For fans of National Hunt racing the four-day Cheltenham Festival in March is undoubtedly the highlight of the year.
Trying to pick winners this far in advance is certainly a tricky affair, particularly when it comes to predicting which horses will be in form.
Injuries often make a mess of ante-post bets, while knowing which race a horse will compete in is another factor that complicates matters.
However, there is plenty of value to be found in the ante-post markets offered by the bookmakers listed on the horse-bettors.com website, particularly amongst horses who ran at this year’s meeting.
Read on as we offer our top three ante-post bets for the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.
Defi Du Seuil – Ryanair Chase
Defi Du Seuil was heavily fancied to win this year’s Champion Chase, but he ran an absolute stinker to trail home in fourth place behind Politologue.
It was perhaps a surprise to see the horse campaigned over two miles this term, particularly after he had won over two-and-a-half miles at last year’s Festival.
Trainer Philip Hobbs is expected to step Defi Du Seuil back up in trip next season, with the Ryanair Chase his most likely target at Cheltenham.
At odds of around 16/1, Defi Du Seuil looks an excellent bet to become a three-time winner at the Festival.
Champ – Gold Cup
Al Boum Photo will be a short price to become the first horse since Best Mate in 2004 to win the Gold Cup for a third successive year.
However, Willie Mullins’ charge may find it difficult to achieve the feat with next year’s line-up likely to be a little stronger.
Nicky Henderson’s Champ looks well worth an interest, especially after the way he powered up the hill to win this year’s RSA Novices’ Chase.
His jumping will need a little improvement, but odds of 14/1 look too good to ignore given the engine this horse possesses.
Abacadabras – Champion Hurdle
In any normal year Abacadabras would have won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by a country mile, but he unfortunately ran into a potential superstar in Shishkin.
Gordon Elliott’s horse lost a few lengths at the start, but powered his way into contention before being pipped on the run-in.
However, the pair pulled 11 lengths clear of Chantry House in third place and the form has an extremely solid look to it.
With Shishkin expected to go novice chasing next season, Abacadabras is worth an interest at odds of 10/1 to win the Champion Hurdle.
Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
