Cheltenham Festival Day 1

Dibble Decker got Cheltenham week off to a good start when winning at Taunton yesterday. A horse we like and will be even better once going chasing. A big strong chap standing at 17h, he’s a nice prospect for his owners.

For those of you that joined our Cheltenham preview, hopefully you took note of the chat with Tom Lacey during the break and backed Dibble Decker accordingly.

Festival Day 1 is upon us. One of the best weeks of the year, brilliant racing, and a week to enjoy without putting pressure on ourselves from a betting point of view. Much easier races can be sought daily so don’t go crazy. We'll bid to find a few winners though.

The Supreme Hurdle as ever starts the meeting. This could be one of the races of the week and will play a big part in the two-mile hurdle and chase division for many years to come. I’m with the Irish I’m afraid in the form of Dysart Dynamo as the likely winner.

Jonbon I’d be worried about handling the day, he gets warm whilst his form on paper simply isn’t on par with some of these.

Constitution Hill looks very smart indeed, but will he handle today’s nicer ground? I’ve got no doubts he’s going to be a class horse and our best chance of winning but he might require a slower surface.

I don’t mind been proved wrong and hope the English get a winner on the board early, but Dysart Dynamo has the best form whilst Mighty Potter is the EW value and should still be unbeaten.

This year’s Arkle is slightly underwhelming. If somebody said Edwardstone would be favourite six months ago, you would be very surprised based on what he did over hurdles. Edwardstone has been well handled by Alan King and hopefully can keep the prize on these shores.

The rest in the betting are much of a muchness, hence this not maybe the best of Arkle’s. At a price, Haut En Couleurs EW 15-2 might work. The least exposed horse and unlucky loser in last year's Triumph Hurdle.

Very impressive on chase debut then tipped up in the Irish Arkle version of this race early doors. That’s not the best of prep coming into this race, but his hurdle form is just about the strongest and he could be the one with a bit more to offer.

Honeysuckle is a warm favourite for the Champion Hurdle and rightly so, she will take the world of beating. I can’t have Appreciate It after a year off. We then have some big prices and places to fill.

David Pipe’s Adagio EW. He handles Cheltenham, gave Goshen a real race last time out when not fully fit and should run well. Betting him in the without Honeysuckle market could be the way to go. If Honeysuckle wins, Adagio can then finish 2^nd 3^rd or 4^th for an EW payout.

It’s hard to get away from Gaelic Warrior in the Boodles. The Mullins camp must think he’s very well in off 129 hence not running him and blowing the handicap mark. If you want to take 9-4 in such a race that's your call, he could make a mockery of his rating.

At a big price, Britzka could outrun his odds of 20-1. A change of tactics last time out came about, likely due to a rating already in the bag to get in this race. I’d expect him to be ridden as he was in his first two runs, handy and up with the pace.

It’s a shame we don’t have proper EW terms in the lucky last at 5:30. Just the seven runners now. The top three in the betting hold the best form by a good margin, but none of them are guaranteed to stay this 3m6f trip.

The one horse that will see the trip out and will be galloping on when hopefully the Irish horses might be running out of puff is Pats Fancy trained by Rebecca Curtis. Trained for this all season and only a couple of lengths behind Bravemansgame last time out, getting weight.

Pats Fancy has a good chunk to find on form, around 15lbs. He will get up the hill though and you can’t win if you don’t stay. Priced at 8-1, he’s a speculative punt to end the day.