Our team of experts have scoured the Cheltenham Festival handicaps and pick out some of the most eyecatching contenders at the weights.
Billy Nash - COMMON PRACTICE (Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle)
Plenty of unexposed improvers will face the starter in the 'Fred Winter' on Tuesday, but it is a race where experience often counts for plenty and with that in mind COMMON PRACTICE makes lots of each-way appeal at current odds of around 14/1.
In a year where the Irish juveniles look particularly good, he represents some strong form lines having finished fourth to Lossiemouth in a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse and then second to Blood Destiny (Nusret third) in a well-contested minor event at the same track in January. His last run at Leopardstown - when sent off joint-third favourite for the ultra competitive Liffey handicap hurdle - is easy to put a line through as he was effectively brought down at the third hurdle.
There must be a good chance that the drying ground will bring about some further improvement (won on good at the Curragh in June) and a BHA mark of 131 - just 3lb higher than his Irish one - looks a fair one to me.
Dan Barber – HAPPYGOLUCKY (Ultima Handicap Chase)
Rumour has it David Bass was shellshocked after clear favourite HAPPYGOLUCKY failed to claw back the evergreen Vintage Clouds - on the latter's fifth appearance in the race - in the 2021 Ultima (replay below), but the popular rider may well have cause to cut an altogether more upbeat figure as the pair bid for compensation in the same race two years on on Cheltenham's opening day.
In general, the Ultima has been one Festival handicap in which it has paid to stick with one of the home contingent, but Happygolucky's chance isn't borne solely out of some flawed punting parochialism.
Happygolucky made amends in fine style at Aintree on his next start and, having missed time, has returned looking every bit as good this season from a potentially generous mark, undone by the drop in trip back at Cheltenham last time having finished on the heels of L'Homme Presse and Into Overdrive (set to reoppose on much worse terms) in a very strong edition of the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle first time back.
Presumably saved for this since, Happygolucky is primed to underline that once bitten twice shy needn't apply in the Ultima - just ask Vintage Clouds.
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Graeme North – THIRD TIME LUCKI (Grand Annual Handicap Chase)
Discretion is the better part of valour as the saying goes, so even though 2021 Ballymore fourth Bear Ghylls grabbed my attention in the Pertemps after a more encouraging run back over hurdles last time it’s been sobering to look once again at how dominant Irish-trained horses have been in Festival handicap hurdles these last few years, so the percentage call is to look elsewhere.
On the contrary, home-trained runners clearly held the upper hand in handicap chases last season and in the expectation that scenario will continue, THIRD TIME LUCKI looks very interesting in the Grand Annual on day two.
He began this season in the Haldon Gold Cup where he raced of a mark of 153 and was sent off favourite ahead of Greaneteen. He ran poorly there and on his next two starts too, but another breathing operation looked to have done the trick at Sandown last time where he bounced back to his best off a mark of 143.
6lb higher here, but still 4lb lower than in his season-opener, he’s a far better horse away from the mud and the dry forecast will suit him far more than it will others. He’s 2-2 over fences at Cheltenham, will be suited by being dropped out in a well-run race and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if target-trainer has had this race in mind for some time.
Matt Brocklebank – BEAUPORT (Ultima Handicap Chase/Kim Muir Handicap Chase)
We can’t be sure of running plans as Nigel Twiston-Davies was a surprise absentee from the annual weights unveiling at Cheltenham in midweek, but with handicap hurdle form figures of 122214, BEAUPORT must be of interest ahead of his handicap chase debut in either the Ultima or the Kim Muir.
He's not exactly built on his Colin Parker Memorial comeback/chase debut win at Carlisle at the end of October in two subsequent starts over fences, but his jumping wasn’t great in a three-runner affair at Haydock and he was then tasked with conceding weight to The Real Whacker and co in the ‘Dipper’ last time out on New Year’s Day.
His chase mark has crept down to 143 as a result, which is only 1lb higher than when successfully giving Boothill 7lb over the smaller obstacles at Uttoxeter last March, after which he was a staying-on fourth off 148 behind Party Business in a good race at Aintree.
Few can match Twiston-Davies when it comes to laying one out for a handicap at Cheltenham and this project bears all the hallmarks. Perhaps the Wednesday no-show was due to him not wishing to give the game away... here’s hoping.
