Cheltenham Tips: Best Bets for Day 2

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Cheltenham Tips: Best Bets for Day 2
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Today's Horse Racing Tips

For Wednesday's horse racing tips, our analyst James Boyle looks at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, with five selections now online.

As always, you’ll find the most up-to-date odds at the best horse racing betting sites, but don’t sleep on our tipster’s predictions as those odds could soon be gobbled up by the betting public. Odds stated are correct at the time of publishing.

13:30 Cheltenham – Good Land – 1pt @ 3/1

This is a really interesting renewal of the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle and it’s not hard to see why the Willie Mullins trained Impaire Et Passe is heading the market. He has sauntered clear on both hurdle outings since joining the yard and seems to have star potential, but he’ll need at least another half-stone to land this and we have no idea how he’ll react if they get him off the bridle up the hill.

It may be a case that he won’t have to come off it but the price is tight and is based around what he could be, rather than what we know at this point. Hermes Allen has impressed for Paul Nicholls as well but the Irish form usually stacks up best and I wouldn’t be surprised if that proved to be the case again, for all that he’s hugely respected following his demolition job in the Challow around Christmas.

The one I like is Good Land. He’s a Grade 1 winner with proven stamina and strong form, and showed there’s no issue with getting into a battle when he got to the front too early last time. He has to improve again but there’s plenty of scope for him to do so under more reserved tactics and the trainer and jockey combination already got on the scoreboard with Marine National. A repeat trick is on the cards.


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14:10 Cheltenham – Gerri Colombe – 1pt @ 6/4

No prizes for originality in siding with Gerri Colombe but there’s a lot to like about Gordon Elliott’s charge and he’s bank material for many. He’s 7-7 under rules since winning his sole point and always looked likely to make up into a classy chaser, which he has done in no uncertain terms by winning a couple of Grade 1’s on his last two starts, including the Scilly Isles at Sandown last month.

I think those wins are made all the more meritorious by the fact that he’s screaming out for a longer trip and he beat a progressing, speedier type at Sandown on ground that was probably quick enough for him over that distance. His jumping is really good to boot and what he’s finding off the bridle is impressive, adding encouragement that he’ll have the heart for what will be a stern test here.

There are no shortage of potential threats in opposition. Sir Gerhard has only lost once over obstacles but has hardly had the most optimal prep. The Real Whacker is talented but needs to prove himself in a bigger field and might just set it up for the others. Thyme Hill has gone chasing late in life, whilst Galia Des Liteaux is one I’m not sure is good enough. Gerri Colombe is short but I really like him.

14:50 Cheltenham – Camprond – 1pt e/w @ 9/1

The Coral Cup is always horrible to try solve and only two horses have managed to win at single-figured prices in the past decade. Camprond shouldn’t be anywhere near his current price on this season’s form, as he lost his way following a failed attempt at chasing, but there are excuses in place for the Philip Hobbs inmate and this is likely the day he has been aimed at since he went back hurdling.

After returning to this code in January, he was brought down early in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton, then dropped in trip for a couple of handicaps around trips of two-miles on decent ground and was never going to have a chance of being competitive off big weights at those distances. They put a hood on him last time as well and he was beaten 28-lengths at odds of 2/7 when that went on before!

It's clear that going up to this trip will be a help and during a brilliant season for him last term, he ran a cracker in this race on testing ground. He then went on to win a valuable handicap at the Punchestown festival and finds himself only a pound higher in the weights here thanks to how things have gone since. It’s likely an accidental plan that has come together nicely and hopefully he’ll be involved.

15:30 Cheltenham – Edwardstone – 1pt @ 6/4

Things are rarely equal in racing but if all things were equal for this year’s Champion Chase, it looks to be a two horse contest between Edwardstone and Energumene, with not much separating them on official ratings. My preference is for the Alan King runner to come out on top, as he did by over six-lengths when the pair faced off in the Clarence House at the end of January. 

That still didn’t yield a win for Edwardstone as Editeur Du Gite rallied gamely to spoil the party by a head. However, that might have been his big day and Alan King was on record afterwards that the horse was a bit fresh and needed a run to put him right for the big one. He wasn’t overly far off his best regardless and if there’s still some improvement to come, he’ll be hard stopped.

16:50 Cheltenham – Dinoblue – 1pt e/w @ 11/2

A case can be made for the majority of these but Dinoblue is a rare well-treated Irish handicapper and is worthy of her short price. She was all the rage for the mares’ novices’ hurdle this time last year before proving to be a massive flop on the day, not able to cope with the speed she set at what was an early stage of her career, but has been very consistent for the most part since that disappointment.

She won on her chasing debut in November quite nicely and although second at short prices on both outings since, the first was to the talented Impervious and the second came to Magic Daze, who had a lot more experience and probably preferred the quicker surface. If the ground doesn’t dry up too much, Dinoblue may prefer what she’s racing on this time and could be ridden a bit quieter to boot.

Experience isn’t on her side compared to some of these but she’s learning on the job and I can’t see anything else that you can be certain is as well treated as she is off 140. A lot will need to go right in a field of this nature but she jumps, travels and looks to have all of the tools needed to take a step forward in the not too distant future. This will be the day she has been trained to the minute for as well.

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James Boyle

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