2022 Cheltenham Handicaps Thursday Tips – DS

by Dave Stevos | Mar 11, 2022

2022 Cheltenham Handicaps: Thursday Tips

Today, we’ll take a look at the three handicaps on Day 3 of the Cheltenham Festival. The Pertemps, the Paddy Power Plate and the Kim Muir are the races Dave Stevos has been studying and he likes a trio of horses, all at nice e/w prices. Check out his 2022 Cheltenham handicaps Thursday tips below.

Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle

The one I am interested in off a mark of 141 in this 24f heat is Honest Vic. Trained by Henry Daly, I backed this horse for the Stayers’ Hurdle last season after his commanding C&D win on his seasonal comeback in 2020. He absolutely hosed up that day off 141. However, unfortunately his prep run for the big one went badly at Kempton and he didn’t run at Festival. This season connections opted to try him over fences but he didn’t really take to that discipline.

The 9yo son of Kalanisi made his handicap chase debut on New Year’s Day here over 26f and he was pulled up after jumping badly. That was the end of his brief chasing career and Daly decided to revert to the smaller obstacles last time at Huntingdon (25f gd/sft). He could only manage 5th but the first six home qualified for this race so it was job done.

This horse is seriously talented when he is on his game. We backed him in 2020 when he ran a cracker to be 5th in the Coral Cup over 21f. He likes it at Cheltenham over hurdles as can be seen from his form figures: 5551. We know he is capable of winning off 141 and Henry Daly is having a brilliant season. I’ve long felt this horse has a big one in him and the fact I backed him for the Stayers’ last season shows how highly I rate him (or else how stupid I am!). If Honest Vic runs to his best, he’ll be very hard to keep out of the frame at 25/1.

2022 Cheltenham Handicaps Thursday Tips: Honest Vic e/w @ 25/1

Plate Handicap Chase

A trip of 20.5f awaits the field in this Grade 3 handicap. We backed Born By The Sea last summer when he won the Blazers at Galway off 130 (22.5f gd). Paul John Gilligan’s son of Born To Sea absolutely hosed up that day. He was always close to the pace and he travelled extremely strongly throughout. He hit the front at the final fence before staying on powerfully up the hill to score by over 3L.

His run at Killarney possibly came a bit too soon after Galway and he ran flat. It was much better in the Kerry National at Listowel (24f gd) where he ran a grand race off 138 to finish 5th. The soft ground and drop back to 17f were to blame for his last below par outing at Leopardstown. He’ll hopefully be much better suited by the forecast conditions at Cheltenham.

More To Come

So, is there more to come from this 8yo? I think there is. If you look back at some of his chase form he has the potential to rate a good bit higher than 140. Last June at Listowel he was 3rd behind Darasso (150) and Snow Falcon (147) with Mortal (144) and Samcro (160) well behind in 5th and 6th. At the same track in September he was a shade keen when 5th in the Kerry National off 138. If he had settled better, he could have finished a lot closer.

This horse will most likely be ridden by 7lb claimer Jack Gilligan so he’ll effectively be racing off 133. I am convinced that this lad has a 150 run in him and if he gets good to soft ground or better, hopefully it will happen in this race. He has experience of the course over hurdles (5th in a Grade 2) and I think 40/1 looks a monster price. At those odds, Born By The Sea is worth backing e/w.

2022 Cheltenham Handicaps Thursday Tips: Born By The Sea e/w @ 40/1 (5 Places)

Kim Muir Handicap Chase

Another horse who should hopefully get his ground in this 26f heat is Lord Accord. Neil Mulholland trains this son of Yeats and he holds three entries next week. He’s been left in the Grade 2 Amateur race but I’d imagine that is a last resort for him in case he didn’t get into the Ultima or Kim Muir. He needs three to come out of the Ultima on Tuesday but he is guaranteed a run in this. With the ground likely to dry out as the week goes on, I reckon Mulholland will wait for this.

Lord Accord is a ground dependent animal. He needs to have good in the description and he has only finished outside the first two once when he has had his favoured conditions (112116211). On soft ground his form figures are not quite as impressive (U373). He is in off a mark of 137 here, just 1lb higher than he was when beating Jeremy Pass quite comfortably in a novice handicap chase at Taunton in December (23f gd).

Short Break

I’d imagine Mulholland was thrilled to only get a 2lb hike for that win. Afterwards, Lord Accord was given a couple of months off, presumably to avoid running on soft winter ground. He made his return to action at Doncaster last month and he finished last of three. However, crucially, the ground was soft at Donny and as a Brucie Bonus the handicapper actually dropped him a pound to 137 for that run.

Lord Accord’s half brother Monksfield was placed a couple of times in Cheltenham handicaps so hopefully this fella can follow in his hoofsteps. He improved with every one of his first three chase starts and you can put a line through his last effort. The lack of previous Cheltenham experience is a negative but he has won four times going left handed and he stayed on well to be placed at Exeter over 24f, a pretty testing track. That suggests he should handle this course and at 33/1, Lord Accord is the each way pick.