2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Preview – DS
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Preview
Dave Stevos is hoping to finish the Festival on a high. Check out his 2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday tips below.
1.20 – Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
A couple of months ago I put Mondo Man up ante-post at 25/1 for this race. He was just after finishing second behind Lulamba, who is the second fav here, and how he managed to finish so close to that rival after pulling like a train throughout the entire race is beyond me.
Moore looked to have found a good opportunity for him to get off the mark in a Kempton Grade 2 three weeks ago. This time, he settled a little better but I am not sure the fast, flat track at Kempton played to his strengths. In the end, he finished off strongly for third and his trainer suggested afterwards that the ground might have been a touch soft for him too.
Hood Goes On
Moore has decided to apply a hood and I think that is a wise move. I also like the booking of Brian Hughes. He gets a fair bit of stick at times but his quiet hands might be just what Mondo Man needs to help him to race more evenly.
This horse stayed on for fourth in a 1m4f Royal Ascot Group 2 (we backed him e/w) so this stiffer track should suit him a lot better than Kempton. He clearly has heaps of ability and if it can be harnessed and he uses it in the right way (and if the snow and rain stays away), I think he will run a massive race here. Hopefully he gets us off to a good start.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: Mondo Man already advised e/w @ 25/1 (33s available now)
2.00 – County Handicap Hurdle (Premier)
When Eddie Harty gave Irish Panther an entry for this I’d imagine he thought there was no chance he’d get in. I certainly did anyway. However, the race hasn’t even filled and Irish Panther gets in off a mark of 127 with Cian Cullinan taking off 7lb.
We backed this horse at big odds at Leopardstown at the DRF. He ran an absolute blinder to finish close up in third behind McLaurey and Storm Heart, with the first four home finishing ten lengths in front of the remainder. That effort came off 119 and he is 9lb higher here but this lightly raced 8yo has some quality form in the book and given that this will be just his third handicap start, there could be plenty more to come from the son of Lucarno.
Swing In Weights
He will lock horns with McLaurey again here. That horse is running off a 16lb higher mark than he was at Leopardstown so Harty’s horse, who was getting 8lb from him at the DRF including his jockey’s claim, will be getting 15lb from him here. He was only 1.25l behind him at Leopardstown so it is a big swing for such a narrow margin.
Good to soft ground should be fine for this lad and he ran well in a tongue tie before so I am not worried about the addition of that equipment. He had bumper form with the likes of Fact To File and Ballyburn when he was trained by Eddie O’Grady so the ability is in there, hopefully he shows what he can do this afternoon.
The only worry I have is that he has burst before, on his final start for O’Grady, but that’s the only time it has happened (or been reported) so I am hoping it was just a once off. Sometimes a horse’s environment can cause them to burst and he has been absolutely fine in both runs since joining his current stable. At odds of 16/1, back Irish Panther e/w.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: Irish Panther e/w @ 16/1 (5 places) NAP
2.40 – Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)
God be with the glory days of 2022 and 2023 when Pink Legend was nailed on to place in this contest at monstrous odds. Loyalty got the better of me when tipping her up last year but unfortunately, her legs had gone. Is there anything interesting at a price this year? Well, the top three in the betting do look pretty strong but I think if any mare is going to crash the party, it could be Shecouldbeanything.
She is rated 140, so she has a fair bit to find with the market principals on paper. However, she is relatively unexposed in chases on ground with good in the description and there still could be more improvement to come from her on a sound surface.
Experienced
She has had seven chase starts so far, winning four of them. She took the scalp of You Wear It Well in a Listed race at Bangor back in November and since then, she has been highly tried. Her next start came in the Drinmore and while she finished last of five in that Grade 1, she was only 5l behind the winner Croke Park and 4l behind Gorgeous Tom, who was a creditable fourth in the Brown Advisory here on Wednesday.
She didn’t run as well at Limerick on her last start in December but the ground was properly soft. She’s been put away since then, presumably to wait for this, and the weather gods have smiled on her. Shecouldbeanything ran well at the Festival in 2023 when she didn’t get good ground. Now that she will get her optimum conditions, she will hopefully run into the money at odds of 16/1.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: Shecouldbeanything e/w @ 16/1
3.20 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
The potato race kept up its record of producing shock winners last year. Since 2010 it has thrown up winners at 33/1, 33/1, 14/1, 11/1, 16/1, 33/1, 50/1, 14/1, 18/1, 18/1 and 33/1. Last year, we rattled the crossbar with the Jukebox Man at a price, hopefully we can go one better this time.
In 2023 Stay Away Fay came out of the River Don Grade 2 hurdle at Doncaster to win this at 33s. Yellow Car has followed the same route and we backed him to win that race in January at tasty odds. That win came on good to soft ground, so he’ll handle conditions well at Cheltenham and he ran a pleasing enough race in a Grade 2 trial for this race at this track on his penultimate start.
I really liked how this horse knuckled down at Donny and so did Harry Redknapp’s bloodstock agent because he now carries the famous wheeler dealer’s silks. Yes, he has a bit to find with Jet Blue on their meeting here in December but he has improved since then, he owes us nothing and I am going to take a chance on him again at 33/1.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: Yellow Car e/w @ 33/1 (4 places)
4.00 – Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)
So, it looks like Banbridge will get his ground, but will he get the trip. Yes, he scooted home in the King George but as the likes of Hewick, Bravemansgame Tornado Flyer, Cue Card, Clan Des Obeaux and Frodon have discovered in recent years, seeing out 3m2f in a Cheltenham Gold Cup is a whole different kettle of fish.
One horse that is guaranteed to see out the trip is the magnificent Galopin Des Champs. I’d imagine it would be hard to find a superlative that hasn’t been used to describe this beast. His last two efforts at Leopardstown have been utterly brilliant and to be honest, I can’t see how he gets beaten here. Hopefully he completes the hat-trick in sensational style.
We are already on The Real Whacker ante-post for this race at 50/1. He’s a forgotten horse but unlike many of his rivals, he ticks a lot of boxes for this race. He is the right age, he has won a race this season and while he did pull up in this last year, that was on unsuitably soft ground (he handled soft in his younger days but he’s much better on decent ground now).
Otherwise, his course form is solid (form figures of 111P2P in chases) and he is a former Festival winner. Hopefully he outruns his odds and nicks a bit of place money.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: The Real Whacker already advised e/w @ 50/1
4.40 – Hunters’ Chase (Class 2)
I’ll leave this race to the hunter chase experts. No opinion, no bet.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: no bet
5.20 – Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle (Class 2)
The massively hyped Kopeck De Mee pitches up here and he’s already into 5/2. Would I back a handicap debutant in a massive field that hasn’t run for over 300 days? No chance. That’s not to say he won’t win but if he does, it will be some performance.
This race has thrown up some seriously classy winners in recent renewals. The 2021 and 2022 winners head the market in the Gold Cup and have won multiple Grade 1s between them. Kopeck De Mee does look the most likely candidate to go on to bigger and better things but I prefer the chances of Minella Sixo at a much bigger price.
Gordon Elliott’s charge fell last time out on his handicap debut but hopefully, he’ll have learned from that experience. Previously, he finished just over 3l behind The Big Westerner who is 4/1 for the Albert Bartlett. In October he finished a couple of lengths behind Potters Charm on his sole start at this venue over 2m4f on good ground.
His form figures on ground with good in the description read F1121, he’s a lightly raced novice and those type of horses usually come to the fore in this race. At odds of 16/1, hopefully we can finish on a high with Minella Sixo.
2025 Cheltenham Festival Friday Tip: Minella Sixo e/w @ 16/1 (6 places) NB
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