Cheltenham Festival Day 3
Mares’ Hurdle
It is still very up in the air whether Lossiemouth will be taking part in the Champion Hurdle or sticking to her Mares’ Hurdle route. If she is to be going to the Champion Hurdle, which seems to be more likely by the day, this race would be a penalty kick for Wodhooh.
Wodhooh has only ever lost to Lossiemouth in her hurdling career. She has improved massively and has won at Cheltenham before and the track seemed to suit. She will like the ground and the 2m4f is where she thrives. Even if Lossiemouth did turn up, you could still make a case for Wodhooh and so she is the clear bet in this race.
Second could be Jade De Grugy who was super impressive in her chase win earlier this year, however, the switch back to hurdles could be good for her and she has form at Cheltenham too. Don’t forget about her.
Stayers Hurdle
One of the trickier races of the festival is the stayers hurdle, its tailor made for those that always find more and have bags of stamina. Teahupoo is here again looking to go one better than last year and get his stayers title back, he’s always a big threat for others in this race as he’s just so consistent. He comes here in great form for the Gordon Elliot yard and should be bang there again.
Honesty Policy may do very well here as Gordon Elliot has already eluded to in interviews. I think he has the profile of a horse that actually gets better the longer a race goes on and can get into a rhythm which is a huge positive for this kind of tactical race.
Ballyburn would also be a danger if he is selected to be running here. However, Teahupoo is the main pick and Honesty Policy to follow him home.
Ryanair Chase
One of the big ones of the whole festival is the Ryanair Chase, I tipped up Fact To File to win last year and he won by an impressive 9 lengths. He is here again in what looks like an even easier race with Gaelic warrior seeming to go to the Gold Cup and Jonbon could be missing Cheltenham altogether.
If they lineup without Gaelic Warrior or Jonbon, Fact To File could be the NAP of the festival for me.
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