13 down, 14 races to go. We’re at the halfway mark folks. Wipe that sweaty brow and let us crack/craic on. There’s no rest for us Cheltenham Festival punters. It was sad to see the Cross Country Chase get postponed on day 2, but Mother Nature has been in a foul mood of late and there was no reprieve for the obstacle course.
Hopefully, Delta Work will get another shot at completing the hat-trick. El Fabiolo may have turned out to be El Flopiolo, but Willie Mullins was still in celebratory mood as son Patrick rode Jasmin De Vaux to win in the Champion Bumper. It was the legendary Irish trainer’s 100th Festival winner. Well, done Willie.
Embed from Getty ImagesTurners Novices’ Chase (13:30)
The novice hurdlers kicked the first two days off, but it’s the novice chasers who get day 3 underway as the Festival action switches to the New Course. Registered as the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase, but it has been known under several guises, including the JLT.
Previous novice hurdling experience at the Festival has been a key to success over the years. Only two in this field ran in the 2023 Festival’s novice hurdle events. Facile Vega (2nd to Marine Nationale in 2023 Supreme Novices) and Letsbeclearaboutit (4th in Albert Bartlett).
Some fancies Facile Vega to land the day 3 opener and keep the Willie Mullins/Paul Townend bandwagon rolling. Though his last two chase starts, both at Leopardstown, were pretty disappointing and he is yet to run over further than 17 furlongs. Irish runners dominated the early years of the event, but the Brits have had their fair share of wins recently.
Team GB Hope to Start Day 3 With A Bang
Team GB have good chances this year too. Grey Dawning and Ginny’s Destiny are both in the top-3 on the bookies’ boards. Preference is for Ginny’s Delight who would give Paul Nicholls back-to-back wins in the event.
He has had raced in four novice chasing events at Cheltenham since October, all were over the same 2m 4f trip as the Turners. Grey Dawning clashed with Ginny’s in one of those races (December 15th) and when it mattered most, Paul Nicholls’ 8-year-old jumped more clinically.
Iroko is another British hopeful and does have Festival winning experience. He won the Martin Pipe Hurdle (same distance as the Turners) last year, running strongly up the hill to clinch victory. The Greenall & Guerriero 6-year-old has only got one chase race under his belt though and he’s not been in action at all since that early November contest.
If you’re looking for one with Cheltenham Festival experience, Sharjah has bundles of it. Willie Mullins’ old-timer finished second in the Champion Hurdle two years in-a-row (2020 & 2021) and was 4th in last year’s County Hurdle. He has had five chase starts since last August, but may find a few too good in the Turners.
Pick: Ginny’s Delight
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Embed from Getty ImagesPertemps Final (14:10)
The Pertemps is the longest handicap hurdle on the Festival 4-day schedule and always attracts a big field. To secure a berth in the ‘Final’, a horse must finish in the first four in one of 20 Pertemps Series qualification races run during the season at various courses. It’s another very Irish-focused contest with multiple winners of late being trained in the Emerald Isle. Runners in the Leopardstown qualifier tend to give a good account of themselves in the event too. The first two home in the 2023 qualifier at the Dublin track, Gaoth Chuil & Farouk D’Alene, are lining up in the Final.
Only a neck separated the pair in December. A negative for Farouk D’Alene is that topweights have tended to struggle. He also performed badly on his only previous Cheltenham run, two Festivals ago. Qualifier winner, Gaoth Chuil, would also impress in a subsequent handicap hurdle contest (over 3 miles) at Leopardstown in February.
Aside from Farouk D’Alene, Gordon Elliott who’s won the 3-miler with Delta Work and Sire Du Berlais before, also runs Cleatus Poolaw. Cleatus looks to be his No.1 choice. He has Jack Kennedy in the saddle and is currently vying for favouritism. He has finished first or second in all his career runs, but he hasn’t run over 3 miles since his Point-To-Point days and has only had four runs over hurdles.
Will Gowel Take a Bow?
