The Champion Chase headlines the card at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday and you can find a preview of the big race if you click here. You can also find a preview for the other four non-handicap races here.
That leaves two other races which are handicaps and while the handicaps at Cheltenham can be some of the hardest races to find a winner in, they can also be the most rewarding so we will attempt to do just that for both races!
2.30 Cheltenham: Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
Preview
A maximum field of 26 for this 2 miles 5 furlongs handicap hurdle & it’s always one of the most competitive races of the week. There are a few ways of narrowing this down; firstly, you should look for a lightly raced & unexposed hurdler with 17 of the last 20 winners having had less than 10 starts over the smaller obstacles. 9 of the last 12 winners were rated 140+ so that would get rid of over half the field on that stat alone whilst 9 of the last 11 winners have run before at Cheltenham with 7 of them having recorded a top 4 finish.
Willie Mullins doesn’t have the best record in this but has 2 of the front 4 in the market in Koshari & Blue Sari. The former has raced just twice in the last 3 years & won his first start for almost 900 days before running 6th of 22 in a Leopardstown handicap last month. Blue Sari is one of 3 JP McManus runners but has been pulled up on his last 2 starts so has something to prove. Grand Roi is the current favourite & has been running well in Graded events in Ireland so cannot be dismissed & Craigneiche is a last time out handicap winner from the Henderson yard who’s saddled the last 2 winners of this & 4 of the last 11.
Betting
This isn’t a race to put maximum faith in a single selection so, instead, we’re going triple handed, all 3 ticking all 3 of trends. The first is top weight & class horse in the field, Thomas Darby. An 8 year old that’s raced just 9 times over hurdles, winning 3 times & never finishing out of the first 3, he’s proven at the Festival having finished 2nd in the Supreme in 2019. His other start at Cheltenham resulted in a win in that same season. Since then, he’s been lightly raced but in that time has beaten 158-rated Song For Someone in a handicap giving him 7lbs. His last run was in the Relkeel at Kempton where he finished 3rd behind McFabulous, when he got outpaced after travelling strongly. This bigger field will suit this strong travelling sort & provided his weight doesn’t stop him, he should be bang there over the last.
The second of our bets is the 5 year old in Botox Has. He’s seen the track just 8 times, winning 3 of those starts, all over hurdles. That includes 2 of 3 at this track (was 2nd behind Allmankind on his other course start). In 3 big handicap hurdles this term, he hasn’t really shown his best but that has seen his handicap mark protected. The big positive is the step up in trip & his turn of foot could be a potential weapon here. That, coupled with the return to Cheltenham & better ground, make him one of the best each way bets in the race.
Our 3rd & final bet comes in the shape of the Nicky Henderson trained Birchdale. Not only is he trained by the trainer with the best race record, he’’s owned by JP McManus who had winners in 4 of the 5 handicap hurdles at last year’s Festival. However, he has more than just that to recommend him; very lightly raced, he’s won 2 of his 4 hurdles starts, one of those in a Grade 2 novice hurdle here in 2019, before being pulled up in the Albert Bartlett later that campaign when well fancied at odds of 6/1. The trip probably found him out as he stopped quickly after the second last. He was 8th in this last year, beaten about 9 lengths on ground that was probably softer than ideal. He travelled into that well & made eyecatching headway before his effort flattened out after the last. He’s been kept away from hurdles & looks like he’s been laid out for this &, off a 2lb lower mark, he’s got a massive shout.
Tips
Back Thomas Darby (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 Betfair BOG (⅕ odds 1-7)
Back Botox Has (e/w) for a 0.75/10 stake at 15.00 Betfair BOG (⅕ odds 1-7)
PLACED – Back Birchdale (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 Betfair BOG (⅕ odds 1-7)
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4.15 Cheltenham: Grand Annual Handicap Chase
Preview
With 7 of the last 11 winners starting at 16/1+, this 2 mile handicap chase isn’t the easiest race to solve. Previous Cheltenham form shouldn’t be overlooked, nor should form in this actual race, whilst it’s worth noting that the last 10 winners were all rated between 138 and 150 & the last 7 had been off the track for at least 7 weeks prior to the Festival.
Joseph O’Brien has a strong hand with Embittered & Entoucas the 1-2 in the market. Embittered was 3rd in the County Hurdle 12 months ago & was 4th behind Energueme so has class & proven form in big field handicaps. Entoucas has yet to win a chase but has risen in the handicap so doesn’t look the most obvious winner. Chosen Mate won this last year but is now 9lbs higher & Zanza would be well fancied had it not been for a fall here last time out. If he’s over that, he’ll go close.
Betting
Like the Coral Cup earlier on the card, it’s not a race to go single handed & this time we’re siding with 2 of 19 strong field, both of whom fit the 2 trends mentioned earlier. The first is the 3rd O’Brien runner in Us And Them who has run at the last 3 Festivals, finishing 2nd in the Arkle in 2019 & then 3rd in this race last year. He’s now 1lb lower & 10lbs better off with the reopposing winner for a beating of 5 lengths. He’s not done much this term but that has protected his handicap mark & he looks to have been campaigned for a tilt at this. Fresh after a break of over 3 months, he looks likely to run his race at nice each way odds.
The second of our bets is Bun Doran, a horse that’s raced here 7 times winning once & finishing 2nd on a further 3 occasions. That includes a 2nd in this race 2 years ago & a 3rd in the Champion Chase 12 months ago. The fact connections opted for that race underlined this horse’s class & that was backed up by his form last season when winning the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase. He’s been outclassed in 2 chase starts this season but it’s interesting to see him returned to handicap company at a course he loves & on that basis, along with a falling mark, it’s hard to keep him out of calculations especially at the prices.
Tips
Back Us And Them (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 Betfair Sportsbook BOG (⅕ odds 1-6)
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Back Bun Doran (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 29.00 Skybet BOG (⅕ odds 1-6)
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