AntePost Cheltenham Horse Racing News

With January almost over, opportunities for Nicky Henderson to get a run into Riverside Theatre ahead of his intended Cheltenham Festival target, the Ryanair Chase, are diminishing. From an ante-post punters’ perspective the gelding may, therefore, be perceived as a risky bet for that Grade 1 contest. However, from what can be gleaned from valuechecker.com’s unique horse racing Wikis, the son of King’s Theatre is well worth risking in the ante-post market,…

The David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle is one of the newer races at the festival and as such, trends are not yet mature for the final race on day one. There is one trend that stands out though; Willie Mullins’ Irish mare Quevega has won three of the four runnings in 2009, 2010 & 2011. The good news for stat fans is that she is due to line-up again and I see no reason to oppose her for win purposes. Trainer Willie Mullins has master minded this top race-mare’s…

The Coral Cup held on the Wednesday at Cheltenham is one of the bigger betting races of the festival and with a maximum field, this handicap is always competitive. If we look at some of the stats from the previous runnings, there are definitely some useful pointers and also a few likely to mislead. Firstly, let's dispel the myth that this is a bad race for favourites. A single winning favourite in the past 10-years is what we would statistically expect and that is exactly…

Any thoughts that Kauto Star should have been retired at the end of last season were firmly dispelled when the eleven year-old trounced his rivals in the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park on Saturday. In a field that included current Cheltenham Gold Cup and King George VI Chase champion Long Run, Charlie Hall Chase winner Weird Al, plus Diamond Harry and Time For Rupert, the Paul Nicholls trained gelding went off at 6/1, which in fact was the biggest price he has been returned…

Paul Nicholls has today confirmed that both Kauto Star and Denman will stay in training as 12-y-o’s. After both horses ran huge races in this week’s Gold Cup, without being able to cope with the much younger Long Run, there was much speculation that the pair would be retired at the end of this season. Speaking on Twitter, Nicholls said: "Just to end all speculation and rumour once and for all Kauto and Denman are not going to be retired!" It…

The first of the festival handicaps and whilst I am always wary of trends, it is definitely worth taking on board that the last ten winners have carried 10st 12lb or less. If we take that as important and concentrate on those in that weight band, we reduce the field down quite nicely and put a pen through a couple of the market leaders. Of those we are left with, the horse that immediately caught my eye was RAZOR ROYALE and the current 33/1 gets me quite excited. Trainer Nigel …

Binocular has sensationally been withdrawn from Tuesday's Stan James Champion Hurdle after trainer Nicky Henderson revealed that treatment for an allergy would cause the horse to test positive. Henderson issued the following statement this morning; "He had an allergy two weeks ago that did not respond to initial medication and, on veterinary advice and well within normal parameters, he required a further treatment the following day. As we were getting close to the…

Trainer Willie Mullins has confirmed that Ruby Walsh will be aboard Hurricane Fly in the Stan James Champion Hurdle on Tuesday. No doubt the fact that Ruby found the winners’ enclosure on Saturday contributed to the decision and Paul Townend will now switch to the yard’s other runner, Thousand Stars. Mullins told reporters that he had discussed things with the owners and both jockeys before making the decision and summarised “Ruby is our number-one rider and…

Ante-post RSA Chase favourite Time For Rupert was recently put through his paces in a final piece of work prior to his date with destiny at the Cheltenham Festival on March 16. The Paul Webber-trained gelding is generally a 9-4 chance for the staying novice chasers’ crown, but is a best-priced 3.38 on Betdaq at the time of writing. Will Kennedy, Time For Rupert’s jockey, wrote on his Twitter page recently: ‘Just rode Rupert in his last bit of work on the…

Ruby Walsh is not short of the odd decent ride at Cheltenham but he is not seemingly aware if he will be on board Willie Mullins’ Hurricane Fly in the Stan James Champion Hurdle on day one. Although Walsh was on board for 3-wins (from 3 rides), his enforced absence with injury has allowed Paul Townend to win 3-more Grade One races on the hurdler and the stats are now 6-7 under Townend. "I haven't talked to Willie about it - it's a decision for him and the…