Five horses to follow at Cheltenham on Wednesday

Race: Turners Novices' Hurdle (1.20).

Tipster: Andy Stephens.

Best odds: 7-2 (Advised at 5-1).

Race: Brown Advisory Novices' Chase (2.00).

Tipster: Lydia Hislop.

Best odds: 11-4. (Advised at 4-1).

Just 26 minutes after our Eve Of The Festival edition of Road To Cheltenham concluded on Monday, news emerged that Final Demand would wear a first-time tongue-tie in this race (and Sortudo would retain his hood in the Turners), resulting in a small fine apiece for Willie Mullins.

More pertinently, this should further change how we should perceive this novice chaser as it suggests his breathing might not be all that it should be. Alternatively, it could also be read as throwing more ideas at the wall, besides changing his training regime, in the hope something sticks. Add to that my concern that he’s not one for a fight. He’s not for me.

Darragh O’Keeffe preferring Koktail Divin over The Big Westerner has given me the heebie-jeebies about the mare’s chances. The yard seems convinced she needs deep ground to be at her best – even though it was good-to-soft when she ran second in last year’s Albert Bartlett – but the step up in trip will certainly play to her strengths. She’s taken to fences with hunger.

Some rain is due overnight and that can only help Mike O’Connor’s mount; I still expect her to run well. Yet Henry de Bromhead’s stable jockey would have had his pick… In my view, he’s chosen a non-stayer – and this race is half a furlong and an extra fence longer than it used to be.

So, whilst I admit I’ve been slow to come around to this – and it’s a 180-degree turn – surely the bet is ROMEO COOLIO on the complex Best Horse Wins Race theory. I see him as a future King George or even Gold Cup contender but learning to jump under pressure against a bang two-miler like Kargese is a powerful weapon. A first-time hood will help Jack Kennedy curb any enthusiasm.

I can see Wendigo running creditably. He would have finished third but for him and The Big Westerner getting in each other’s way when things got tight down the inside two out in the Albert Bartlett and he stumbled afterwards, too. Without that, he would have finished third. This track will suit him far better than Kempton and enable him to reverse the Kauto Star form with Kitzbuhel.

Race: BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle (2.40).

Tipster: Dave Nevison.

Best odds: 11-2.

Storm Heart went off favourite for the JCB Triumph Hurdle in 2024, and maybe disappointed his followers in only managing fifth behind Majborough.

However, I think that was one of the best renewals of the Triumph Hurdle in recent seasons, and I believe he could be rated higher. 

The Willie Mullins-trained six-year-old has been relatively lightly-raced since, but has won both his starts this season in non-handicap contests, and won a Grade Three event at Gowran Park more comfortably than the winning margin suggests last time out. 

Storm Heart has only ever run in one handicap and was an excellent second in a big field at last year's Dublin Racing Festival, so this sort of contest holds no fears for him. 

He has won on good ground on the flat and has always looked like he will be suited by this sort of trip. He looks to be a Graded horse pitched in against handicappers here.

Race: BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase (4.00).

Tipster: RaceiQ.

Best odds: 10-11.

Race: Weatherbys Champion Bumper (In Memory Of Sir Johnny Weatherby) (5.20).

Tipster: Alex Scott.

Best odds: 14-1 (Advised at 20-1 each-way)

Mets Ta Ceinture does not have the typical profile of a Champion Bumper winner, but she has some very solid form in the book and she has plenty of stamina - a vital attribute needed for winning this race. After winning two of her three starts in France, including her final one by eight lengths, she fetched an eye-watering €710,000 at Arqana in November and was sent into training with Dan Skelton.

Her only defeat came at Saint-Cloud in October where she finished just over a length behind Mondialito D’Huez. That horse is the best bumper performer in France and is now unbeaten in four starts having subsequently won the prestigious Group One AQPS bumper at Fontainebleau.

Four-year-olds have a poor record in this event, but very few actually run, and this talented daughter of Hunter’s Light receives well over a stone in weight for her powerful connections, with Harry Skelton set to ride. Those at the top of the market look too short for what they have actually achieved and this highly-regarded filly can outrun her odds at a big price.