Brighter days ahead
With the proximity to the festival, Cheltenham clues have been few and far between this week, however there have been plenty of well-backed horses following the handicap weights reveal last week.
Firstly, Brighterdaysahead has been confirmed for the Champion Hurdle, which looks a mouth-watering contest now with plenty of class horses in the mix. It also makes the Mares’ Hurdle a much more competitive heat should Lossiemouth also stick to the plan and run in the Champion Hurdle.
Brighterdaysahead is 15/8 NRNB for the Champion Hurdle and Constitution Hill has been eased to 4/6. With that news, Lossiemouth is now defensively-priced for the Mares’ Hurdle at 4/5 NRNB from 11/8, as she would be a strong favourite should her plans change late on.
What's hot for the handicaps
There has been plenty of warm support for the Tom Dascombe-trained Hot Fuss in the Fred Winter.
He was 33/1 NRNB at the start of last week and that was quickly into 20s and now 14/1 for the race. This horse has an interesting profile, splitting East India Dock and Give It To Me Oj on hurdles debut, that certainly reads well and he won very easily on the level at Southwell in February from a mark of 88 (now rated 93). His hurdles rating of 122 looks a workable mark and he is a player next month.
Busselton is a significant loser for Sky Bet in the Cross Country Chase. With the race being converted to a handicap, his mark of 138 puts him on a featherweight and he looks to have been minded since running an eye-catching race behind Stumptown in December. His run in the Boyne Hurdle last month should put him spot on for this contest. He was available at 33/1 NRNB for this race at the start of January but is an 8/1 shot now following immense support over the last few weeks.
Transmission has been steadily supported for the National Hunt Chase; he is 6/1 NRNB from the 8/1 that was available at the start of last week. The shrewd Neil Mulholland yard have previous in using the Cleeve Hurdle as a preparation for a Cheltenham handicap, with The Druids Nephew well beaten in the three mile grade two hurdle before winning the Ultima in 2015 as an eight year-old. Transmission looks to have been laid out for this race and you would not be surprised to see further support with the weather set fair.
There is some amount of hype behind this Kopeck De Mee, who was allotted a mark of 136 at last week’s weights reveal.
11/2 was the price NRNB for the Martin Pipe prior to being given that mark, he is now 3/1 for that race and a significant loser for us. The target is yet to be confirmed but the majority of the support for this horse at Cheltenham has come in the Martin Pipe.
Wherever he lines up, it will be interesting to see if the support continues post declarations and it is anyone’s guess what the SP might be.
Festival Favourites
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It consists of a multiple which will be top-price across the industry and goes live every Monday for a limited time
‘Willie Mullins to train 2 or more winners on Tuesday of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival’ is generously boosted to even money from 1/4 and you can back that by clicking here.
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