More than that, the same horses seem to have hit the frame with regularity. In 2020, Ireland’s trainers saddled seven of the dozen runners, again taking top honours but this time ceding the consolation spots to the domestic quintet. Irish runners finished 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th and fell.
Cheltenham Festival Open Grade 1’s
Each way is not an option in a seven-runner race generally, still less with such a domineering jolly; but ‘without the favourite’ is a way in. That market has its own shortie, too, in State Man but I feel Vauban ‘without’ is a credible alternative given how the race is likely to pan out. If State Man and Constitution Bolts Up Daily Hill have at it from far enough out, it’s possible that SM cracks; Vauban wasn’t far behind him in steadily enough run G1’s in Ireland and can come through for silver. The first chase of the week is a speed test for novices, and frequently advertises the claims of a potential Champion Chaser of the near future.
Hot Trainers
Supported by a valuable card at Ascot and a return to Ayr. That quality continues on Sunday with a good card at Carlisle containing two Listed races and we also have Huntingdon. ‘The flat season draws towards its conclusion and the number of jumps fixtures increases for the week ahead. After a largely wet October we have a dry and mild spell forecast for most areas and the changing going conditions could have an important part to play. Full Shift figures on a lenient handicap mark if the first time “cheek-pieces+tongue-tie” have a positive effect. I put him in provisionally at 9/4 which is at the top end of the prices on offer.
CHARITY BETS
Going a step further, I’d favour run style over draw in certain scenarios which I’ll come on to. And I’d especially favour a horse from a wide gate with an ostensibly uncontested lead. A wide-open renewal of this race, but it is still very hard to get away from GOOBINATOR. Donald McCain’s 5-year-old finished 4th in the Cesarewitch behind Buzz at Newmarket last month, beaten 8-lengths and on that evidence, he looks to be exceptionally well-handicapped on a mark of 126 over hurdles. He won under Brian Hughes at Ayr last October, on the same mark as he can race off today and he looks to have a favourites chance.
Paddy Power: Bet £10 on first race and get free £5 on all remaining races
That panned out ideally with, again, Native River disputing the lead at a fast tempo; back they came at the bizzo end on quick turf. It’s desperately obvious and yet, at the same time, there are a few pretenders who don’t really fit that bill. It is hardly a surprise that no age group was profitable to back blind but we can see from the colour coding the folly (or boldness, if you prefer) of siding with a veteran. Rather, I’ll take a small swing at Champion Green and Saint Segal, both of which ought to be suited by this setup and both of which come from yards that know how to win the Fred Boodles.
Tiger Roll wins the Cross Country Chase
KARMOLOGY looks the solid option in this competitive fillies’ handicap. She’s usually very consistent but never showed up at Yarmouth last time. Her earlier form is very useful and she can give weight and a beating to her rivals. The selection has no room for error off top-weight, but no one rides the straight course at Ascot better than Spencer. The micro-systems above will provide plenty of action for those who like a mechanical approach.
York Tips
- “I’ve been in the gym and have been doing lots of fitness work, but there is a big difference between being fit and being race-fit.
- There is the occasional shock result in Cheltenham Festival novice Grade 1’s.
- Mishaps aside, it is hard (for me, at least) to make credible cases to oppose any of the quintet.
- It is hard to put anyone off backing either of those too but with such a competitive renewal of this race I don’t want to get stuck into something at a shortish price.
- The Coral-Eclipse looks a one-way Enable fest now that Lord North is out of the race so I’m going elsewhere on the Sandown card on Sunday.
He’s been aggressively ascendant, rising from a rating of 139 at season start to his current 156; but that still leaves him with a stone and more to find when Honeysuckle’s mares’ allowance is incorporated. The traditional pipe opener restored to its 1.30 tapes up slot and, after much hokey cokeying amongst the mega stable entries we have our list of runners and riders fixed. It’s a yes for Dysart Dynamo, Constitution Hill and Jonbon but a ‘see you tomorrow’ for Sir Gerhard. If we focus only on LTO winners, it is interesting that each LTO Graded category made a small individual profit to BSP, as did those who won a Listed contest. There is a sliding scale of strike rates as you would expect.
