Cheltenham Festival tips: Antepost preview & best bets for Ballymore Novices' Hurdle
2022 Cheltenham Festival antepost tips
1pt win I Am Maximus in Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at 25/1 (General - NRNB)
I’ve been toying with the idea of backing I AM MAXIMUS for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham for a few weeks now but the timing suddenly looks right.
Providing trainer Nicky Henderson doesn’t issue a negative bulletin at Monday’s press visit to Seven Barrows organised by The Jockey Club, of course, but the vibes were fairly positive in a recent piece in the Racing Post and I’d expect him to generate a bit of interest.
That is likely to be prompted by Saturday’s significant boost to this promising horse’s form, the six-year-old having been beaten just a couple of lengths by Hillcrest off level weights at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.
Sent off 7/5 favourite to beat Henry Daly’s giant in the Listed Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, he shaped extremely well in second, hurdling fluently and taking up the running on the turn for home (full replay below).
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He was only battled out of victory by Hillcrest after the final flight, but with that one an eight-length winner of the Albert Bartlett trial on bad ground at Haydock over the weekend, it’s pretty clear I Am Maximus was just done by a much stronger stayer on the day (soft going).
Hillcrest is into 6/1 in places for the Albert Bartlett and it’s not hard to imagine he’s a name we’ll be hearing an awful lot more of in the years to come.
I Am Maximus, a son of Authorized and a Cheltenham winner already having beaten none other than My Drogo in a bumper there on his sole start in the 2020-21 campaign, is 33/1 for the Ballymore with Unibet but the general 25/1 looks potentially too big as well, and I’ll happily have a nibble at those odds with the NRNB concession thrown in for good measure.
I don’t have too many Irish horses on the antepost ledger so far (full list below) and that could obviously return to haunt me, especially if Sir Gerhard is geared towards this event over the Sky Bet Supreme.
He’d bring the strongest form to the table by some way, while Journey With Me is another horse with a lot of ability and you sense we’re only just scratching the surface with him too.
Elsewhere in this market, I Am Maximus’s stablemate Walking On Air made a very decent impression at Newbury but now looks under-priced if anything around the 8/1 mark, while it’s worth noting there have been nibbles for Jonbon, including on the Betfair Exchange, in recent days and to be fair to the horse I was quite impressed by how he found for pressure when winning the Sky Bet Rossington Main.
One who hasn’t been talked about too widely at this point is Willie Mullins’ State Man and I’d be fascinated to see him move up in trip for the Ballymore having routed a poor field in a Limerick maiden on February 1.
The fact he made his Irish debut in the maiden hurdle won by Klassical Dream a few years back at Leopardstown on Boxing Day shows the regard in which he’s held, and I’d possibly be a player with him too at 10/1 if we knew this was his target.
For now, though, I’m going to take the opportunity to back I Am Maximus at what I feel could be really generous odds that might not last the week.
Published at 1645 GMT on 20/02/22
Recommended Antepost Value Bet archive
1pt win Green Book in Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at 25/1 (BetVictor - NRNB)
1pt win Ontheropes in National Hunt Chase at 14/1 (Sky Bet, NRNB)
1pt win Porticello in JCB Triumph Hurdle at 16/1 (General)
1pt win Impervious in Parnell Properties Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at 16/1 (Sky Bet)
1pt win Mighty Potter in Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 14/1 (General)
1pt e.w. Funambule Sivola in Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at 50/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)
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