Some intriguing ones at double-figure prices in the big field include, Gowel Road, Hyland & Bold Endeavour. Gowel Road looks to be the Twiston-Davies team’s second string as Sam is saddled up on Cuthbert Dibble. I prefer to be with Gowel though. He’s been running in 3-milers or thereabouts all season and has some good Cheltenham experience in the bank. He finished 7th in the 2022 Coral Cup but was staying on well. Cuthbert Dibble only has one run over the Pertemps trip, albeit a good one, but still, I would have liked for him to have a few more races around the trip prior to this.
It has been 9 years since Nicky Henderson last claimed the Pertemps crown with Call The Cops. The Seven Burrows trainer sends 4 out for this year’s renewal and I’m fairly sweet on two of them, Hyland, and Bold Endeavour. Nico de Boinville takes the reins on Hyland, which may be significant. The 7-year-old grey has raced over 3 miles on a handful of occasions, been placed in 3 of them and has won on the Old Course at Cheltenham. Bold Endeavour is double the price of his stablemate, but he again has good Cheltenham knowledge and experience and is well versed over the distance required.
Pick: Gowel Road (Next Best: Hyland & Gaoth Chuil)
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Embed from Getty ImagesRyanair Chase (14:50)
A high-class event for the middle-distance chasing stars. Those who aren’t usually quick enough for the Champion Chase and can’t see out the slog of the Gold Cup. There’s been seven Irish winners in the past 8 years, although Willie Mullins who sent out five of those, only has one runner this time around, Capodanno. The fact the 8-year-old isn’t a short-price, not even in the top-3 in the betting, speak volumes to me. Paul Townend who rode him last time is not the saddle choice either.
Rachael Blackmore is back on-board Envoi Allen, who she rode to a 2 ¾ length victory in the race twelve months ago. Allaho won successive Ryanairs too (2021 & 2022), but age isn’t on Envoi’s side. We have not had a horse over 9 win the event since 2011, when Albertas Run defended the crown. Gordon Elliott’s pair of Conflated & Fil Dor are also negatives on the age front, the former too old, the latter too young. Conflated like Capodanno has also been campaigned over longer trips recently.
It’s hard to choose between Stage Star and Banbridge for my race pick, as both have viable claims. Both are rated highly and have won more than once at Prestbury Park. Despite Stage Star’s below-par performance over Cheltenham’s New Course in January, I’m still siding with the Paul Nicholls horse. Banbridge has only had the one run since April and may be lacking a bit of race fitness.
Pick: Stage Star
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Embed from Getty ImagesStayers’ Hurdle (15:30)
The Irish will be hoping their well fancied runner in the Thursday feature, Teahupoo, performs better than El Fabiolo in Wednesday’s championship race. Gordon Elliott’s Teahupoo is owned by Brian Acheson’s Robcour Racing outfit. Bob Olinger famously won in their colours at both the 2021 & 2022 Festivals. Gordon Elliott claimed the event last year with Sire Du Berlais, who clinched the narrowest of victories at large odds. At 11 years of age, he was the oldest winner of the long-distance hurdle event for 37 years.
Teahupoo was the Stayers’ Hurdle favourite last year too. He would finish the season sick of the sight of Sire Du Berlais, as he failed to place in the Punchestown Stayers’ Hurdle because of the elder statesperson. Teahupoo will come out gunning for glory again though and defended his Hatton’s Grace Hurdle crown at Fairyhouse in December. However, the fact he got beaten (heavily) in the 2022 Champion Hurdle, may have persuaded some that Cheltenham does not bring out the best in him.
Return of the Former Champs
Crambo will be carrying English hopes. He was the winner of the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, a race that has seen six winners go on to seal Stayers’ Hurdle honours since 1971. That list includes the great Big Buck’s and Paisley Park.
Four of the last five winners are set to line up again. Flooring Porter, the 2021 & 2022 winner, was going well last year before a mistake two out. Sire Du Berlais and Paisley Park are both now 12 years young but are still aiming for another shot at Cheltenham Festival glory. Throw in the 2022 Grand National winner, Noble Yeats, who won the Cleeve Hurdle in January, and we have one of the most intriguing and open contests of the whole Festival.