50 Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Fred Winter, Grade 3, 2m 1/2f)
MT – This is a great betting race, as it’s a different test from most of the races through the season and throws up some big priced winner as a result. Only one winner shorter than 11/1 in the past nine years. Favori de Champdou and Affordale Fury are two of interest, but whatever you like, swing win only rather than each way.
The business guru turned eco-activist plotting to wreck the Grand National: This is going to be spectacular
For example, the going at Cheltenham last week was Good and it was noticeable that connections did not want to risk some of their better class horses making seasonal returns and debuts on anything other than totally ideal jumping ground. It could be that the summer types have conditions swung back in their favour at this later stage of their campaigns. In theory William Money is thrown-in racing of a 15lb lower mark than when winning over fences 2 days ago. The question is whether he will transfer that form to hurdles. Live and Table Games have a 0% contribution, only Slots & instants count towards playthrough. Today, horse racing betting is a £4.6 billion per year industry.
History of Racing in Cheltenham
The ex-French four-year-old, who joined Karl Burke for the start of the year, travelled from Middleham to Newcastle on 16 March with a record of one win from 15 attempts. Will Buick’s partner dropped to handicap company for a valuable event on Sandown Park’s Coral-Eclipse undercard and lost little in defeat with a three-quarter-length second to Sinjaari. There is more to come on the fifth outing of Checkandchallenge’s promising career and he’s fancied to take the step back up in class in his stride.
Paul Nicholls has a very good record in handicap hurdles, too, in contrast to his Grade 1 performance in recent seasons. But the likes of Evan Williams and Charlie Longsdon (0 from 31, 0 places, between them), Noel Meade and Dr Richard Newland (0 from 27, 3 places, collectively) are probably best passed up. Naturally, then, the other 50 winners came from horses priced at 16/1 or shorter, the 381 such runners losing just 31 points at SP, and breaking even at BSP.
I need to watch it again, but he looked pretty good today, and it’s exciting. Henry Longfellow stuck on well for second and was only beaten a neck, with three lengths back to French Guineas winner Metropolitan. But the big disappointment of the race was the 6-4 favourite Notable Speech, who never really threatened to get in a serious blow. Gordon Elliott’s big hope was sent off the 8-11 favourite for the opening race on day two, having arrived unbeaten in six starts under rules. But the winning post is not on the home bend and there were no signs of panic from de Boinville, as good a man for the big occasion as there is riding in Britain at the moment.
- Full Shift figures on a lenient handicap mark if the first time “cheek-pieces+tongue-tie” have a positive effect.
- If we combine the clear favourite records of Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry De Bromhead, 39.1% of them won (54 wins from 138) for a profit of £27.25 (ROI +19.7%).
- A final word on the thrilling exhibition by Un De Sceaux yesterday which crowned an outstanding day for Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh.
- Though primarily seen as a hurdling prospect for the future, Sixmilebridge shouldn’t be overlooked in this race.
- O’Connor has been a fine rider over the years but there are no weak links in the riding line-up here, and this race ought to go to the best horse at the trip, pure and simple.
- That might be the ultra-consistent Mister Coffey, who has placed Festival form to his name.
- If we look at market position data instead, clear favourites in Grade 1 races have just edged into profit, albeit by only £6.77 (ROI +3.6%); backing ALL runners in the top four in the betting would have yielded a profit of £55.24 (ROI +6.8%).
- EdG is a fair price, and he might be Gentleman’s problem if he doesn’t allow that one to dominate from the front.
- When looking into the world of horse racing, it is essential to recognise the nuances within each race.
We do also display win and place percentages but, in truth, these are the equivalent of answering the question, “What time is it?”, with “Tuesday afternoon”. Next in the lists, at 10/1, is Al Boum Photo, winner of the 2019 and 2020 Gold Cups and third last year. That seemed to signal a changing of the guard, an impression that recently turning ten has done nothing to dispel. The substance of his Punchestown second to Clan Des Obeaux and his annual trot around Tramore on New Year’s Day has corroborated the perception of this brilliant fellow yielding just a touch to the passage of time. For all that iffing and butting, A Plus Tard is the right favourite and almost certain to offer a run for the pennies.