Phil Turner – ANIGHTINLAMBOURN (Kim Muir Handicap Chase)
Irish-trained runners dominate the ante-post market for the Kim Muir but this could be one race where the balance of power isn’t quite so pronounced as the betting might suggest and, as a result, it could pay to seek some each-way value amongst the home-trained contingent.
The 16/1 currently available about Iron Bridge appeals as the best such bet but, alas, Jonjo O’Neill told Matt Brocklebank at the handicap weights launch that he’s an unlikely runner due to the predicted ground not being soft enough.
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There are no such concerns about another locally-trained runner ANIGHTINLAMBOURN, though.
Admittedly, Ben Pauling’s mare has got more miles on the clock than most of those heading the market and could prove vulnerable to a less-exposed sort, but she’s got a very solid chance on form and looks overpriced at 20/1 (many offering each-way terms to five places), particularly as she’s likely to have the services of one of the best amateurs around in Jack Andrews.
Like many of her stable-companions, Anightinlambourn thrived during the early months of 2022/23 and took her form to new levels when winning three of her final four starts.
Significantly, her last two runs came in amateur handicap chases at Cheltenham and, having suffered an agonising late reverse after shaping like clearly the best at the weights on the first occasion, she proved better than ever when defeating Punitive at the November meeting.
The form of that latter race has worked out extremely well and, having been deliberately freshened up by Pauling in the interim, Anightinlambourn seems sure to give another bold show over Cheltenham’s fences.
Ben Linfoot – ITCHY FEET (Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle)
IYCHY FEET has been around a while but he’s only nine and he looks well treated ahead of his Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle mission.
Rated 155 over both hurdles and fences at his peak, he went off the rails in chases last season but wind surgery in the summer looks to have been the catalyst for improved performances. Reverting to hurdles looks another factor and he is more lightly-raced over the smaller obstacles, having had just the nine starts over timber.
He did it very nicely in his Pertemps qualifier at Huntingdon at the end of January off a mark of 138 and then he beat similarly-rated horses well when second to Wakool in the Rendlesham at Haydock last time, a race in which he traded at 1.26 in-running on Betfair.
Third in a Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ in his youth, he has Festival form as well as a classy past - certainly relative to the rivals he will face in a Pertemps Final.
David Johnson – FILEY BAY (County Handicap Hurdle)
There’s a fella on twitter with an affinity for the green and gold who advises that the best approach to punting is ‘just back winners’.
That’s obviously a simplistic approach and nothing is guaranteed but looking at the Festival handicaps at a stage when identifying a runner is hard enough in some instances then FILEY BAY looks to have an outstanding chance in the County Hurdle, odds of 5/1 more than fair, and he’s the only horse I’ll be backing in a handicap before the final declarations.
He's made rapid strides for his new trainer this season, winning his first two starts at Doncaster and Wincanton and took another huge step forward on his first for his new owner in defeat when touched off in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury last time. Without wishing to take anything away from the winner Aucunrisque, I’d argue that Filey Bay shaped like the best handicapped on the day and by a good way, conceding first run to the winner, yet still suggesting he might have won but for a serious error at the second last.
The first two pulled 11 lengths clear in a good time and an 8lb higher mark doesn’t look at all punitive in that context. There’s every reason to think he can keep improving at this stage of his career, still a novice after all and with only five starts over hurdles under his belt.
Kieran Clark – IMAGINE (Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle/Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle)
Gordon Elliott is no stranger to success in both the Coral Cup and the race named in honour of his former employer, having landed each prize twice since 2016 and IMAGINE looks a particularly intriguing runner in either contest.
A winner of a maiden on his only start in bumpers and also on hurdling debut, Imagine then filled the runner-spot on his three starts since, running to a useful level on each occasion, including when bumping into Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle-bound Hunters Yarn at Navan on the latest of those last month.
While his form may have seemed to have plateaued at around the minimum trip, Imagine boasts a stamina-laden pedigree and could easily see his form progress when upped in trip, his dam from the family of smart French chaser Amirande after all, who showed improvement when tackling longer distances.
Taking that into account, along with the fact that the nature of a well-run handicap should be beneficial, and that an opening BHA mark of 139 looks potentially on the lenient side, he is worth backing in the non-runner no-bet markets for both events with his price likely to shorten in the days leading up to the Festival.
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