and Just A Par are all interesting outside options who will likely see plenty of each-way action if their prices continue to hold around that level. 

Shutthefrontdoor is a 25/1 shot here but that is likely having more to do with his likelihood of lining up in the Amateur Riders’ Novice Chase instead - where is is a 12/1 option and is less likely to face Sam Winner - who finished well ahead of him last time out. 

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Another one that is entered in this race and likely to head elsewhere is the venerable Double Ross who is very much an under-the-radar type who has quietly put together an impressive season - never finishing outside of the top three. He took a pair of Grade 3’s at Cheltenham back around Christmas time. He took a third crack at Cheltenham (another Grade 3) and was able to finish second behind Wishfull Thinking despite going off as the 3/1 favourite.  

Double Ross has become quite good in his first season over fences but his presence is likely to be preferred in the Byrne Group Plate Handicap Chase as he will likely get a good weighting assignment for that and be able to face a much lighter group. Nigel Twiston-Davies tends to place them pretty well at the festival and he will have Double Ross earmarked to get it done at a big price. 

The Byrne Group Plate looks to be one of the toughest races to handicap out of the entire festival with nearly a dozen runners all priced between 12/1 and 16/1 with a huge amount of them boasting entries for other races. While this one is never one of the classiest races at the Cheltenham Festival, it is still a quality contest with a lot of exciting permutations. 

At the moment, 83 different runners are still in the mix for this one and many of them will likely opt to take on another race. The absence of a real genuine stand-out in the field means that many trainers might consider this one a winnable race and choose to keep them in the mix. The presence of Hunt Ball, back from his unfortunate stateside sojourn, will make this one very interesting as they move closer to the race.