Cheltenham Tips: 379/1 Ante-Post Treble for the Festival

Brandy Love 

The Mares’ Hurdle, which takes place on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival, is one of the races I am most looking forward to, especially now that connections of Honeysuckle have confirmed the brilliant nine-year-old will be given her final task in this race before heading off into a much-deserved retirement. 

The three-time Cheltenham Festival winner, who won this in 2020 before recording back-to-back victories in the Champion Hurdle in 2021 and 2022, heads the market at 9/4. She clearly has excellent claims given her record at Cheltenham but the fact she has been beaten the last two times makes her shortish odds slightly off putting here. 

It would be great if she was to win on her final career start but even if this race does have an easier look about it then the Champion Hurdle, she will have to overcome some really strong opposition, including Harry Fry’s Love Envoi, who’s only been defeated once in her career to date. A winner of eight of her nine starts, she is available at 5/1 and is a rock solid each-way contender without a shadow of doubt. 

She has looked good in winning both her starts this season and returned an impressive winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. The only concern would be if conditions came up on the good side, as all of her best form has been on ground with “soft” in the description. Still, she is a high-class mare and after giving us a big winner at last year’s Festival, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see lightning strike twice. 

I do, however, think there’s one intended runner who could spoil the formerly-mentioned duos party and the mare under the spotlight is the Willie Mullins-trained BRANDY LOVE (best price 9/2). Whilst we have yet to see her in action so far this season, the reports are that she is in fantastic form at home and based upon her form last season, she must enter calculations. 

She has not been seen since collecting the Grade 1 Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse, where she beat Love Envoi by eight-lengths. I tipped the runner-up that day and I was so impressed with the way the winner went about her business in the back end of the race, putting daylight between herself and the Cheltenham Mares' Novices' Hurdle winner, who in turn, lost her unbeaten record.

The fact that she was able to do that despite jumping out to her left and nearly running off the track, gave the impression she has a serious engine and a large packet of ability. She was pulled out of the Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham last year on a vets certificate but it ultimately proved a blessing in disguise, as she gained her first top-level success a month later. The way she won that race in spite of giving away a lot of ground was a testament to her class. 

What is even more alluring is trainer Willie Mullins is adamant she is better going left-handed and she won that Grade 1 right-handed, so surely better is to come plus she is expected to make her comeback in the Quevega Hurdle at Punchestown on the 22nd February, a prep run ahead of Cheltenham.

After just five starts, she has a ton of improvement to come, will be well-suited to a championship pace at the Festival and is the one I want to side with in this race. 

Thyme Hill 

Gerri Colombe advertised his Cheltenham Festival claims with victory in the Scilly Isles at Sandown to extend his unbeaten record and bookmakers were quick to react to his success by cutting him into 3/1 favourite for the Brown Advisory but in all fairness it was a weak renewal. 

He was strong at the finish, as expected, but he appeared to race lazily when the taps were turned on at the third last fence before rallying under pressure. He simply won’t afford to do that at Cheltenham against higher-calibre opponents. His lack of experience at the course also puts me off as well, even though he has beaten every horse that’s been put in front of his path. 

Looking at the ante-post market for the Brown Advisory, it is hard to see most of the runners who are shorter than 20/1 even lining up here with Gaillard Du Mesnil most likely to go for the National Hunt Chase, Mighty Potter being a warm favourite for the Turners and Sir Gerhard likely to go for that race as well. 

The Real Whacker has won both chase starts at Cheltenham but the form of both his wins have been let down since with Monmiral, Indigo Breeze, Bardenstown Lad and Thunder Rock all being stuffed. He needs more and I honestly don’t believe for one second his 6/1 price is legitimately justified to warrant being that short in the betting. He has also been granted two soft leads, something that he won’t get at the Festival next month.

The most persuasive option has to be the Philip Hobbs-trained THYME HILL (best price 6/1) who was the best of horse over hurdles and, in theory, should be much closer to Gerri Colombe in the betting here. He has an excellent opportunity to finally win at the Cheltenham Festival. 

