Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival Antepost Tips Following Trials Day
With Cheltenham Trials Day behind us, the next meeting at Prestbury Park will be the big four days in March, and we have seen a few antepost clues from Saturday’s racing.
- Check out the latest Cheltenham Festival betting odds
- Check out the latest horse racing betting odds with William Hill
Champion Hurdle
With the unfortunate injury to Sir Gino in the International Hurdle, the Champion Hurdle market has been blown wide open.
The New Lion was victorious from Nemean Lion and Brentford Hope as a result, seeing him hold his price of 3/1. He won as he should’ve, but it was a clean round of jumping and he clearly has a good engine. In a market where the participation of the likes of Lossiemouth and Constitution Hill isn’t guaranteed; he could be far shorter on the day if that competition doesn’t turn up.
Gold Cup
The Cotswold Chase is often used as a Gold Cup trial and proved revealing in several cases as one horse enhanced his chances, whilst another blotted his copybook. Spillane’s Tower bounced back to form, taking victory from L’Homme Presse, seeing him shorten to 16/1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
It hasn’t been straightforward with him, but he’s clearly a talented horse. The winner of the G1 Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival in 2024, he followed up splitting the high-class Fact To File and Galopin Des Champs in the John Durkan.
It’s been a fractured campaign ever since, but you couldn’t argue with the manner of victory this time around, and he could well be a player come March.
Grey Dawning finished some way behind him; he’s out to 20/1 for the Skelton’s as a result. Whilst he was given an easy time of things when it was clear his chance was gone, he’ll have to find a lot on that run to threaten the principals in the big one.
Cross Country Chase
With a fascinating contest over the banks on Saturday, we have seen a particular horse shorten significantly for the Cross Country Handicap Chase at the Festival.
Favori De Champdou was impressive, winning by just over eight lengths, and it’s clear he has a liking for the extreme distances. He’s into 8/1 for the Festival renewal as a result, and whilst he will likely see a fair rise in the handicap with the way he went round, he can be a threat to all.
Stayers’ Hurdle
Similar to the Cotswold Chase, the Cleeve Hurdle caused significant movement in the Stayers’ Hurdle betting.
Ma Shantou was a dominant victor, pulling away from Impose Toi up the hill, seeing him cut markedly for the championship race as a result. Having been as big as 50/1 prior to the race, he’s now 8/1 and will look to replicate the performance of Paisley Park, who was victorious in the Stayers’ Hurdle for the Emma Lavelle yard.
Impose Toi was well fancied for the Cleeve and the Stayers’ but was put in his place by Ma Shantou. He has since drifted to 14/1 for victory in March.
