Dave Nevison: my Wednesday horse racing tips for Cheltenham

1.30 Cheltenham: Heltenham

He looks well weighted to score again.

It is very comforting when you back a horse and watch as it travels easily throughout and then pulls away to win, and Heltenham had the size and scope to deal capably with the stiff Newbury fences last time and I was certainly watching that last run from the payout queue.

An extra 11lbs wouldn’t have stopped him winning there and, even though he is slightly up in grade, he looks well capable of extending the sequence. The ground will be a little quicker here than for his wins this winter but he doesn’t look to be just a slogger to me.

2.05 Cheltenham: Hystery Bere

I’m hopeful things will all come together here.

Hystery Bere run two good races at Cheltenham but shaped on both occasions though this increase in trip could suit him very well. He gets the opportunity to test that now and trainer Tom Symonds has changed quite a few things ahead of this run.

Hystery Bere has been dropped 6lbs this term for largely decent efforts over what now looks too short a trip, with his current rating just 1lb higher than his latest winning mark and cheekpieces have been applied now to perhaps wake him up a little. Caoilin Quinn claims a decent 5lbs and I think we can expect a good run.

4.25 Cheltenham: Santos Blue

This is the second Dan Skelton runner I’m backing to continue the winning roll and Santos Blue has plenty going for him here.

He has been a winning favourite on his latest two starts and will probably go off favourite again here given the impression he has been making.

Santos Blue has demonstrated a serious turn of foot for a staying hurdler and was particularly impressive last time at Kelso where he passed most of the field very rapidly before going clear to score. He has been raised another 6lbs for that but, significantly, steps up to three miles now and given his dam was a winner at the distance the move looks sure to benefit. It looks set to be a good afternoon for the stable.

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