Welcome to the Cheltenham Festival. 28 races over four days of exhilarating, emotional and thrilling horse racing. Cheltenham will inevitably make or break dreams for thousands of punters, fans, owners, trainers, jockeys and everybody else involved.
The UK and Ireland jump racing season is all geared around these 4 days in the Cotswolds, where the sports elite come together to do battle in March. We are literally a matter of hours away from the opening road of the crowd as the tapes rise for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which kicks off the meeting in ferocious style.
Over the years, we have been absolutely blessed to see some of the most truly wonderful performances around Prestbury Park and before we look at who will be winning this week, let’s take a look at some of the heroes of yesteryear.
Past Cheltenham Winners – Horses
Annie Power – Second in the World Hurdle (2014). Faller in the Mares (2015). Winner of the Champion Hurdle (2016)
Quevega – Six time winner of the Mares Hurdle (2009-2014)
Denman – Gold Cup winner (2008)
Sprinter Sacre – Arkle Winner (2012) and 2 x Champion Chase Winner (2013, 2016)
Kauto Star – 2 x Gold Cup Winner (2007, 2009)
Whilst it’s so easy to remember the equine stars of the past few years, let’s not forget at the humans who keep on producing the goods on the world’s biggest stage.
Past Cheltenham Winners – Trainners
– Ruby Walsh – Top Jockey (2008 – 2011, 2013 – 2016)
– Willie Mullins – Top Trainer (2013 – 2016)
– Nicky Henderson (Top Trainer in 2012 with 7 festival winners)
Our Cheltenham 2017 Tips
Cheltenham 2017 – Day 1
Now the bit you’ve been waiting for, the tipping section. Day 1 is often seen as the most important day as every punter wants to get off to a winning start and hope to fund the rest of the week with their earnings from the first day. This is what I hope to achieve for you loyal readers today and I’m sure that at least by the end of the week, you’ll have had some fun, some highs and ultimately end up with a few more pounds in the bank!
In the Champion Hurdle, the feature race of the first day, my selection is Footpad EW at 20/1. This horse has always been told he wants softer ground, where actually results show that better ground gets the best out of this horse. Two of his better career races have taken place when the ground was better underfoot including his third in the Triumph last year, when I feel he was still acclimatising from his earlier move from France. His run last time out was on good ground and he was given an easy ride and stayed on to get within 1l of Petit Mouchoir, who looks to be going off the third favourite for the race. His trainer, Willie Mullins knows what it takes to get a horse ready for the big day, so I do expect him to be trained for this race and to be very ready for his biggest test to date.
The 4m National Hunt Chase used to be won by an improver but of recent times, it’s often fallen to a good horse with a good rating and very often with a good jockey on their back. Jamie Codd committing to A Genie In A Bottle around a month ago is well worth taking note of as Jamie Codd is one of the best amateur jockeys of all time with winning course experience at Cheltenham. Paddy Mullins (Son of trainer, Willie) has been saying all season that he would love to ride Haymount on good ground in the 4m and his wishes seem to have come reality. He won a very useful beginners chase at the start of the season and he won’t be far away, that’s for sure.
Interestingly enough, Champers on Ice has been rerouted from the RSA for this race as connections believe his jumping will be better over a slower pace. His jumping hasn’t been dreadful this year, but he does seem to spend an awful lot of time in the air which you cannot do in a fast run 3 miles. Over this extra mile, he will have time to relax and get into a rhythm before looking to stay on late in the day.
The final race of the day, The Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap is always a competitive looking field but this year, I have found two selections I like that I think will get in the money for me and for my readers. First up is the Dan Skelton trained Itsafreebee, who ran so well at the festival last year to finish third behind Yorkhill and Yanworth at 33/1 in the Neptune. Since stepping up to fences this year, he has often jumped very boldly and has always performed with credit. His trainer, whilst being very young, has got a good record in getting his horses right for the big occasion, which is a huge plus at this festival. His performance at Southwell last time did leave a lot to be desired, but he wouldn’t be running had his trainer not have thought him to be in top form going into this race. His owners are a very enthusiastic bunch and this day would be the most important day of the year for them.
My stronger fancy though, is at much bigger price and it’s the Alan Fleming trained Tully East, which is available at around 16/1. This horse has been trained with Cheltenham in mind and runs in this race over the Grand Annual on Friday as he was sure to get in and run on better ground, which would suit him well. He ran a superb race in the Martin Pipe Hurdle last year when taking up the running with 2 furlongs to go but the exclusion of the final two flights made it more of a stamina test, which didn’t play into Tully East’s hands. First time out this season, he won a Novice Chase over 2m2f and then he ran with credit behind Min over Christmas. On his most recent run, he was given an educational ride behind Ball D’Arc and just hunted himself around, which would have blown away any cobwebs of freshness that he had. He will be primed for this race and gets in off a good mark. I really do think he will run a solid race and advise my readers to back him each way, with as many places as you can get.
Other selections to watch out for are:
Race 1 – Ballyandy and Melon
Race 2 – Altior and Charbel
Race 5 – Limini, Vroum Vroum Mag and Indian Stream
I hope this serves you well and I look forward to giving you some tips later on this week.
Good luck and enjoy the week.