10 Glenfarclas Chase (Cross Country, Class 2, 3m6f)
Marie’s Rock had graduated to winning the Mares’ Hurdle and Love Envoi the Mares’ Novices Hurdle. If he can jump like he did at Kempton, then he ought to run really well for Anthony Honeyball, who was unlucky not to win this race with Ms Parfois a few years ago (winner Rathvinden would have been demoted under new whip rules). Like Ms Parfois, Kilbeg King will be ridden by Will Biddick, who has been the best English amateur at Cheltenham over the past decade and more. Salvador Ziggy has achieved as much as the pair above but is a more realistic price, with his second under 12st in the Kerry National a fine effort for a novice. He comes here after an abortive trip to run in the Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills in October, and while the absence might be a worry, he was second in the Pertemps last year off an identical lay-off. I’m struggling to make a case for any of Kings Hill, Supersundae and Gold Dancer.
Relegate makes it nine Champion Bumper wins for Willie Mullins
And then, when it was all going so well, along came that King George; never going the pace there and succumbing to a couple of – these days – uncharacteristic blunders and pulling up. The favourite, at around 7/2, is A Plus Tard, whose Betfair Chase demolition job at Haydock propelled him to the top of the lists. A model of consistency, APT has yet to finish outside of the first three in 13 Rules starts. Three of those races have been at the Festival where he has the full set of medals; his only gold, mind, came in a handicap, and he’s since finished third in the 2020 Ryanair and runner up in last season’s Gold Cup. That maiden score, like his flat maiden win, was on good ground and, with the drying forecast, conditions look to be in his corner.
Strike rates are below what is the 14/1+ norm for all National Hunt races and losses have been significant. Indeed, Irish runners have outperformed UK runners in terms of win strike rate in the last ten festivals starting from 2013 as the graph below neatly illustrates. These figures are skewed inasmuch as the last five years have seen a big increase in the number of Irish horses travelling across. However, the win strike rate for Irish runners in the five years from 2008 to 2012 was 6.8%, whereas in the past five years (2018 to 2022) it has been 9.7%.
Our Scout and Trader picked out the following bets for Race 5 👇🏼
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- Fleur Au Fusil caught my eye with her recent Leopardstown victory, but she’ll require the hood to help settle her if she’s to get home, although the faster race tempo should also help.
- While he has obviously got his work cut out reversing that form, it is easy to envisage him staying on when others have cried enough, into the minor places.
- If you think that the odds might shift and change before the start of the race, you could consider opting for the starting price.
- He will again face the second horse from that Grade 1, Notebook, if both stand their ground at the weekend, and the fact that Notebook is circa 5/1 third choice for Dublin’s Festival Chase speaks of the paucity of opposition once more.
- Only time will tell, but you have to expect the Irish to come out on top overall once more.
Those rated higher than 140 won 47 races and lost a relatively small 54 points at SP and 2.75 points at BSP. Noel Meade has an infamous record at the Festival and, while he’s 0 from 13 in this section of races, his Road To Riches was third in both the 2015 Gold Cup and the 2016 Ryanair Chase. Paul Nicholls is still the winning-most Open Grade 1 trainer in the past decade, with ten such victories to his name.
It was a fourth Champion Chase for Henderson since Finian’s Rainbow broke his duck in the race in 2012 and his 60th winner in all at the meeting. Horses of a lifetime, it seems, are like London buses for the trainer these days and if he becomes the first trainer to win Cheltenham’s big three races in the Gold Cup on Friday, Might Bite might be considered another. A lot more returns and respective debuts throughout the week before we got to the season openers at Cheltenham and Aintree. After all the hard work there was just the one bet for us which was successful. It can be seen as frustrating to have put in all that work but also rewarding in the long term to have amassed a great deal of valuable future information.