Pick: Noble Yeats (Next Best: Paisley Park)
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Embed from Getty ImagesFestival Plate (16:10)
Known as the Mildmay of Flete until 2005, this is one of the most competitive handicap chases of the National Hunt season and age doesn’t seem to be a factor with 6,7,8-,9-,10- & 11-year-olds all winning in the last 8 years. It’s also proved to be a good opportunity for the lesser-known trainers/yards to grab some of the Cheltenham limelight with the likes of John McConnell, Evan Williams & Emmet Mullins winning recently.
Age may not be a crucial factor, but weight has been, with only 1 of the last 37 winners carrying more than 11st 4lb (Mister McGoldrick 11-7 in 2008). The top five on the race card (James Du Berlais, Embittered, Il Ridoto, Glengouly & Saint Felicien) carry 11-8+, so they’ve not made the shortlist.
Previous Cheltenham run outs (and wins) seems to be a key factor and there was much to be pleased about Theatre Man’s runners-up performance in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in January. His rating of 137, falls a little short of recent winner’s marks though, which have all been 140+. One i prefer is Harry Redknapp’s Shakem Up’Arry. He was a 7 ½ length winner over this trip in heavy going on New Year’s Day at Cheltenham. He also finished third in last year’s Plate and should be in the shake-up again.
Pick: Shakem Up’Arry
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Embed from Getty ImagesMares Novices’ Hurdle (16:50)
The race was first run in 2016 as a new race at the Cheltenham Festival, expanding the meeting to 28 races. Its addition to the Cheltenham Festival was one of various measures introduced to bolster the numbers of jumping mares in training. MARE POWER!!!! Willie Mullins had a stranglehold on the race in the incredibly early days, winning the first five editions.
With horses rated 135+ having won seven of the first eight runs of the Mares Novices, it looks likely to be an all Irish two-horse scrap. Willie Mullins’ Jade De Grugy versus Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead. Gordon Elliott will be hoping there are brighter days at the Festival ahead, as he did not get a single winner during the opening two days, despite sending out 18 runners. One reason while I’m edging towards Jade De Grugy.
Pick: Jade De Grugy
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Embed from Getty ImagesKim Muir Chase (17:30)
The amateur riders get their five minutes of fame as we wrap up day 3 of the Festival with the Kim Muir Chase. The omens don’t bode well for Gavin Cromwell’s 6-year-old, Inothewayurthinkin, the current market leader. A horse younger than 7 hasn’t won the Kim Muir for over 50 years (Black Baize in 1971) and only 5 favourites have landed the prize since 2000.
In terms of weight, Venetia Williams’ Chambard is the only winner (2022) to carry under 11 stone for the past 15 years. So Back On The Lash, Daily Present & Dom of Mary may struggle to compete. Recent winners also came to the Festival having raced in the same calendar year. So Amirite and Git Maker who are yet to race in 2024 may not be primed and ready as they should be.
Where Angels Fears to Tread
Angels Dawn returns to defend her Kim Muir title, a feat not achieved since Fred Winter’s Glyde Court went back-to-back in 1986. Angels has risen 11lbs in the weights which is a concern, and her jumping has been a bit iffy in recent starts.
Cool Survivor is one of three sent out by Gordon Elliott. It’s slightly worrying that he hasn’t raced over 3 miles (let alone the 3 miles 2 furlongs trip of the Kim Muir) since 2022. Where It All Began looks to be Elliott’s pick of the bunch. His 16-length victory in the 3 mile 3 furlong Grand National Trial at Punchestown last month was a very eye-catching piece of work. Henry De Bromhead’s The Whacker Clan is another interesting sort. His win in the William Hill Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in October (3m 1f) was rubber-stamped by Twig’s sparkling 2nd place performance in this week’s Ultima Handicap Chase. Twig finished runner-up that day in October too.
Pick: Where It All Began (Next Best: The Whacker Clan)
Check all the latest Kim Muir Chase prices
The first five races are shown live on ITV, with the 16:50 & 17:30 shown live on Racing TV. Keep up with today’s horse racing results via Racing Post.
Good Luck All
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