Cheltenham Festival: Racing TV presenters share their best bets

My nap for Cheltenham comes pretty early on, and it’s Saratoga in the McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, the race formerly known as the Fred Winter.

This is a horse that comes out of a race at Naas last time that's produced plenty of Fred Winter winners in the past, and it's also a Cheltenham Festival race that has been dominated for the past eight years by Irish trainers.

I don't think he's chucked in off a mark of 130 but he was a very good second in that Naas race, about a month ago, and the front two were well clear of the third. Padraig Roche won the corresponding race at Cheltenham four years ago with Saratoga's half-brother, Brazil in the same JP McManus colours. Saratoga has been well found in the market, but I'm still hoping there's a bit of juice left in the price.

I think we might get a bit of an upset in the big one, with Alexei, who won at Cheltenham very impressively in the Greatwood Hurdle in November. He should get a similarly decent pace to aim at here. He clearly likes the track, there's no standout performer against him, and he should give us a good run for our money around the 20-1 mark.

I think Madara has been aimed at this by Dan Skelton from some way out. Given the yard's record with targeting the Festival handicaps and having horses in A1-condition on the day off attractive enough marks, I think Madara does stand out.

I've had my eye on him for the Festival for a long time. He's only had four starts for the stable; the first two of them were at Cheltenham with really good runs in top-end handicaps in the early part of the last Jump season.

They were very good efforts in defeat, in both the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the December Gold Cup, and that December Gold Cup in particular on the New Course was an outstanding effort on a track that is a little bit stiffer than the Old Course and it maybe just stretched his stamina.

Forget about Wetherby and last time out at Kempton as I don't think the race got anywhere near the bottom of him and it was probably not the right track given his style of racing. I think he's well handicapped, I think he's got strong form, he's been aimed at the race, and I'm sure the Skeltons will have him in tip-top condition on the day.

The race I'm most looking forward to on the opening day is the final event, the National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Handicap Chase. I'm really keen to see whether Wade Out can provide the champion jockey Sean Bowen and his boss Olly Murphy with their first winner at the big meeting itself.

He won at Cheltenham earlier on in the season and this race was immediately nominated as his target afterwards. He has been beaten in the intervening period at Windsor but I actually thought he ran a fair bit better than the bare form might tell you that day after making quite a big move mid-race.

The step up in distance I think will be a help, particularly when it comes to his jumping which isn't always the most fluent, and I think the drying ground will be a plus as well. Cheekpieces go on for the first time, too.

The race I always look forward to is the Queen Mother Champion Chase on the Wednesday. Two miles, horses and riders going lickety-split; it is such a spectacle. 

Majborough is a very short price favourite to win this time round but L’Eau du Sud, who I think jumps really well at Cheltenham, could put Majborough to the test

I don't think all of the favourite's jumping errors have been completely ironed out despite a monster performance over in Ireland at the Dublin Racing Festival.

So, I do fancy L’Eau du Sud for the Skeltons. I also like Gordon Elliott's mare Brighterdaysahead in the Champion Hurdle. I think she's fabulous and going to take the feature on day one.

You've always got to find one in the Grand Annual that might have a few pounds in hand and in the Jonjo and AJ O'Neill-trained Highlands Legacy I think I've found one.

If you go back three starts, he bumped into Mambonumberfive who then won a Grade Two on his next start. Glengouly was third and he won the December Gold Cup on his next start, while Jour d’Evasion was fifth and he won three times after that.

Then you go back to two starts ago at Newbury where he bumped into Mighty Bandit who was in unbelievable form at the time and he's won twice since. The third, Lookaway, won the Ladbrokes Trophy at Kempton, so the form couldn't be working out any better.

He's got a mark in the low 130s, Jonjo and his team have won this race in recent years with Sky Pirate, and I think at around 10-1 he's a pretty good price.

He's best value bet ifor the meeting. I just think he's an underrated horse going back to the Cheltenham Festival as he's the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner from a couple of years ago.

He hasn't won yet over fences but there's been mitigation as he's been running on soft ground generally. He was brought down the one time he got better ground and then, last time at Navan, over three miles on soft to heavy ground up the hill he just got outstayed in the end.

He'll be dropping back in distance to the intermediate trip for the Jack Richards, he should be better suited by the better ground, and he’s 1/1 at Cheltenham. He's got a chase mark now of 146 - that's 5lb lower than his Irish hurdles mark of 151 - and I think he could go well.

My main fancy for the week is Koktail Divin. I hope he runs in this, but he does have the option of the Brown Advisory.

He's got a handicap mark of 150, which I think really underestimates him. He was beaten over fences earlier on in the season by Romeo Coolio and Oscars Brother.

When he was beaten by Oscars Brother he was only outstayed by him over three miles, which is why I think they'll opt for the shorter distance race, and then back in trip last time out at Leopardstown he absolutely bolted up.

His jumping is really good for a novice chaser. I think he's quite a lot better than that mark of 150. He might even be a Grade One horse over fences for the future. He was fourth in a Grade One novice at Aintree last season over hurdles but he's making up already into a much better chaser. 

I'm a sucker for a veteran and I love Bob Olinger. They don't come classier than him, do they?

He’s unbeaten at the Cheltenham Festival and I think he's the one to beat again in the Stayers’ Hurdle.

He won the race last year - yes, he's a year older now in the veteran stage at the mighty age of 11 - but he has got innate talent and his second behind Teahupoo over Christmas was a marvellous run given that he probably needed it. Henry de Bromhead has said that he is back to his very best, and for me it's big bad Bob Olinger in the Stayers’.

Dan Skelton has got a strong team and I like Kabral Du Mathan here. He's the only horse at the time of recording that I’ve backed ante-post.

He was good at Haydock first time out, winning a handicap off 140, and then when he stepped up in class in the Relkeel he absolutely bolted up. I suppose he's got to prove if he will stay but I think he will.

I think he was a high-class horse with Paul Nicholls last year and the way he's been brought through has been excellent. He’s a horse we're going to hear a lot more about - probably over fences next year – but I think he can win the Stayers’ Hurdle first.

My best bet for the Cheltenham Festival has to be one that is a solid, consistent horse at the top level: Teahupoo in the Stayers’ Hurdle.

He won it in 2024, was mugged by Bob Olinger last year, and I think with a slightly different prep - where he really had to battle against Ballyburn and then he kicked Bob Ollinger into touch over Christmas – could work in his favour.

He's had that desired break that Gordon Elliott likes to get into him and with Jack Kennedy back on board I think he's going to be tough to beat, especially if given a slightly more conservative ride in this championship race.

The Irish have a strong hand in this year's Foxhunters’.

Wonderwall won it last season for Sam Curling, and is one of a pair of runners for him, but I'm going to go for Martin Brassil's Panda Boy.

He was a smart handicap chaser – he hit the crossbar on a couple of occasions in valuable handicap chases, most notably the Paddy Power – and I've been really impressed by him since he went hunter chasing.

He was good at Thurles and I thought even better when circumstances played against him at Naas where there was a lack of pace and he had to do all the front running for himself. He'll have plenty of pace to aim at here, he'll love the ground, and he's relatively lightly raced for a ten-year-old.