New Year's Day tips: a bet for all seven meetings on Racing TV

This was the Christmas when the gifts just kept on coming.

There were some big, glittery ones with bows attached: Galopin Des Champs, Constitution Hill, Sir Gino, Brighterdaysahead plus Banbridge and Il Est Francais (the last pair came in the same packaging).

Then there were those that, in time, we may well appreciate even more: The Jukebox Man, The New Lion, Potters Charm, Final Demand, Romeo Coolio and Impaire Et Passe.

And the stocking fillers were high quality too: Hello Neighbour,  Croke Park, Solness and Home By The Lee to name but a few. 

Nine horses in action over the festive season are now favourites, or joint-favourites, to win at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

After a brief pause, the quality action resumes on New Year’s Day when the seven meetings being shown by Racing TV are headed by the action at Cheltenham.

It looks like being a wet, wild and windy start to 2025.

Avid Jump fans will blow a raspberry to the elements and begin the year on a racecourse.

The alternative is to stay at home and watch all the action on Racing TV. The action is going to come thick and fast from 11.45am (Fakenham) to 3.50 (Cheltenham).

Here's a top tip for every meeting. 

Broadway Boy ticks all the boxes here. He’s a three-time winner at Cheltenham, stays all day and is at home on testing ground. And he arrives here on the back of a personal best after chasing home Kandoo Kid in the Coral Gold Trophy. 

He would have given the winner even more to think about at Newbury had he not blundered four out (usually a sound jumper) and the form has been franked with Victtorino (third) and Henry’s Friend (fifth) since winning good prizes. 

In the circumstances, a 2lb rise in the ratings looks very lenient. 

Rochester was an emphatic winner on this card last year and it looks like he has been laid out for a repeat. 

He subsequently won again at Tramore in the spring – there’s little doubt he has a soft spot for the track – and he shaped with plenty of promise on his return over hurdles here last month 

Rochester is 7lb higher than for his latest win but that is offset by the booking of teenage amateur Josh Williamson. He will not be a familiar name to many British racing fans but his Dad, Norman Williamson, will be. If Josh rides half as well, then he won’t be doing too bad. 

I doubt this 24-runner 3m handicap hurdle will appeal to many punters but this in-form, unexposed young horse warrants close attention. 

He’s gone close in similar big-field contests at Punchestown on his past two starts under a 7lb claimer, each time hinting he might have won another day. 

Not My Problem has gone up an aggregate of 4lb for his near misses but he’s gained more experience (only six career runs) and I like the fact that Ross O’Sullivan has engaged the services of Darragh O'Keeffe, who has had three winners from nine rides for the stable this season, and only once finished out of the frame. 

He’s yet to win after five spins over fences and, overall, boasts just one success from 17 starts, but he stands out in this company. 

One Last Glance was a keeping-on third at Plumpton on his penultimate start, and again stuck to his task when runner-up at Ffos Las last time. 

He could do with tidying up his jumping – his past two RaceiQ Jump Index scores have been 5.6 and 5.2 – but first-time cheekpieces may help him in that department. A repeat of either of his past two efforts should suffice. 

Boomslang is unlucky not to be 3/3 over fences as he would have won at Newcastle on his penultimate start but for jumping badly out to his right. 

Back at right-handed Carlisle last time, he made no mistake, despite not doing a great deal once hitting the front. The third home gave that form a boost when subsequently scoring at Uttoxeter. 

Boomslang has gone up 7lb and is in a much better grade of race – this is a 0-145 compared to the 0-120s he has been contesting – but on the plus side that means he’s not having to hump a big weight. Dropping back in trip will not inconvenience him and this sharp, right-handed venue seems sure to play to his strengths. 

This pair stand out in this novices’ hurdle, and it will be no surprise if they dominate the finish. 

They met on level weights at Ffos Las in November, when Crest Of Fortune won in decisive style, with Kap Vert about ten lengths back in fifth. 

Crest Of Fortune has since been no match for the smart Royal Infantry at Haydock, whereas Kap Vert has upped his game and floored the odds-on Jurancon at Exeter. 

The rematch, on the same terms, promises to be closer, but Crest Of Fortune can confirm his superiority. 

Last, but not least, Maghlak in the finale at Cattterick. 

This useful middle-distance Flat performer clicked at the fourth time of asking over hurdles when scoring at Wetherby last week. 

He put the 113-rated Kingston James firmly in his place, albeit he was receiving 7lb (less the 5lb claim of Kingston James’s rider). 

Whichever way you cut it, Maghlak is well treated here running off a mark of 108 on what will be his handicap bow over Jumps. And that’s without taking his Flat form (he’s still rated 86 in that sphere) into account.