2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday Tips – DS
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday Preview
We fired a blank at Gowran on Thursday. Intense Raffles was in contention for around a circuit before stopping quickly and it is beginning to look like his Fairyhouse heroics may have left a mark. Chesterbaylad ran even worse, disproving my theory that he wanted bad ground in spectacular fashion. Hopefully, we can do better this weekend, Dave Stevos’ 2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tips are below.
12.55 Doncaster – River Don Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
The ground at Doncaster (and Cheltenham) is going to be soft and that raises questions for quite a few of the dozen runners in this Grade 2 novice.
The Last Cloud is one of those horses that has to prove he handles softer conditions but there’s a decent chance he will on breeding and he has already proven he can mix it at Grade 2 level.
Back in October he finished fourth in a Grade 2 novice at Cheltenham, beaten just 1.5l for the win by Fortune De Mer. Now, that admittedly wasn’t the strongest race but he went on to finish an 11.5l third in the Grade 1 Formby Hurdle at Aintree over Christmas and the two horses that finished ahead of him, Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy, are both pretty well regarded.
His sire, Cloudings, has produced plenty of soft ground winners and his dam, Lady Lucarno, is a half-sister to the talented Senior Chief, a two-time winner on testing ground. An official mark of 129 puts him right in the mix with those in here that have achieved a rating and at odds of 18/1, The Last Cloud is worth taking a chance on each way.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: The Last Cloud e/w @ 18/1
1.15 Cheltenham – Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase (Premier)
The horse I like here is the Nigel Hawke trained Donnacha. He was priced up at 25s ante-post for this valuable race and he has now shortened into 12s but I think he is still a bet at those odds.
This son of Jet Away won three of his nine starts over hurdles and achieved a rating of 122. He ran twice over timber at Cheltenham and ran crackers in both races. When he ran here on soft (2m1f) he got to within 1.75l of both Doddiethegreat and Go Dante and the way he stayed on suggested this sort of trip around here would suit.
Donnacha has already proved to be a better chaser, winning twice, and he is rated 132 in this sphere. His last two runs, at Exeter and Chepstow, have both been on good to soft ground and he ran really well in both, but I think the return to softer ground and to this venue might be what he needs to get his head back in front. At odds of 12/1, Donnacha is the e/w NAP of the day.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: Donnacha e/w @ 12/1 (4 places) NAP
1.30 Doncaster – Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
This race looks as though it will be dominated by the market leaders. Jetara and Feet Of A Dancer are both rated in the 140s and then we have That’ll Do Me who was a fine second in a Grade 1 at Fairyhouse back in April of last year. If they run to form, they should finish in the first three so we’ll give this race a wide berth. No bet.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: No Bet
2.05 Doncaster – Great Yorkshire Chase (Premier)
This looks a pretty open renewal of the Great Yorkshire Chase. Grande Jeste heads the market at 11/4 but he has a 10lb rise to contend with for his Haydock win. I am a big fan of Deep Cave, who we backed at big odds when he won at Aintree last year, but he is a shade on the short side for the blog this time.
The one I eventually came down on is the Neil Mulholland trained bottom weight, Kelce. This son of Valirann has run fine races on two of his three starts this season. He was only beaten 1.25l when fourth at Cheltenham (3m1f, gd-sft) on his seasonal reappearance in October off 116 and he again ran well when a 3l second at Aintree (3m1f, gd-sft) off 117 last time out.
He is in off just 1lb higher here and Bradley Harris takes off a handy 3lb. The 8yo has won on soft ground, so conditions shouldn’t be an issue, and his Aintree run proved he can be effective on a flat, left-handed track. Mulholland’s horses are flying (6 winners in last fortnight), hopefully Kelce can give him another winner here at odds of 16/1.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: Kelce e/w @ 16/1 NB
2.25 Cheltenham – Cotswold Chase (Grade 2)
Just four runners here so for us, this is not a betting race. It’ll still be worth watching though as Grey Dawning will be looking to lay down a marker ahead of a likely tilt at the big one back here in March.
L’Homme Presse is now an 11yo but he is still capable of smart form on his day and he likes it here, so the fav may not have it all his own way and Spillane’s Tower, who has failed to fire so far this season, could also give Grey Dawning something to think about if he is on top form.
That being said, I expect Grey Dawning to win this and if I had to pick one for the forecast it would be L’Homme Presse.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: No Bet
3.00 Cheltenham – International Hurdle (Grade 2)
Another pretty pathetic turnout with just four runners. Britain’s Champion Hurdle hopefuls, Sir Gino and The New Lion, are the headline acts and this is essentially a match between those two.
The New Lion fell in the Fighting Fifth back in November and while some have claimed he would have won if he stood up, I don’t buy that. His best form as a novice was over much further than the minimum trip and I believe he’ll need a really strongly run race to be effective at 2m. He should get that in the Champion Hurdle but he’s unlikely to get it here and Sir Gino will be better suited by these race conditions.
However, with both horses priced up at just 2/1 and 4/9, this race makes absolutely no appeal from a betting perspective.
2026 Cheltenham & Doncaster Saturday tip: No Bet
3.35 Cheltenham – Cleeve Hurdle (Grade 2)
Impose Toi and Strong Leader lock horns again here. Nicky Henderson’s charge has come out on top the last twice against Olly Murphy’s horse, beating him by 0.5l on soft at Newbury and by 1.25l at Ascot on good so soft. Given that Strong Leader hasn’t really produced his best when running at this venue, you’d have to fancy Impose Toi to uphold that form.
Can anything gatecrash the party at a price? The most likely horse to spring a surprise at a venue he loves is last year’s winner, Gowel Road. He had Strong Leader 7.75l behind in that race and he was far from disgraced here on New Year’s Day over an inadequate trip on ground plenty quick for him when an 8.5l fourth behind Kabral Du Mathan.
He’s now a 10yo, so he’s admittedly getting on a bit but he’s likely been trained for a repeat bid in this and odds of 14/1 look a shade generous to me. Impose Toi will be a tough nut to crack but at the prices, Gowel Road is worth chancing e/w.
