Rhys Williams' Cheltenham Festival Tips: 6 Selections For Day 4
Horse racing expert Rhys Williams is sharing his best selections for the Cheltenham Festival.
Rhys has been a racing analyst for over 10 years, working for At The Races and most recently as a tipster for Betfair where his tipping column had a 31% ROI over four and a half years.
He often focuses away from the front end of the market, finding angles that aren't evident to most.
Thanks to last week's 66/1 each-way win at Thurles (Bon Bon Fizz), Rhys has returned a profit of 70.43 points and his profit and loss record for the year stands at +9.93 points from 60.5 points staked.
Here are Rhys' tips for the final day of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, using the most up-to-date odds from the best horse racing betting sites.
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13:20 Cheltenham: Apolon De Charnie - 0.5pt Win @ 40/1
Proactif heads the market for the Triumph Hurdle, but a horse who finished behind him on hurdling debut in France appeals at the prices.
Apolon De Charnie took an often used route by Yannick Fouin in having a run on the flat at Clairefontaine before making his hurdling debut at Auteuil.
He raced very wide and his jumping lacked fluency early on, which resulted in him gradually losing ground to be around three-quarters of the way down the field early in the back straight.
He still had plenty of ground to make up leaving the back straight before making headway on the inside.
He finished strongly, while not being given a particularly hard ride or challenging the winner, to finish second.
It may be that Apolon De Charnie will be one for next season rather than this, but he’s coming from a yard in France whose horses aren’t hard prepped to win first time out, so there could be a fair bit of improvement to come from him.
Any 25/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 1: 13:20 Cheltenham - Apolon De Charnie - 0.5pt Win
13:20 Cheltenham: Forty Fifty - 0.5pt Win @ 50/1
Forty Fifty is another juvenile hurdler making his first start for Willie Mullins in the Triumph, having finished behind a horse who is now a stablemate on debut at Auteuil.
He looked green when making his debut for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, and that resulted in him dropping to the back of the field with a circuit to go.
He made a mistake when making headway in the back straight and he was shaken along after jumping three out.
His inexperience continued to show turning the final bend from which point he gradually stayed on to finish fourth.
Given how green he was that day, it was a good run from Forty Fifty and one that he looked likely to improve plenty from.
He is more of a longer term prospect and chaser of the future and he might not want too much rain, but I think he must have plenty of ability to be able to finish that close to Macho Man considering he looked clueless for much of the race.
Any 40/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 2: 13:20 Cheltenham - Forty Fifty - 0.5pt Win
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13:20 Cheltenham: North Shore - 0.5pt Win @ 33/1
The last of the trio who appeal at big prices in the Triumph is North Shore, who I think could take a step forward from what he’s shown over hurdles so far.
He ran to a good level on the flat in France before moving to Gavin Cromwell.
He showed some promise on hurdling debut behind Narciso Has, when the yard wasn’t going too well and I think the deep ground and the way the race was run at the Dublin Racing Festival wasn’t ideal for him.
I think the big field - and likely much stronger pace - will be more suitable for North Shore and the yard is going much better now, so he has the potential to improve on what he’s shown so far over hurdles.
It might be that he will improve over further next season, but he looks a little overpriced in this.
Any 25/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 3: 13:20 Cheltenham - North Shore - 0.5pt Win
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15:20 Cheltenham: Hipop De Loire - 0.5pt Win @ 33/1
Hipop De Loire hasn’t been seen over hurdles since winning at Galway in July, but I think he has a better chance on his return to this sphere than the market suggests.
He won impressively that day, beating a fair horse in Zanndabad by 11 lengths, and showed that he appreciated the longer trip, having been beaten on hurdling debut over 2m 1f the previous year.
Hipop De Loire has shown plenty of class on the flat, including in big fields, and I think that battle-hardened nature could prove useful in a race like this.
He probably could have done without the rain but he should be fine as long as it isn’t too soft.
Any 22/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 4: 15:20 Cheltenham - Hipop De Loire - 0.5pt Win
16:40 Cheltenham: Linelee King - 0.5pt Win @ 50/1
Linelee King was put up as an ante-post selection for this race at 50/1 and I’m going in again with him being the same price now that he’s been declared.
I think the rain that has come will result in the ground being ideal for him and he showed his quality earlier this season, when beating Music Drive, who is 16/1 for this, with ease at Revesby Park.
It is easy to forgive his defeat at Cartmel to Autonomous Cloud in May last year, as he was nowhere near fit after having a troubled run with him at home.
I’m hoping it’s been smoother for them in the run up to this given his fragile nature.
It may turn out that his jumping, which isn’t always great, will let him down in this big field with more pressure on it, and maybe he might not want quite this much of a test of stamina.
However, I think he’s got more class than his price suggests and any 25/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 5: 16:40 Cheltenham - Linelee King - 0.5pt Win
17:20 Cheltenham: Da Capo Glory - 0.5pt Win @ 50/1
Da Capo Glory is another horse making the switch back to hurdling having been chasing, and I think his chance is being overlooked.
He finished seventh in the Coral Cup two seasons ago off an 8lb higher mark than he races off today.
He was off for 541 days before returning this season, and he failed to complete on his first two starts of the season.
However, he’s shown more encouraging signs on his last two starts despite the ground being softer than ideal last time at Gowran.
I think getting away from very deep ground today will suit him as will the switch back to hurdling.
It might be that he’s not quite the horse he was a couple of seasons ago but he looks overpriced.
Any 33/1 or bigger appeals.
Rhys' Selection 6: 17:20 Cheltenham - Da Capo Glory - 0.5pt Win
All odds correct at time of publish.
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