- Paul Nicholls’ Stay Away Fay won last year’s Albert Bartlett Hurdle and has had a great start to his chasing career winning his first two and then running the race of his life when a close third in the Cotswold Chase last time out.
- Although most winners were clustered in the six to nine years bracket, neither youth nor experience has been a killer blow in handicap chases.
- Exhibit A to that end are the two races – both comfortable victories, in Grade 2 and Grade 1 company – in one month, the final month of last year.
- His form this season is 1P1, wins in the Galway Hurdle (off 145 in a field of 19 on goodish ground) and a Naas Grade 3 in a small field on soft sandwiching a flunk when he was found to have been post-race clinically abnormal.
- Looking at the winning odds over the last 13 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Muntadab in 2016, winning for Roger Fell at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of P J McDonald.
- As a user on a new site, you might be able to take advantage of some promotions they could have put together to celebrate their launch.
- One who would be right at home in the mud and at a massive price, too, is Favour And Fortune, second in the aforementioned Aintree G1, and a winner on heavy previously.
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well. If that’s correct, we’d expect a steady tempo to the race; after all, if you’re leading without any contention, it makes sense usually to conserve as much energy for the finish as possible. With three or four habitual waited-with sorts in opposition, which if any have shown the ability to quicken off a potentially false gallop? Our Fast Finishers report suggests the well-backed Dingle, but only tentatively at best. The caveat is that we’re looking for a horse that we hope will get an uncontested lead; that is, one which looks as though it is the lone pace angle.
Jockeys are important at this meeting, however, and the experience of Rachael Blackmore versus the exuberance of Chester Williams tilts the pendulum in favour of Champion Green if having to choose between them. Gordon’s Britzka and Ebasari both measure up on this ‘interesting rag’ angle but are shorter than ideal to take the chance. The Mares’ Hurdle had been dominated by Willie Mullins almost since its inception in 2008. Mullins was actually unrepresented in that inaugural running, but then went on to win nine of the next ten editions, six of them with the fantastic though only occasionally seen Quevega. However, more recently, the omnipotent Closutton barn has enjoyed success in the Mares’ Hurdle only once in the last five years, and not at all in the last three.
Jonbon is expected to sit slightly off the fiercest of the sizzle. Rare Edition was very disappointing when only second in the Sidney Banks at Huntingdon, a race won in 2020 by Shishkin en route to Supreme glory. He apparently scoped dirty after the race and there has been some whispering about back spasms, both of which appear to have now been resolved.
What is worth noting, however, is that 11 of the last 14 winners had raced fewer than ten times over fences and interestingly nine of the last 12 winners had worn some king of headgear (cheekpieces, hood or blinkers). Five of the last 13 winners had run in the Ultima Handicap the previous year. Willie Mullins naturally saddles a phalanx of blue bloods, and his first choice normally wins. Indeed, going back to Ebazayin, a 40/1 scorer for Mullins in 2007, that was his only – and therefore first choice – entry.
Indefatigable looks like getting her optimal conditions for the first time in a while and may be over-priced for hail mary each way players. Mrs Milner, like Heaven Help Us, was a handicap hurdle winner at last year’s Festival, her score coming in the three mile Pertemps Final. This is a different test, more about speed than stamina, though she had the gears to win a couple of lower grade two mile hurdles earlier in her career. Related, and perhaps more remarkable, is that the last five favourites in the race – all of them short – were turned over. In spite of the small field the Supreme remains a competitive race with five horses at single figure prices. They are headed by inmates of the unofficial Prestbury Cup team captains Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins and, more pertinently, their A and B players, Constitution Hill and Jonbon (NJH) and Dysart Dynamo and Kilcruit (WPM).
We’ve gone through all FIVE cards on Tuesday so here’s what we’re backing. All our selections can be added straight to your bet365 bet slip (just click the orange links). MITBAAHY didn’t get the breaks when edged out by Raasel at Sandown Park last time, and has sound prospects of gaining his revenge. Simply register, place a £10 wager on the selection of your choice and you will qualify for this unbeatable welcome offer.
