Accumulators at the big spring festivals are a lot of fun, so in this piece I’m putting forward the horses that – in my opinion – look as close to certain winners at the Cheltenham Festival as is possible in the sport of horse racing.
Faugheen – Champion Hurdle
His form is absolutely bulletproof given he acts on all types of ground and has won Grade 1s over various distances – he even won a three-mile hurdle on heavy!
He won the race last year and was last seen thumping his nearest market rivals Arctic Fire and Nichols Canyon in the Irish equivalent.
A prohibitively short price is fully deserved and it’s hard to see him beaten unless he falls – extremely unlikely given he’s never jumped or indeed performed better than his last run.
Thistlecrack – World Hurdle
He jumps really well, has course form and seemingly stays forever so I’m having a really hard time seeing him beaten in March.
There’s very little behind him in the market that poses an obvious threat and only the chance of fast ground blunting his stamina edge casts any viable doubt over his chances.
He has Grade 1 winning form on a sound surface having won really well at the Aintree Festival last year, and also ran a big race at Punchestown behind…
Killultagh Vic – JLT Novices’ Chase
Not the most hyped of the Mullins stable stars, but in following up his Cheltenham Festival win last season he beat Thistlecrack at Punchestown to confirm himself as top-class – how good does that form look now?
This season he’s continued where he left off, with a victory on reappearance followed up by a Grade 2 win at Leopardstown, where the horse – almost unbelievably – essentially fell at the last yet got back up to win from a very useful yardstick in Blaire Perrone.
Whilst he stays three miles he also looks to have the speed for the Champion Chase and the two-and-a-half-mile JLT has been touted the target.
A clear round will see him very hard to beat indeed.
Yanworth – Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle
This horse looks pure class and has won ridiculously easily four times this season, without coming off the bridle once.
Throw in the likelihood he’ll improve for better ground and it’s very hard to make a case against him, even with the all-conquering Mullins stable having plenty of talent to throw at him.
If he were trained by Mullins he’d likely be odds-on.
A rating of 158 has him head and shoulders above what’s usually required to win the Neptune and he looks the value banker of the week right now.
The fourfold pays 33/1 in various places and looks worth taking.
1pt Faugheen, Thistlecrack, Killultagh Vic and Yanworth fourfold @34.91 with Bet365
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