Today's Tote Placepot Tips for Cheltenham

Leg 1 Selections: Haute Estime, Bardenstown Lad

HAUTE ESTIME returned a beaten favourite on her chase debut at Kelso but she’s sure to have learnt a lot and her third in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle is decent form. With more to come, Lucinda Russell and Derek Dox could set to take the opener with this mare by Walk In The Park. BARDENSTOWN LAD was below-par on chase debut but surely he’s better than that given he finished third in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival which is the best form on offer. He is well worth another chance for a trainer who has an excellent strike-rate here away from the Cheltenham Festival. 

Leg 2 Selections: Nube Negra

This should prove to be a straightforward task for the defending champion NUBE NEGRA to win this for a second consecutive year. Dan Skelton’s top-class chaser has an excellent record fresh and went close to winning the Champion Chase last year. The eight-year-old has a good record at this course and gets his favoured conditions, so with his task made easier with the absence of Edwardstone, his class should see him shine. His two rivals have plenty to find on the form and shouldn’t be good enough to trouble the favourite. 

Leg 3 Selections: The Mighty Don, Mighty Thunder

I am going to stick with two strong stayers, who could be suited to this race. Firstly, the Lucinda Russell-trained MIGHTY THUNDER, who I know has been pulled up in three of his last four starts but is back on the same mark as when winning last year’s Scottish Grand National. He has undergone a breathing operation since he was last spotted, which could help, and his record fresh isn’t too bad either. 

THE MIGHTY DON tends to hit a flat spot and isn’t the most trustworthy of individuals but he showed his talent in this race last year when pushing the classy Yala Enki within a length when second despite a sketchy round of jumping and is seven pounds lower this time around against easier opponents. His comeback run after nine months off was needed at Chepstow and connections have taken the exact same route, so there’s every chance he’ll be spot on for today’s race. He is proven over the trip, likes the course, and gets his ground, so he is weighted to go very well again here. 

Leg 4 Selections: Severance, Harbour Lake

SEVERANCE has been a model of consistency in big-field handicaps and warmed up for this with an excellent third in the Welsh Champion Hurdle on his return last time when competing from four pounds out of the handicap. He travelled well throughout and looked like he was going to win at one stage before a lack of a run told in the closing stages. He did well to split last season’s Betfair Hurdle winner Glory And Fortune and last season’s County Hurdle third Milkwood. He was tad unlucky when a narrow second to Cormier over course-and-distance in January, where he boxed in on the home turn and the winner had a dream passage outside and up the stands rail. 

Alan King has a great record in this race and I quite like his HARBOUR LAKE, who’s won all of his completed starts and has only been raised five pounds for winning with much more in hand than the margin indicated last time. He’s two-from-two over this trip and has proven himself over further, so a strongly-run race over this trip should be right up his street. He ticks a lot of boxes for this race and should be suited to the course, while Tom Cannon has enjoyed a good weekend already and his confidence will be high heading into this race. 

Leg 5 Selections: Springwell Bay

This isn’t the strongest of renewals of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle trials and while Iberico Lad has to be respected, pitched into this Grade Two on his hurdles debut, his odds are a bit slim and preference goes to SPRINGWELL BAY. He was runner-up in a good-quality bumper on debut in Ireland and then bolted up on debut for Jonjo O’Neill at Market Rasen by fourteen lengths. He then made his hurdles debut after an eleven month absence at Carlisle last month and while the time-figure wasn’t fast, he won with loads to spare. This is obviously a deeper race and the second from that latest success has been beaten since but he looks really smart and a stronger pace here will only increase his chances. He must have excellent claims with his best days ahead of him. 

Leg 6 Selections: Cape Vidal, School Days Over

I was quite taken with the way CAPE VIDAL put the race to bed on debut, winning by seven lengths without coming out of second gear. Anything Honeyball has a good record in bumpers and has done well at this venue before, so this five-year-old is probably above-average and could make his presence felt in this grade. 

Fergal O’Brien is known for doing very well bumper events at this venue and of course elsewhere so while his other runner Crambo has to be respected, I do quite like his SCHOOL DAYS OVER, who overcame traffic difficulties to make a winning start under rules last time. He was held-up off the pace and while he briefly didn’t get a clear passage when the taps were turned on, the fact that he not only had to go wide around the field but found another gear to wear down Egbert and win a shade comfortably was a really smart performance.