- Contributing to creating and maintaining this Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren.
- She’s usually very consistent but never showed up at Yarmouth last time.
- He’s since won another five Supremes, each ridden by the stable jockey (Ruby four times, Paul Townend once).
- ‘4’ signifies an early front runner, ‘3’ a prominent racer early, ‘2’ a midfield runner, and ‘1’ a hold up type.
- I had Behind The Wire in at 5/2, he won strongly at an SP of 7/2 from 4/1.
- But there’s a ton of back class in the field this time headed by Gold Cup winner Minella Indo, and Savills and National Hunt Chase winner Galvin.
- He has blitzed the best of the Irish this season, and he did the same to the best of the British and Irish here last season over hurdles.
- Those unaccessorized won 32 handicap chases from 786 runners (4.07%, the lowest in the sample).
RELIEF RALLY looks the one to beat after a hugely promising effort when second at Newbury a fortnight ago. That was even more commendable because it was her first start since May. Noisy Jazz is going the right way and could give the selection a race if getting cover early. In a deep contest, the likes of La Pasionaira, Queen Of Soldiers and Treasure are all capable of getting involved at generous prices. Nevertheless, Messrs. Hobbs and Meade are 0 from 30, three places, which is hard to overlook.
But as a professional you do not have bets just for the sake of it. 2016 Cheltenham Champion bumper winner Ballyandy could well improve, but is very short in the market on hurdles form achieved. Essentially a 2m 6f horse who would have to make this his first ever win over 3m. At the 8/1 on offer worth considering a win only value bet. Beyond Conceit impressed when returning from a long absence on hurdles debut.
All of the last 16 winners had raced at least once since the start of Newbury’s Coral Cup Handicap Chase meeting the previous November. Among the British challengers, Teeshan from Paul Nicholls’ yard showed promise with a victory at Exeter last month, while Ben Pauling’s Sixmilebridge impressed on his stable debut at Sandown. Though primarily seen as a hurdling prospect for the future, Sixmilebridge shouldn’t be overlooked in this race. Willie Mullins fields the favourite, Jasmin De Vaux, who showcased promise with a victory at Naas on his stable debut in January.
Log in to your existing bookmaker account when you first open the app, or via the ‘Accounts’ tab. Go to the cards, pick a race and once you’ve made your selection, simply tap the odds button beside the horse you like.4. Our RP Recommends section has plenty of information and offers impartial advice from our experts in order to help know who, when, where and how to place your bet. Competition among bookmakers, particularly online, is fierce, so don’t be afraid to open accounts with multiple firms and if you are betting on course, be sure to shop around the betting ring and bet with whoever is offering the best price. The No Foto Needed service is an established member SBC’s Premium Tipster range and features winning racing tips from a true racing expert. He has not been disgraced since, but the drop back to six furlongs looks a good move.
He was unlucky at Haydock last Saturday and a return to this trip will suit. TAMFANA can win a well-deserved Group 1 in the Sun Chariot Stakes. She was desperately unlucky not to win the 1,000 Guineas here in May and stepping up in trip in two French Group 1s has not really suited. She looked much more comfortable when bolting up over this trip at Sandown in August. Sunracing’s columnist Andrew Balding saddles likely favourite Brighton Boy and he was very strong at the finish at York. She’s bred to handle the ground and the only concern would be her 100-day absence, but, given the big money on offer, she will surely be primed for this.
So you can know exactly what people are talking about, you should make sure to learn some of the following lingo. The Betway Handicap Chase tops the bill at Kempton, with four LIVE races at the Sunbury-On-Thames track, while the stayers are out again up at Newcastle for the gruelling Eider Chase that’s run over 4m1f. Then down at Lingfield the All Weather racing fans get their fix with a top-notch card that includes the Group 3 Winter Derby. We’ve another busy afternoon in store with seven LIVE ITV races spread across three tracks – Kempton, Lingfield and Newcastle. AU FLEURON holds an each-way squeak in what is a typically tough handicap hurdle to conclude the Cheltenham Festival.
