It's the eve of the 2024 Festival and time for a potentially life changing accumulator - we have a quintet of each-way fancies to put in a Super Yankee (all NRNB).
Our first choice actually runs in the first race of the meeting.
The Supreme has a much more open look to it now that Ballyburn runs elsewhere and whilst the Irish still look to have a firm grip on the race, there is no doubt that Ben Pauling has a very strong group of young horses this year – even more so than the likes of Messrs Henderson and Nicholls.
Best of the bunch may prove to be TELLHERTHENAME and he looks capable of running a big race here.
Pauling continued to fire in the winners at the weekend and the fact that he has chosen this horse to represent him here suggests he thinks he's the pick of his stella young crop.
One of the biggest betting races of the week is Wednesday’s Coral Cup.
A huge field will go to post, as always, meaning there should be plenty of value on offer for punters. The one that catches our eye here is GUARD YOUR DREAMS for another trainer who is banging in the winners at the moment – Nigel Twiston-Davies.
This horse is dropping in class and stepping up in trip here, and the yard often does well with its runners in races like this.
The closing race on day 2 is the Champion Bumper and the Irish don’t seem to have as stronger a hand in this race as in previous years. The fact that the bookies are going 6/1 the field tells its own story.
Paul Nicholls’ runners in the race often outrun their odds and we think QUEBECOIS can continue that trend here. He is reported to have really flourished since winning on debut at Exeter in December (a course that often produces strong bumper form).
Three horses have dominated the market for Thursday's Mares Novices' Hurdle for a while now, but we think Jeremy Scott’s GOLDEN ACE has been underestimated in the market, probably because he hails from a less fashionable yard.
Scott is very capable of preparing horses for big races (like Dashel Drasher) and he doesn’t tend to pitch them in too deep for no reason.
He must, therefore, think a fair amount of this mare and she will be a strong stayer over this two mile trip - like You Wear It Well was last year.
Finally, whilst Friday's County Hurdle is always one of the hardest puzzles of the week to solve we think L’EAU DU SUD has a massive chance in the race following his return to form in the Betfair Hurdle last time out.
He travelled like the winner for much of the race that day and the form has been franked since by Go Dante and Faivoir, who were first and second in Saturday’s Imperial Cup.
There are very few better trainers of 2m handicap hurdlers than Dan Skelton and this horse looks to be hitting form at the perfect time.
For those who would prefer to concentrate on the five championship races, we would suggest a similar type bet on Iberico Lord (Champion Hurdle), Edwardstone (Queen Mother), Conflated (Ryanair), Crambo (Stayers' Hurdle) and Corach Rambler (Gold Cup).
Good luck – let the games begin!
Look out for our daily accumulators throughout the meeting, which we will put up every day as part of this year’s free Festival tipping service.
