The day three confirmations are through for Cheltenham on Thursday and our team of David Ord, John Ingles and Nic Doggett have tackled some of the key questions.
The forecast is looking kind for the next week – who do you think that will suit most in Thursday's Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle?
David Ord: It's a good question. If it turns the race into more of a speed test, then Bob Olinger possibly but the more I look at the race the more I think Teahupoo is a rock-solid favourite.
Yes, he got beat last season, but they didn’t go a gallop that day and it just didn’t play to his strengths. I like the way he’s been campaigned this season, the extra race I think will serve him well and the way he beat Bob Olinger over Christmas, whatever finishes in front of him will win.
Honesty Policy, Kabral du Mathan and Ma Shantou are all improving right now and it’s an interesting Stayers’ Hurdle but the best horse on Timeform ratings going into it is Teahupoo and I think he’ll be the best horse coming out of it too.
John Ingles: Anything that makes the race less of a stamina test and puts the emphasis more on speed must be welcome news for the Dan Skelton camp. Those were the conditions when Kabral du Mathan won the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day when he quickened away at the end of a steadily-run race over two and a half miles.
There might have been doubts about Kabral du Mathan’s stamina if the Stayers’ Hurdle had looked like becoming a slog, but it’s looking like his speed could prove an asset against a more thorough stayer like Teahupoo whose win in the Stayers’ Hurdle came under the softest conditions he has encountered in his three tries in the race.
Nic Doggett: We saw last year that Teahupoo is vulnerable to those with a greater turn of foot, so a lot of pressure will be on Jack Kennedy to ride the race that best suits his strong stayer. He had fitness on his side when beating Bob Olinger at Christmas, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see last year’s 1-2 finish in the same order. And you can argue that the drying ground helps the progressive younger horses Honesty Policy, Kabral du Mathan and Ma Shantou, so, ultimately, I’d be laying Teahupoo on good-to-soft.
If there’s one who looks a bit overpriced then it’s Impose Toi. Better ground, a 6 lb pull with Ma Shantou, and a solid Cheltenham record makes 14/1 fairly attractive.
With Jonbon set to swerve the Ryanair Chase seemingly because Fact To File runs in this rather than the Gold Cup, is this year’s renewal actually a good advert for the scrapping of the race?
David Ord: I think someone has got out of the bed on the wrong side haven’t they? I can sort of see the argument as we’ve got rid of the two-and-a-half mile novice chase and there’s the potential to make the Melling at Aintree THE championship event over the intermediate trip.
But come on. Look at some of the performances we’ve seen in this. Fact To File last year, Allaho in 2021. I think this race has its place. And they won’t see which way Fact To File goes if he turns up again.
John Ingles: The Ryanair Chase is more than twenty years old now, so it’s too well established in the Festival programme to be scrapped on the basis of one renewal losing one of its leading contenders. There’s a long list of top-class chasers who have won the race – including Cue Card, Vautour, Un de Sceaux, Min, Allaho, Envoi Allen, Protektorat – and Fact To File is right up there too, with every chance of joining Allaho as a dual winner.
Banbridge only just failed to win his second King George last time, and last year’s runner-up Heart Wood is in there again, so it’s not as if Fact To File is lacking high-class rivals, even without Jonbon taking him on.
Nic Doggett: One of the races introduced to the meeting when the fourth day was added in 2005, I used to love it when the likes of Our Vic and Albertas Run were winning, and Cue Card and Imperial Commander showed that it could be a real stepping stone to the Gold Cup.
That appeared to be the case last year when Fact To File advertised his own Gold Cup credentials with a bloodless success and if the Ryanair wasn’t here, then he’d be in Friday’s race, while King George runner-up Banbridge would also likely be having another crack.
I’m not sure the Gold Cup actually needs to be more competitive, but the perennially small fields of the Champion Chase would surely benefit if there wasn’t this mid-distance option. I'd be more amenable to binning it than Dave or John.
Which of the qualifiers for the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle has caught your eye most in their preparations?
David Ord: I thought it was interesting that Emmet Mullins qualified Melbourne Shamrock at very last moment, winning at Naas in late February.
The positives are that was a career best, the cheekpieces which were applied for the first time had the desired effect and he showed a god attitude in the finish. He’s a pound wrong at the weights if Impose Toi runs but is improving, a comment that doesn’t apply to many of these and is clearly in very shrewd hands.
John Ingles: One of the most progressive in the line-up, although on offer at 16/1 in most lists, is Champagne Chic for Jeremy Scott. A combination of a step up to staying trips this season and the fitting of cheekpieces has brought about plenty of improvement in him and he remains unexposed.
He won a race under unusually testing conditions for Wincanton when only two others finished with the rest pulled up but then followed up to win his qualifier at Haydock when the ground was no worse than good to soft.
The runner-up that day, Minella Emperor, is shorter in the Pertemps Final betting, but Champagne Chic came from off the pace to pull more than five lengths clear at the line, his strength at the finish encouraging with the Cheltenham hill in mind.
Nic Doggett: Whilst remembering that the qualifying rules have changed over the years, the last 10 winners of the Pertemps Final finished in the following positions in their qualifier (most recent first): 2, 4, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 3, 4, 3.
Fans of talking horse Supremely West will be buoyed by that (amongst other positive signs), but he’s no value and, despite recent British dominance, I’m more interested in an Irish runner (and Emmet Mullins alternative to Dave's fancy) Minella Emperor who, as John outlines above, chased home Champagne Chic last time. His best runs have come on decent ground and I wouldn’t be surprised to see headgear applied on the Haydock runner-up to help him travel a bit more sweetly here.
Finally, will talking horse Jeriko du Reponet stay the trip in the Kim Muir and is he the pick of the JP McManus runners in your eyes?
David Ord: The world and his wife latched onto this fella for the race from some way out and clearly he’s been laid out for this. Headgear will go on no doubt and I have no worries about the trip.
But I do think Waterford Whispers is a big player for the Martinstown team too. He was second in the Martin Pipe in 2024 and was well backed when running his best race over fences when third in the ultra-competitive Leopardstown Handicap Chase last time.
He’s seven pounds higher now but is unexposed over fences, this is his only entry for the week, and Henry De Bromhead has a sure touch at this meeting.
John Ingles: The handicapper has dropped him just enough in the weights to get him into the race on the maximum BHA rating of 145, the same mark that Inothewayurthinkin won from in the same colours two years ago when he was backed as if defeat was out of the question. Like him, Jeriko du Reponet has not won over fences yet going into the Kim Muir, though he could easily prove a different proposition in what looks to have been his long-term aim, especially if the cheekpieces go back on.
Stamina shouldn’t be an issue given he was runner-up in the Pertemps Final on this card before going one better over just short of three miles at Punchestown. His weight is more of a concern, however, whereas his owner’s other runner Waterford Whispers looks better handicapped and was a good third in the Leopardstown Chase last time, though he does have something to prove stamina-wise stepping up in trip.
Nic Doggett: These are the ones that always bite you on the bum when you have a strong view either way, but I just can’t have him. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s been ridden to best effect on any of his three starts this year, and a mark of 145 leaves him well treated despite top weight, but I don’t think he jumps well enough to last home here.
I’m more interested in Montregard at the prices (14/1 NRNB); his third at the Punchestown Festival back in 2024 and his big-race win at Ascot last time show that he can raise his game for the big occasion. His previous form behind a well-treated The Jukebox Kid makes me think that his new mark of 132 could still be within range if he sneaks in at the foot of the weights.
Cheltenham Festival 2026: Stable Tours
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