He made the perfect chase debut at Exeter and dispatched his two inferior rivals with the minimum of fuss. He then went to Newbury to contest the Grade 2 John Francome Novices' Chase and although he was turned over by McFabulous, he wasn’t ridden with any confidence and was ultimately well-held in second. 

He was at a disadvantage too due to the winner being allowed a soft lead where Harry Cobden was controlling the pace. That performance alone wouldn’t be good enough to win a Brown Advisory but his next start certainly would! A vastly improved performance was to come over Christmas, as connections pursued with his chasing campaign plan, which paid off. 

Given he was turned over at Newbury when sent off 4/7 favourite, the shoe was on the other foot here as McFabulous, who he was renewing rivalry with, was sent off favourite with Thyme Hill only fourth in the betting this time. 

However, the latter looked a different proposition to the horse we saw at Newbury, as he jumped and travelled strongly, and once upsides Paul Nicholls’ charge jumping the second last, he quickened clear and flew the last fence en route to winning by 15-lengths. 

Now that his confidence has been restored, he should hopefully be able to kick on from that and match his hurdles form in this sphere. His jumping under pressure was impressive, something you need in a championship race and he has proved that on more than one occasion at Cheltenham. He goes extremely well at the course and has technically yet to finish outside the frame here. He was second in last season’s Stayers’ Hurdle, fourth in the Albert Bartlett and third in a Champion Bumper. 

Additionally, he has fared best of the British in all three of those starts at the Festival and that certainly bodes well for his only intended target next month - this race. In fact, I think this year’s assignment is the weakest out of the four and he is versatile in regards to conditions too. He is a high-class horse, who achieved more than any of these over hurdles and therefore must have a great each-way chance. 

Fury Road

Allaho might well make it three consecutive wins in the Ryanair Chase this season but conversely, in comparison to his two previous wins in the race, he will arrive into this year’s renewal without a prep-run and he has never been seen at his imperious best on his reappearance. He did win the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on his seasonal debut two seasons back but was a rather fortunate winner when his stablemate Asterion Forlonge fell at the third last when going best. 

If there’s a time he will be at his most vulnerable at Cheltenham, it will be this year, and he is worth taking on at the odds. Instead, I cannot resist the available odds about FURY ROAD (best price 11/1), who looks absolutely tailor-made for the trip and test in the Ryanair at the Cheltenham Festival with Allaho likely to ensure it’s run at a true gallop and that would only enhance Gordon Elliott’s charge credentials. 

He won a Grade 1 over fences as a novice and while that wasn’t the strongest of races, he has more than obtained his capabilities in open company over fences based on this year’s form evidence. He was only third in the Savills but was and has been the only horse able to serve it up to Galopin Des Champs in this sphere and it came in the Irish Gold Cup, his final start before heading to Cheltenham next month. 

Now if Galopin Des Champs is the Gold Cup Favourite and Stattler is fourth favourite for the Gold Cup, then surely Fury Road should be much shorter for the Ryanair given he nearly split both Willie Mullins main players in the Irish Gold Cup. 

He was right upsides Galopin Des Champs when he made a bad mistake at the final fence and he then hung left on the run-in, yet he still kept pestering the winner before Galopin eventually pulled away in the closing stages. 

He probably wouldn’t have won but would have been a clear second otherwise, as Stattler only just mugged him on the line so his effort in defeat was transparently impressive. What he does have as well, is Cheltenham Festival form to his name. Not his lacklustre performance in the Stayers’ Hurdle two seasons ago but more so his close-up third in the Albert Bartlett the season before that when narrowly denied by Monkfish. 

Gigginstown Stud have won and had multiple placed runners in the Ryanair in the past and this nine-year-old looks to be reaching his peak over fences and this might well be his year. If he can navigate his way around the fences at Cheltenham, I think he has all the attributes within his catalogue to give Allaho one or two problems, especially if he can reproduce his latest performance, which would certainly be good enough to see him make the frame at the very least. I am sweet on his chances.