Donn McClean: Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Banker, Next Best And Each-Way Bets
Racing TV pundit Donn McClean is at the heart of the action at Cheltenham and he has three selections for the third day of the Festival.
Donn has picked out a banker, a next best and one each-way tip from Thursday's races.
He kicks things off with his nap of the day in the Ryanair Chase which sees Fact to File installed as the favourite according to betting sites.
Donn McClean's Cheltenham Tips: Day 3 (Thursday)
Banker: 16:00 Cheltenham - Fact To File (Ryanair Chase)
Fact To File put up one of the most impressive performances of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival - and one of the most impressive of the entire season - when he won the Ryanair Chase 12 months ago.
He could have been called the most likely winner from a long way out that day.
Hitting the front at the third-last fence, he went further and further clear of his rivals from the home turn and over the last two fences.
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When he hit the winning line, he had a cushion of nine lengths, and it could have been a multiple of that.
This season, he started off by running Gaelic Warrior to a neck in the John Durkan Chase in an epic encounter, with the pair of them finishing miles clear of their rivals.
Things didn’t work out for him in the King George VI Chase at Kempton in December.
However, he bounced back emphatically last time when he ran out an impressive winner of the Irish Gold Cup.
There was talk of supplementing him to the Cheltenham Gold Cup after that.
While we don’t know if he would stay the three miles and two and a half furlongs and up the final hill, we do know that this two-mile-four-and-a-half-furlong trip suits him well.
Next Best: 15:20 Cheltenham - Ma Shantou (Stayers’ Hurdle)
Ma Shantou has to prove that he belongs in Grade 1 company, but he is progressive and there is every chance that he can take the step up in grade in his stride.
It is remarkable that Emma Lavelle’s horse was rated just 129 when he won a Pertemps qualifier at Cheltenham’s October meeting.
Since then, he has gone through the ranks, winning another handicap at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day off a mark of 138, and then winning the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle back at Cheltenham last time.
He was disappointing in late November at Haydock, but you can allow him that.
Haydock is very different to Cheltenham in terms of course configuration and, anyway, he proved that that run was all wrong when he got back to Cheltenham, where he has now won three of his four races.
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The pace in the Cleeve Hurdle was not strong and yet, for a horse whose stamina is proven, it was impressive that he was able to quicken off it like he did to go seven lengths clear of Impose Toi.
That was on soft ground, but he was progressive before that on good and good to soft ground. Indeed, the concern going into the Cleeve Hurdle was about whether or not he would be able to cope with the soft ground.
Lavelle won the Stayers’ Hurdle in 2019 with Paisley Park, who, like Ma Shantou, graduated through the handicap ranks.
Ma Shantou has 11lb to find in theory with the top-rated horses in the race, but he is progressive enough to give himself a chance of getting there.
Best Each-Way: 14:00 Cheltenham - Slade Steel (Jack Richards Novices’ Chase)
Slade Steel could be a well-handicapped horse now over fences.
Winner of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2024, he hasn’t won yet over fences, but he has raced just five times and there have been reasons for his defeats.
He was travelling well when he was brought down in a beginners’ chase at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve.
Then, last time, he looked the most likely winner at the second-last fence, but the combination of heavy ground, three miles and up the hill at Navan appeared to stretch his stamina beyond its limit.
Henry de Bromhead’s horse should be happier now back on better ground and back over the intermediate trip.
It should also be a positive that he is returning to Cheltenham, where he is one for one.
He will get to race off a British chase mark of 146 here, which is 5lb lower than his Irish hurdles mark, and that gives him a real chance.
He is still lightly raced and has the potential for further progression as a chaser.
