For race guides, expert opinion, and tips, download BoyleSports Cheltenham Festival tipping guide here.
All prices correct at the time of writing.
WEDNESDAY AT CHELTENHAM could be another unforgettable day for Willie Mullins.
The Closutton trainer looks likely to have red-hot favourites in all three of the marquee Grade 1 jumps races on the second day of the Festival — with all three set to go off at odds-on.
An accumulator on all three Mullins fancies to win — Ballyburn in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle, Fact to File in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, and El Fabiolo in the Queen Mother Champion Chase — will appeal to some punters at odds of around 7/2.
Others may decide instead to look to the handicaps, or to some each-way fancies at bigger prices. Let’s look for value.
Stay Away Fay (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, 2.10pm, 3/1)
Fact To File, Willie Mullins’ favourite in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, is a hard horse to assess. Although he got the better of his impressive stablemate Gaelic Warrior last time out, Gaelic Warrior flopped that day, and one should not forget that Fact To File also has to reverse the form here with American Mike, who beat him in Navan in November.
American Mike is no slouch and has a chance, and so too does Stay Away Fay. Paul Nicholls’ runner won the prestigious Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, and looks a relative natural over fences, so it seems an insult that he is so much bigger in the betting than the favourite.
Barring any late non-runners, there will only be six runners, which is an alarmingly small field. That said, it’s still a fascinating race.
Built By Ballymore (Coral Cup, 2.50pm, 8/1)
Twenty-five runners will go to post for the Coral Cup, typically one of the most fiercely contested handicaps at the Festival.
Trainer Martin Brassil and jockey JJ Slevin came within a head of winning this race last year with An Epic Song, who was pipped at the line by Langer Dan. Langer Dan lines up here again as he goes in search of back-to-back Festival wins, but Brassil and Slevin will hope that they can go one better with this year’s hopeful, Built By Ballymore.
There is a suspicion that the English handicapper has been overly generous to Built By Ballymore in giving him a rating of 139, which sees him slot in to the bottom half of the weights. He was second to the classy Path D’oroux in a bumper on his debut for Pat Doyle, and his improvement over hurdles has been startling. He smashed good fields by 12 lengths in his last two races, taking off like a sprinter after coming under pressure.
The testing ground at Cheltenham this weeks also looks set to play to his strengths, while connections will be hoping that the addition of headgear might also help him to improve.
If he’s close to the lead with two hurdles left to jump, you can expect to get a right run for your money.
Foxy Jacks (Cross Country Chase, 4.10pm, 14/1)
It’s hard to believe how big a price Foxy Jacks is in the Cross Country Chase, but that is an indicator of the calibre of horse that will line up in this year’s exceptional renewal.
As well as a former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in Minella Indo — who will likely go off favourite — the imposing trio of Galvin, Delta Work and Coko Beach all feature towards the head of the betting.
Given the star-studded opposition, trainer Mouse Morris had thought about running Foxy Jacks in a handicap hurdle — but don’t forget that this horse won the cross-country chase over the same distance (3 miles 5 furlongs) at Cheltenham’s November meeting.
The word from Morris is that his horse comes here in great form. Foxy Jacks is only getting to know the particular challenges of cross-country racing, but he clearly likes it, and has lots of ability against more exposed horses.
At odds of 14/1, what’s not to like?
For race guides, expert opinion, and tips, download BoyleSports Cheltenham Festival tipping guide here.
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