(3.5 minute read)
Arkle..Best Mate..Al Boum Photo..?
The big day is finally with us!
Al Boum Photo bids to make monumental history by being the third horse to win three consecutive back-to-back victories in The Well Child Cheltenham Gold Cup!
It is a tough renewal of the Blue Riband of steeple chasing but the Willie Mullins trained superstar is in great form and the whole of Ireland will be cheering him on no doubt.
Welcome to Cheltenham Festival 2021 Gold Cup day!
We will check out the best bets, top Cheltenham tips and give you our expert guide to the big race and all the televised races. Best Cheltenham odds provided by bet365, William Hill, Bet Victor, Betfred, Coral and Boylesports.
For the last time, let’s check out the race schedule..
1320 JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1) Winner: £52,753 ITV
1355 The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) Winner: £42,203 ITV
1430 The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) Winner: £55,127 ITV
1505 THE WELL CHILD CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP (Grade 1) Winner: £263,766
1540 The St. James's Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase (Class 2) Winner: £21,114
1615 The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (Grade 2) Winner: £50,643
1650 The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (Class 2) Winner: £32,498
RACES ON TV
For the first time, ITV 1 HD will be showing the first SIX races lives on TV and you can catch the last race on Racing TV. You can also watch races live with our partner firms bet365, William Hill, Betfred, Bet Victor, Coral and Boylesports providing you have placed a bet of £1 or more on the race you wish to watch.
THE GOING
The going is officially Good to soft.
GUIDE TO THE TELEVISED RACES
1320 The JCB Triumph Hurdle
A brilliant Ireland v Britain match as the well regarded ante post favourite Zanahiyr (5/4 bet365, William Hill, Bet Victor) looked nailed for this until the Alan King trained Tritonic (3/1 William Hill, Bet Victor, Boylesports) really impressed in a key prep race at Kempton recently.
However, with the way things have been going for the home team this week, preference is marginally for Zanahiyr.
SELECTION: Zanahiyr
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1355 The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle
Massively competitive handicap hurdle as always. Rachel Blackmore’s mount Champagne Gold (11/1 bet365) has been unsurprisingly thumped on this week and looks a decent each way proposition for extra places.
Ganapathi (13/2 Bet Victor) is favourite for Willie Mullins whilst the home team’s best chance could be Fifty Ball (14/1 Betfred) who ran a creditable second in the recent Betfair Hurdle. However, we are going to join the Rachel Blackmore bandwagon and lump on Champagne Gold.
SELECTION: Champagne Gold
1430 The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle
Very open renewal of the long-distance novice hurdle championship. Willie Mullins and Denise Foster (replacing the suspended Gordon Elliott) go head-to-head again holding joint favourites Stattler (5/1 Boylesports) and Torygraph respectively (7/1 Boylesports). Torygraph looks like an improving type and well worth chancing over this kind of trip.
SELECTION: Torygraph
1505 THE WELL CHILD CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP
Check out our detailed preview here!
So here it is. The most anticipated race of the week by some margin. However, on paper this looks like a tricky puzzle to solve for this renewal: not many of the entries have run on this type of ground recently so the formbook should be treated with some caution now.
2018 winner Native River (14/1 Boylesports) will run with his usual enthusiasm, but the going appears to have gone against his chances now whilst Frodon, the other Cheltenham specialist needs to improve further at this trip despite his superb success in The King George.
Santini (14/1 bet365) should not be discounted based on his brave second last year and A Plus Tard is unexposed at this trip (4/1 Bet Victor) and has been very well backed in the last week. The small additional factor of the on fire Rachel Blackmore partnering him is of course a bonus.
However, we are going for nostalgia and rooting for a hat trick win for Al Boum Photo: it is familiar territory, and the usual preparation has been exemplary.
SELECTION: Al Boum Photo
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1540 The St. James's Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase
Traditionally the “cup of tea” race for me after the excitement of The Gold Cup! Paul Nicholls has a good record in this race and could oblige with Bob And Co (6/1 Boylesports).
SELECTION: Bob And Co
1615 The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase
The new race for The Cheltenham Festival is headed by a Willie Mullins ante post banker in the form of Ellimay (10/11 Betfred, Bet Victor) and this mare will take some beating after her form took a massive boost after Allaho’s victory in yesterday’s Ryanair Chase: Ellimay got within 3 lengths of his stable mate at Thurles back in January. Colreevy (9/2 Bet Victor) from same stable is nearest danger.
SELECTION: Ellimay
RECAP
1320 JCB Triumph Hurdle: ZANAHYR
1355 The McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle: CHAMPAGNE GOLD
1430 The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle: TORYGRAPH
1505 THE WELL CHILD CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP: AL BOUM PHOTO
1540 The St. James's Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase: BOB AND CO
1615 The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase: ELLIMAY
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MORE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL!
- Cheltenham Festival 2021 Free Bets!
- How To Bet on the Cheltenham Festival!
- How To Bet on Horse Racing!
- How To Win at Cheltenham Festival!
- Jockeys & Trainers Betting for Cheltenham Festival 2021!
- Bombproof Bankers for Cheltenham Festival 2021!
- Best Each Way Long Shots for Cheltenham Festival 2021!
- Champion Hurdle Betting Preview!
- Champion Chase Betting Preview!
- Gold Cup Betting Preview!
- Cheltenham Festival Best Bets!
- Cheltenham Festival 2021 Events Page!
Please note all odds are correct at the time of publishing (7:30pm 18th March 2021) and are subject to change.
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