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Cheltenham Festival Tips 2023

Over 500 horses are entered and a total of 28 races are staged at the National Hunt's showpiece in March so it is helpful to get expert Cheltenham Festival tips and interesting betting angles when delving into the form.

Vincent Finegan, irishracing.com editor, Betting Expert's Stephen Harris and broadcaster Ed Quigley have cast their eyes over the four days of action and picked out their most confident Cheltenham tips.

Find more Cheltenham Festival ante-post tips and trends here plus high-value Cheltenham free bets and betting offers to make your money go further.

Race NameEd Quigley
Tips
Stephen Harris
Tips
Vincent Finegan
Tips
Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ HurdleImpaire et PasseRare EditionMarine Nationale
Sporting Life Arkle Challenge TrophyEl FabioloEl FabioloEl Fabiolo
Unibet Champion HurdleState ManVauban (ew)Constitution Hill
Boodles Juvenile HurdleMetamorpheus-Tekao
Ballymore Novices’ HurdleGood LandGood LandGood Land
Brown Advisory Novices’ ChaseGerri ColombeGerri ColombeGentlemansgame
Betway Queen Mother Champion ChaseGentleman de MeeEdwardstoneGentleman de Mee
Turners Novices’ ChaseBanbridgeMighty PotterMighty Potter
Paddy Power Stayers’ HurdleTeahupoo-Blazing Khal
JCB Triumph Hurdle-Lossiemouth-
Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle-TBCCool Survivor
Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase-StattlerHewick

Vincent Finegan's Cheltenham Festival Tips

Day 1 - Gaillard Du Mesnil 5.30 Tuesday

With Facile Vega (Supreme Novices Hurdle) and Constitution Hill (Champion Hurdle) likely to go off at very short odds for their respective races on the opening day of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival it may pay to look elsewhere for some better value. The three miles and six furlong Amateur Riders’ Chase, the final contest on the opening day, could be the race to focus on. The winner of this race not only requires an abundance of stamina, but also needs to be experienced over fences. Gaillard Du Mesnil fits the bill on both counts and also has good course form having finished third to L’Homme Presse in last season’s Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.

Day 2 - Hermes Allen 1.30 Wednesday

At this stage we are still somewhat in the dark as to which races the better Novice Hurdlers and Chasers will turn up in at Cheltenham. There are three separate options for many of the hurdlers, but in the case of Paul Nicholls’ unbeaten novice Hermes Allen, The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on Wednesday looks the obvious target. He has already won the Grade 2 version of this race over the course and distance in November and supplemented that victory with another high class success in the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at Newbury in December.

Day 3 - Blazing Khal 3.30 Thursday

The ante post market for the Stayers’ Hurdle has been more volatile than most races at the Festival this year, with a different favourite almost every week, but it finally looks like it has settled down. Blazing Khal now heads the market alongside Teahupoo following his impressive seasonal debut in the Boyne Hurdle at Navan. Blazing Khal looks sure to improve from the Navan race which was his first racecourse start in 14 months and as he is less ground dependant than his chief market rival he looks a solid bet.

Day 4 - Hewick 3.30 Friday

Hewick is heading to Cheltenham without a recent run, but in his case that has always been the plan. Trainer Shark Hanlon deserves great praise for how he has managed the career of Hewick to this point and it’s not unrealistic to think the bargain-basement buy (€850) could land the blue riband of jumps racing. His Galway Plate victory and subsequent unlucky defeat carrying top weight in the Kerry National put him on a mark that suggests he should be competitive at the very least. He is still a young horse having just turned eight and it’s most likely there is still more improvement to come from him.

More Cheltenham Festival tips

You can find more Cheltenham tips for each day of the festival below: