2024 Cheltenham Festival tips: Gary O'Brien's best bets

Race: National Hunt Chase. 

The National Hunt Chase is his target – that was confirmed a while ago. If you’re nitpicking, it wasn’t exactly the ideal preparation at Fairyhouse, but his previous effort at Leopardstown at Christmas, when second behind Grangeclare West, certainly suggests he’s the horse to beat here. Grangeclare West is sadly out for the season, but he has some other good horses in behind him on that occasion, including Flooring Porter. 

Whether it’s hurdle or fences, Corbetts Cross’ form stacks up, and while his jumping has been crabbed, I think it’s safe rather than there’s anything wrong with it. 

Corbetts Cross was also good enough to beat Found A Fifty, who is on course for the Arkle plus is a Grade One winner over fences, in a graded race over just shy of two miles over hurdles, and while he’s not short of pace, I don’t think he’ll have any problem with this longer trip. 

It was a small field he ran in when falling at Fairyhouse last time out in a conditions chase, and was ridden by Derek O’Connor there who I expect will ride him at Cheltenham. 

He was just pottering around at the back of a four-runner field and was doing everything with ease against rivals who had more experience. I thought his jumping was perfectly adequate, and he jumped into the back of Run Wild Fred before falling, but the fact he didn’t fall himself would mean that his jumping is less of a worry at Cheltenham. Run Wild Fred just put the brakes on, and Corbetts Cross went to jump it really well, but landed on top of him. 

I’m sure he’ll have had a school over a few fences in the meantime, too. 

Race: Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.

This is a horse who ran very well in some big two-mile handicap hurdles over the past 12 to 18 months. He was placed at the Winter Festival at Fairyhouse, and I thought he ran a really good race in the Galway Hurdle last year. He also ran later that week and ran a good race in another valuable contest over two and three-quarter miles. 

He qualified for this race at Aintree in November, and it seems as though he’s been put on ice since then for the Pertemps. Unfortunately, the low sun intervened this day and three was no jumping up the home straight, but it was job done in terms of qualifying, and I like the fact he’s been given a break since then as he had actually had quite a busy spell before then. 

He’s run well fresh in the past, and he’s on a mark that he really ought to make his presence felt off. He is potentially on an upward curve, and I like his profile more compared to Chantry House, who is another potential runner for JP McManus but is a horse who has had his issues, and there might be a question mark over him. 

Race: Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle. 

No prizes for originality here, but Teahupoo might end up a shortish price with stablemate Irish Point likely to run in the Champion Hurdle. 

This is the standout horse in the Stayers’ Hurdle and I’m not sure that the race is necessarily going to be as strong as we thought it might be at one stage earlier in the season. 

 bet365 will have a at the every day at 10am! 

Race: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. 

I was really impressed with what this horse did at Cheltenham last time out. He’d won in terrific style at Newbury prior to that but I thought the way he won at Cheltenham was impressive. 

He got himself out of a bit of a hole last time out as Lucky Place, who finished second, half blind-sided him when he went for home, and I loved the way Gidleigh Park was able to peg him back. 

He was strong through the line, too, and I think he’ll be every bit as effective if they do step him up to three miles (he also has the option of the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle).