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One of the biggest betting races of the entire Cheltenham Festival is always the Queen Mother Champion Chase - a contest which continually produces performances of the highest calibre and since the division is one of the most inclusive in jumps racing, punters always have a chance at cashing a big ticket on an upstart winner.
This year we have a number of different question marks hanging over the top of the race but you can certainly expect a diverse set of opinions from punters as there is no genuine stand-out selection here.
Sprinter Sacre was once the most widely-vaunted young contender on the jumps...
It’s also worth mentioning that a good portion of his career victories have come at Cheltenham so punters will get a little bit of extra confidence but the fact remains that he has not run against Graded opposition over the larger obstacles. Question marks still remain on Kings Palace and he will need to prove his chops at this level. The only entry he has in the festival is this race so at least you don’t need to worry about him running elsewhere.
The RSA Chase is looking extremely competitive at this year’s Cheltenham Festival but, as usual, it becomes a tough ante post until the final declarations are made thanks to the huge amount of cross entries - primarily pointed towards the JLT Novices as well. There are still plenty of good prices out there and you can bank on a number of the shorter odds contenders heading to the RSA.
The outright favourites position seems to be a tough one as the likes of Coneygree, Don Poli and Kings Palace are all battling it out to be named the shortest priced...
Outlander is the other Willy Mullins entry here, this time for the in-form Gigginstown House Stud, as they come into the race fresh off a Leopardstown victory in a Grade 2 novice hurdle contest. Clearly the b team runner here, he could have an opportunity to get up and move forward in this one but he lacks the clear resume that his stablemate has.
Parlour Games looms as a quality British-based runner as the John Ferguson charge enters with a pair of graded scores in his last two - capturing a Grade 1 at Newbury and, prior to that, a Grade 2 at Cheltenham. At...
The Neptune Novices’ has always been a tricky wagering task at Cheltenham - particularly if you are doing a lot of your betting ante post. Many of the entrants here are co-entered into a variety of other races including the Albert Bartlett Hurdle and the Supreme Novices.
This always necessitates a significant amount of hedging and homework if you plan to back some of the bigger priced selections who also boast co-entries. Paying close attention to news coming out of each stable will give you a huge advantage in this contest - particularly if your bet is in each-way territory.
We already know that Faugheen can handle Cheltenham, having captured the Neptune Novices Hurdle last year by a four and a half length margin over Ballyalton. He was sent off at a 6/4 price on the day which seems like a pile of value if you look at his last couple of attempts.
Faugheen’s chief rival is the in-form Nigel Twiston-Davies runner The New One, who has strung together a very impressive list of runs so far this season. He’s been out four times and hasn’t lost a single one. This also comes on the back of a money-spinning victory in the...
The opening day at the Cheltenham Festival is always one of the most exciting experiences in racing with so many interesting contests set to unfold amidst massive wagering volume. There is a lot to like about this year’s iteration of the Champion Hurdle and it features one of the festivals biggest bankers according to a number of National Hunt enthusiasts and racing pundits alike.
It isn’t particularly often that those two are agreeing on something in unison but this time around they have seemed nothing but bullish in regards to the chances of the widely-acclaimed hurdler Faugheen.
Since then, he has won two and finished second twice - going off at extremely short prices in every single race. He was well-beaten by Clarcam at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and that would have been very disappointing to punters who had him backed all the way down to 1/4 on the day against a field of six.
The winner of last year’s Supreme Novices Hurdle obviously likes Cheltenham and knows how to get himself up the hill - which is really the crucial element for novice hurdlers. The big complication for this one is the fact that he is more than likely to enter the much lighter looking JLT Novices’ Chase and he...
It’s obvious that he possesses some genuine speed and virtually everybody will be expecting him to make all and go straight for the lead. Some of the blockbuster victories you’ll see in his hurdling career are testament to his ability to get to the front and continue drawing away as the race goes on. He has won races by over 50 lengths in the past and you just don’t see that every day.
Offering up the challenge in the ante post market are a few decent types and you can assume that there is plenty of interesting options here - particularly...
The second big race of the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival is always a big contest that enjoys massive betting support. You have to respect the huge amount of opportunities that the festival presents every year and this edition of the Arkle might not be the most exciting from a betting perspective unless you’ve hatched some type of cheeky plan to get the better of the widely-hailed favourite Un De Sceaux.
The seven-year-old Willy Mullins charge is priced at a general 4/7 by virtually all bookmakers with one or two trimming him down into 1/2. At this stage, with that particular price, you have to assume...
