Its finally here guys, the biggest week of the year for you horse racing guru’s. It’s Cheltenham time!
I hope everyone had a successful day yesterday which saw Epatante prove its dominance in the champion hurdle. The day also seen a Rachel Blackmore masterclass on the still unbeaten Honeysuckle.
Today should see more magical moments, so here are my tips for the day.
NAP- Sporting John: 1:30, Cheltenham.
The prestigious Ballymore Novices hurdle is set to be a cracker. This grade 1 race is host to many great horses, but all eyes are on two of the titans over hurdles. Gordon Elliot’s Envoi Allen is coming in as hot 2/2 favourite, but I’ve gone for 3/1 sporting John here. The horse is very much race sharp with three convincing wins this season. All of his wins have come on soft ground so the ground today will suit. As one of Barry Geraghty’s top rides this week this horse with bags of potential is sure to be a big player.
NB- Franco De Port: 2:50, Cheltenham.
I’m going with this Willie Mullins prospect in the coral cup handicap hurdle. One of the 6 Willie Mullins trained horses, this is likely to have the best chance of them all. Both a win and a second this season the horse has shown glimpses of class. Most importantly Paul Townend has chosen to ride this horse over several possibilities so that tells us it has a great chance here today with Willie looking to improve on yesterday.
Each Way- Might Bite: 4:10, Cheltenham. A horse that needs no introduction. The race of the day, the cross country with legend horse Tiger Roll looking to take his third consecutive cross country. With another eye on staying fresh for the National however I don’t think we will see Tiger Roll’s full tank today. Might bite, a veteran of the Cheltenham course looking for cross country success. A proven strong jumper who could cherish the unique obstacles. At 12/1 it’s hard to look past for an each way shot.
I’ve been a fan of Sheldon for a while and he along with the other guys have made me a nice pot of cash over the months however if his pick Sporting John turns over the favourite in the first today it would really be a feather in his cap as the word is the Mullins horse is ‘ special’
Now is not the time to question the guru though so I’m going in hard on his advice along with the legion of his followers that he has built up over the past 6 months