The first Cheltenham Festival confirmations are in, but it is not too late to combine Andrew Mount’s best Cheltenham bets into a massive lucky 15. Here are his four selections for that famous multiple, including two 66/1 shots…
Much has changed since we recorded the GG Cheltenham festival preview in London last Monday – the ground now looks like it could be good to soft rather than the expected soft or heavy and several sets of connections are looking at alternative races for their charges as a result. Some of my picks are now reportedly unlikely to run (e.g. L’Homme Presse in the Gold Cup) while Nigel Hawke has confused the picture where my huge-priced nap Torrent is concerned, as it looks like he’s going to run at Sandown on Saturday. Hopefully, that’s simply an attempt to pick up a penalty in order to guarantee his participation in the Fred Winter. He’s going in my each-way Lucky 15, along with three others at big prices…
Ultima Handicap Chase – King Turgeon 16/1
I took a detailed look at the stats and trends for the Ultima Handicap Chase in my Festival Focus column for GG back on January 7th (https://gg.co.uk/news/tipping/andrew-mounts-cheltenham-festival-focus-ultima-handicap-chase-2025/) and while it was too early to have a concrete selection – the entries, let alone the weights, were unknown at that stage – I did suggest that KING TURGEON (20-1 antepost rules or 16-1 NRNB) was the best option for those who wanted an early punt, as he was a young British-trained runner who might well start in the ‘golden’ price range of 11-1 or shorter (nine of the last ten winners returned at an SP of 11-1 or less and betting all 59 qualifiers would have returned a profit of £22.50 to a £1 level stake). At the time, King Turgeon was three from three for the season after a hugely impressive 8-1 comeback win at Chepstow when tipped in my daily column, victory in the Grand Sefton over the Grand National fences at Aintree and a three-length victory over Our Power on the New Course at Cheltenham’s December meeting. That winning sequence was broken when he finished a three-length third at Wincanton on January 16th, but he was only a short head behind subsequent impressive Kempton winner Katate Dori and the fourth also won at the next time of asking. I was surprised to see him asked to race on another sharp right-handed track next time, pulling up when 12-1 for the 3m7f Edinburgh National Handicap Chase at Musselburgh where he was reportedly never travelling. Freshened up since, the return to a galloping track, especially a left-handed one, is in his favour and the recent market move from 25-1 into 16-1 suggests that the home vibes are positive. The drying ground is very much in his favour.
Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle – Torrent 66/1
Nigel Hawke’s juvenile hurdler TORRENT failed to score on the Flat for Andrew Balding but has proved to be a model of consistency for his current trainer, recording form figures of 12123333 (2-8). The wins came on good and soft going, suggesting that underfoot conditions won’t be an issue in the Fred Winter, and he tends to run the same race regardless of the opposition, staying on well under patient tactics to get into the frame. He arrives at Cheltenham on the back of a trio of third places in Grade 2 company, two of them behind East India Dock – my pick for the Trump Hurdle – and though well held on each occasion, I fancy him to do the same here after being ridden chilly. The big field/likely strong pace will suit, and he handles the track. Not being Irish trained is a negative where recent winners of this contest are concerned but I’ve got my eye on a place and his patient style will be an asset.
Coral Cup – Anna Bunina 66/1
John McConnell’s ANNA BUNINA tends to perform best in the warmer months, with all ten of her career wins coming in the April to October period. The nine-year-old has shown form in March before, notably in three handicap runs at the Cheltenham festival. She kept on well to finish a 125-1 eighth of 25 behind Belfast Banter in the 2021 County Hurdle, going down by just five lengths, returned two years later to finish seven lengths behind Favoir when a 28-1 ninth of 24 in the same race and, last year, ran a 22-1 seventh of 22 in the Pertemps Final, failing to see out the 3m trip (she reportedly suffered from post-race heat stress). The in-between trip of the Coral Cup could prove ideal (she ran a close second over 2m4f here in October). Her turf record (Flat and jumps) from March to October reads 6122112128215191893708572 (7-25) for a profit of £9.10 to a £1 level stake at SP (expected winners = 2.81, A/E = 2.49) and she could sneak a place at a huge price (50-1 best at the time of writing).
Mares’ Chase – La Renomee 50/1
LA RENOMMEE finished a 12-length last of four behind Telepathique at Huntingdon last time, but she lost all chance when shifting left and making a bad mistake at the second fence and it’s safe to ignore that effort. The Dr Richard Newland and Jamie Insole-trained seven-year-old has won six of her 17 starts over fences (+£13.75 to a £1 level stake at SP), including form figures on good or faster going (based on race times, not the official going) of 11111 (5-5). She handles good to soft going and, provided it isn’t any slower, she could sneak into the frame in the mares’ chase. The daughter of Dr Dino has run here three times before, returning form figures of 231 (1-3) and she recorded a career-best RPR (Racing Post Rating) of 146 when successful in Listed company at Doncaster on her penultimate start.
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