2024 Cheltenham Handicaps Ante-Post E/W Lucky 15
2024 Cheltenham Handicaps Ante-Post E/W Lucky 15
We have already got plenty of Cheltenham Festival content for you to get stuck into. We’ve got stats based previews for the Gold Cup and Ryanair Chase and there’ll be more of those coming soon. Dave Stevos has also posted an ante-post NRNB preview, that can be viewed here. After the weights were revealed earlier today, Dave has found four big priced selections for a 2024 Cheltenham Handicaps ante-post e/w Lucky 15. We recommend backing them in small e/w singles too, check out who he fancies below.
4.50 Tuesday – Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
This is a race that often throws up a shock result. Hopefully Ose Partir can provide another one in this year’s renewal. Trained by the ultra-shrewd Martin Brassil, I’ve been keeping a close eye on this horse since his eye catching Irish debut at Galway back in October. He was beat just 1.25L behind Kaleosun, another horse with an entry in this race.
Although he finished behind the Gigginstown horse at Ballybrit, the assessor has handed Ose Partir a mark of 126, compared to 119 for that rival. I don’t blame him because I thought Brassil’s son of Doha Dream ran a very promising race when eighth in a Leopardstown Grade 2 on Stephen’s Day, 9L behind the winner Kala Conti but only 3.75L behind Batman Girac and 1.5L behind Cossack Chach.
Settle
In that race JJ Slevin’s mission was to teach his mount to settle. He had pulled like a dog on his last start at Fairyhouse but this time, Slevin dropped his charge out and he raced a lot more evenly. He’ll be taking on Batman Girac and Cossack Chach again here and he’ll respectively be 7lbs and 4lbs better off with those two rivals.
Ose Partir ran no sort of race last time out in a Leopardstown G1 but I wouldn’t pay much heed to that. Fastorslow, another Brassil plot horse, was beat combined distances of 43L and 47L before the last two Cheltenham Festivals and he was beaten a short head in 2022 and a neck in 2023. Is Ose Partir as good as him? Probably not, but he has a pretty similar profile and in the hope that this is another Brassil masterplan, Ose Partir is worth backing e/w @ 33/1.
2024 Cheltenham Handicaps Ante Post Tip: Ose Partir e/w @ 33/1 (5 places NRNB)
2.50 Wednesday – Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
One of the stories of last year’s festival was Seddon’s easy win for John McConnell and the Galaxy Racing Syndicate in the Plate. He is entered for that race again this time but I think there is every chance that connections will try to exploit his hurdle mark this year, which is 144, 5lbs lower than his chase rating and just 1lb higher than he was when winning at the 2023 Festival.
McConnell’s son of Stowaway is equally as effective over hurdles as he showed when following up his Plate win at Punchestown off a mark of 134. He was last sighted running a cracker in the American Grand National at Far Hills, finishing third and picking up a decent bit of prize money.
He hasn’t been sighted since that October outing (144 days) but that isn’t too much of a worry. His record fresh for McConnell is excellent. He’s won doing handstands on his last two visits to Prestbury Park and he is effective on good and soft ground. I’d imagine he’s been primed for this and at odds of 20/1, hopefully he can hit the frame.
2024 Cheltenham Handicaps Ante Post Tip: Seddon e/w @ 20/1 (5 places NRNB)
4.50 Wednesday – Grand Annual Handicap Chase
Dancing On My Own is definitely worth a second look in this year’s Grand Annual. We backed this fella for this race last year but he was withdrawn on the day of the race. Of course, he was next sighted at Aintree and he won a valuable handicap off 144.
This season he returned to action over this course and distance in another handicap off a mark of 151. He got his favoured nice ground and he won easily, beating Triple Trade by 2L. That horse was running off 129 that day and he has won twice since and is now rated 139. Henry De Bromhead’s charge was conceding 22lbs to the Tizzard horse, if they both run here he’ll be 4lbs better off.
Left Handed
As I have said before, the key to this horse is going left handed. That’s why I am not concerned about his last two runs going right handed at Fairyhouse. His career form figures going to the right over fences read F0906, going to the left they read 1302121.
The poor run came on heavy ground in the 2022 renewal of this race and if it came up heavy again, he would likely wait for Aintree. However, the weather forecast doesn’t look too bad at the moment and if there is any good in the ground description, Dancing On My Own is more than capable of making his presence felt off just 5lbs higher than when winning here in October. At 16/1, he is the each way selection.
2024 Cheltenham Handicaps Ante-Post Tip: Dancing On My Own e/w @ 16/1 (5 places NRNB)
2.10 Thursday – Pertemps Final Handicap Hurdle
I like the look of another one of Henry De Bromhead’s in the Pertemps. Popova sneaks in at no.22 with a mark of 132 and I think she is worth taking a chance on at 25/1. By Ruler Of The World, this 7yo mare caught the eye on her qualifying run for this contest. It came at Punchestown in November (24f sft) off a mark of 125 and it was her first try at three miles.
Rachael Blackmore rode her to get the trip and she did exactly that. In fact, I think if she had been ridden a bit closer to the pace, she would have gone even closer. She met a bit of trouble and made a couple of mistakes but once she got over the last, she ran on really nicely and just failed to get up for third.
Solid Form
That form looks alright in the context of this race. She was a head behind Alpesh Amin conceding 9lbs and she’ll be 7lbs better off with him if he gets in to this (no.26). Her stablemate Gabbys Cross (12/1 here) was around 3l ahead of her in second and she’ll be 3lbs better off with him. The winner, Jody Ted, was winning off 115 and he is a 134 rated chaser.
The form stacks up and I can see why the English handicapper has given her a mark of 132. If Farouk D’Alene takes his chance she’ll only be carrying 10st 6lbs and she handles most types of ground apart from heavy. Her lack of a recent run isn’t a worry as she has won when fresh before and if Rachael Blackmore chooses to ride her, I can see her shortening considerably in the betting. So, at odds of 25/1, Popova is the e/w pick.
