How to bet £20 ante-post on the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle

If one Mullins doesn’t get you, then another just may. It’s perhaps no surprise that bookmakers are taking no chances with runners trained by Willie Mullins and his nephew, Emmet, when it comes to Sunday’s Unibet Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The pair are responsible for the front two in the ante-post betting in Dads Lad (Willie) and Thousand Tears (Emmet) but they would undoubtedly be bigger prices in other hands.

Dads Lad is able to race off a mark 7lb lower than when winning a handicap chase at Cheltenham’s Showcase Meeting last month, but he was among the fittest in the line-up that day and is clearly a more potent force over the larger obstacles. He has not won over hurdles for a year and his mark in this sphere actually looks pretty stiff.

Thousand Tears has had only one previous run for Emmet - funny enough in a maiden on the Flat won by Dads Lad at Galway in July - but his profile is hardly compelling. He has won two of his 26 races under Rules and he’s fallen or unseated on four occasions, which tells its own tale.

Of course, it could be that Thousand Tears will be transformed by a yard that landed a gamble with The Shunter in this race two years ago. His profile is not dissimilar but it’s rarely that simple and a mark of 129 looks high enough given his level of form. He’s no bigger than 5-1, with some firms going as short as 7-2, and is easy enough to resist at those odds.

The one who interests me most is Severance, chalked up at a general 16-1.

He was rated 93 at one time on the Flat, when trained by Mick Channon, and at first glance it has been disappointing that Ben Pauling’s charge he’s been unable to add to an impressive winning debut over hurdles in nine subsequent spins.

However, those sequence of defeats mask the fact that he’s run well in a string of competitive handicaps. For instance, he was edged out by Cormier at Cheltenham on the New Course in January and ran crackers in defeat when later finding one too good in 16-runner contests at Aintree and Haydock

Severance gave another good account of himself on his return when a close third to Effernock Fizz in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, when 4lb out of the handicap and carrying 2lb overweight. That should have put him spot-on for this assignment and, 6lb lower, a bold bid seems assured. The winner, of course, went on to revert to fences and run Dads Lad close at Cheltenham.

He acts well enough on soft ground but speed is his main weapon and the dry week that is forecast will be in his favour.

Pauling has had only seven winners from 53 runners since October but his horses seem in fine fettle, with another dozen finishing second and a further15 finishing third or fourth. His runners have secured more than £100,000 in prize money during this time, putting him firmly on target for his best haul during October and November.

I’m also going to have a saver on Sonigino, a general 6-1 chance who represents the in-form Paul Nicholls.

Sonigino proved disappointing when failing to get his head in front last season. He slipped 9lb in the ratings, with Nicholls suggesting he was a big baby with breathing problems.

He has looked a different horse this season after a wind op, beating solid opposition on his return at Chepstow before following up in runaway style on the same track.

The five-year-old has been raised an aggregate of 14lb but he began this campaign off a modest mark (119) and now that he’s got his act together he could soar much higher.

£6 each-way and £5 win on Severance at a general 16-1 (all firms going four places)

£3 win on Sonigino at a general 6-1