#Blazing Khal

By Andrew Asquith, Saturday 14 January 2023 Posted in: Cheltenham Festival Tips Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the 2023 Stayers' Hurdle and picks out his best ante-post bet. At this stage the Stayers' Hurdle looks wide open and that is reflected by the betting with most firms going 5/1 the field. The obvious place to start is with one of the…

There are some surprising names still left in the 28 entries for the Stayers' Hurdle, particularly the name of star 2 mile chasing veteran Chacun Pour Soi for Willie Mullins. The master of Closutton is not averse to making multiple entries for the Festival, and has also thrown in last season's Ballymore hero Sir Gerhard. The betting is wide open…

Nicky Henderson believes Epatante must be treated as "still a possible runner" in the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle - despite her not featuring among the initial entries for the Cheltenham Festival contest. The winner of the Unibet Champion Hurdle in 2020 before placing behind Honeysuckle the following two years, Epatante has been given the option…

THE latest Cheltenham Festival entries have been revealed - and there are some early shocks. Racing's biggest meeting gets underway nine weeks today and several of the fields are starting to take shape. But there were eyebrows raised on Tuesday when it was revealed JP McManus' Epatante had not been entered in the Mares' Hurdle. The Nicky…

Shishkin and Energumene produced the race of the season so far at Ascot on Saturday afternoon. The star duo more than lived up to their billing with a frantic and fast-paced battle that was in the balance all the way up to the final 50 yards. Here's our look at the weekend's racing with some possible ante-post considerations for the Cheltenham…

As of 3pm on Tuesday 3 January, bet365 have gone live with their Non Runner No Bet market for the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. For the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Ryanair Chase, the Stayers' Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup, customers now have the option of taking a slightly shorter price from the NRNB market with the security…

A common gripe is that there is no value in ante-post markets anymore, but with so much action over the Christmas period there is always the possibility a few performances have fallen through the cracks. If it's value you're looking for then you have to be prepared to look outside the box and beyond the common line of thinking, and a few horses…

Loughderg Rocco: hurdle winner got off the mark over fences at Leicester Wednesday: Leicester All eyes were on Unexpected Party, who was third in Grade 1 company behind Arkle favourite Jonbon last time, but the odds-on favourite was comprehensively turned over by Loughderg Rocco in the 2m4f novice chase. The six-year-old was only beaten half a…

The six-year-old won all of his three hurdle races last season, with his last two coming at Cheltenham. Stepped up to three miles, he was an impressive winner of the Grade Two Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Prestbury Park track last December, comfortably beating the Paul Nicholls-trained Gelino Bello for a second time. However, he suffered…

ANTE-POST punting - it's a mindfield like no other. Already this season we have season 2022 Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard - who many fancied to do the double - flop in the Betfair Chase. That horror show at Haydock saw his odds go from around 3-1 for a repeat to a distant 12-1. Many thought Cheveley Park Stud's other stable star Allaho was a dead cert…

It's the first day of the November Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse, Countryside Day. The card, on ITV Racing, features the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (2.55) Class act My Drogo faces two opponents as he bids to race into contention for the 2022 Cheltenham Festival. Dan Skelton's Grade 1-winning novice hurdler is up against Gin On Lime and…

NOW the dust has settled on a wonderful Flat season, National Hunt fans are steadily coming out of hibernation and the magical C word is hot on the lips of punters across the land. For my first ante-post selection I'm keeping it extremely simple, with a horse who will be laid out for this one target all year. Trained by a master of his craft in…

We're on the road to the Cheltenham Festival with the leading lights of the National Hunt game coming out to play. A number of clues for all four championship races - the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle and Gold Cup - are set to be dropped over the coming months. The Cheltenham Festival 2023 takes place between Tuesday,…

Willie Mullins: saddles Hubrisko The champion trainers of Britain and Ireland clash in an intriguing Grade 2 novice hurdle and, while Willie Mullins might be the king of the Cheltenham Festival, he has an ordinary record at the track away from the four big days in March. Since the start of 2012 Mullins has saddled only five winners from 37 runners,…

The chases continue at Cheltenham this weekend with some high-grade action as the rain keeps falling for the soft ground chasers and hurdlers. 888Sport are offering new customers a £5 free bet on every other race on the card when you bet £10. There's a few big races this weekend at Cheltenham including the Grade 3 Racing Post Gold Cup Handicap…

There was top class horse racing action on both sides of the Irish Sea over the weekend as a number of horses impressed in their respective races. Shishkin and Energumene served up arguably the race of the season so far in the Clarence House at Ascot on Saturday, while the Inaugural Winter Million festival took part at Lingfield. In Ireland, there…