Cheltenham Festival Ante-Post Round-Up (Ireland)

Despite it being the Dublin Racing Festival at the weekend there was still some high-quality action over in Ireland last week. With that being the case there were Cheltenham clues to be had throughout the week. Read on to see my thoughts on the horse racing odds movements for the run-up to Cheltenham after what was another riveting weekend of racing in Ireland.

Novice Hurdlers to the fore at Fairyhouse

Fairyhouse on Wednesday saw Three Card Brag make all to win the Novice Hurdle over 2m3f. He does seem to race a bit lazily, but he does look the type of horse who will just keep galloping and the Albert Bartlett looks right up his street. He is now joint 3^rd in the betting for that race on the final day of The Festival and is 8/1 with Bet365.

The Maiden Hurdle on the card went to yet another Willie Mullins novice and he was very impressive as well. As usual it is hard to know exactly where he will fit in the Mulling pecking order. He is a big price for the Supreme at 33/1 with BetVictor, but they are already going 4 places on the race and he does look a promising horse.

Gowran’s big day sees Cheltenham and Aintree pointers

Gowran Park staged their biggest meeting of the season on Thursday and it saw Teahupoo jump to favouritism for the Stayers’ Hurdle after landing the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle. He could hardly have been more impressive and it was no surprise the price he is now no bigger than 5/2 with William Hill for the Stayers’ Hurdle. It is worth remembering though that he finished last in the Champion Hurdle last year and didn’t seem to handle the quicker spring ground so he might need it to be a wet Festival week.

I doubt Carefully Selected will be going to Cheltenham, but he landed the big race on the card, the Thyestes Chase. It was Willie Mullins’ 5^th success in the race in the past 10 years and this was the most impressive training performance of all of them as the 11yo was running for only the 2^nd time after the 1022-day absence that followed his exit at the last in the 2020 National Hunt Chase at The Festival. The Grand National was not surprisingly mentioned after the race as a likely target and he is 25/1 with William Hill who are going 5 places.

Speaking of horses who haven’t run for a while dual Cheltenham Festival winner Sir Gerhard made his seasonal return and his jumping debut. He did have to survive a serious mistake at the 3^rd where he took off way too early and landed on the fence and after that his jumping was a bit careful. His trainer suggested he would head straight to Cheltenham next even though he looked in need of more practice. He also mentioned the Brown Advisory might be the race he goes for and he is 6/1 with BetVictor for that contest.

Diamond impresses in Solerina

Fairyhouse held another meeting on Saturday and the feature contest was the Grade 3 Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle which was won by Ashroe Diamond. She did well to win after being caught in a pocket after 2 out, but she quickened up well after the last and looks to have an obvious chance in the Mare’s Novice at Cheltenham. She is now a best price of 4/1 with William Hill for that contest.

Drama at Naas

The action moved to Naas on Sunday and the Grade 3 Novice Chase saw a very dramatic finish as Thedevilscoachman ended up getting the race in the stewards room as Ramillies was deemed to have caused interference. The winner is only in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham and Bet365 go 11/1 about him. Ramillies meanwhile looks like he will enjoy the longer trip of the National Hunt Chase and he is 5/1 with BetVictor for that.

Echoes In Rain landed the Grade 3 Limestone Lad Hurdle with the greatest of ease. She had finished 5^th in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last season and that is likely to be her target in March. William Hill go 6/1 about her going 4 places better this time around.

Finally for last week Willie Mullins took out another Maiden Hurdle with Seabank Bistro finally managing to get his head in front over hurdles at the 3^rd time of asking. He looks like he will benefit from going up in trip and looks set to go for the Albert Bartlett at The Festival. You can get 25/1 with BetVictor who are going 4 places for the contest on the final day.

If you want more Cheltenham Festival content then make sure to keep an eye on our dedicated section for the best Cheltenham Festival tips over the coming weeks.