The Cheltenham Festival rolls on, as day three features the Ryanair Chase, Stayers' Hurdle, and Mares' Hurdle. Find our tips here.
Racing expert Alex has gone through the races televised at Cheltenham on Thursday and picked out his ITV horse racing tips, including a 31/1 accumulator for ITV racing.
ITV’s coverage on Thursday kicks off with the Grade Two Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Bambino Fever is an incredibly short price for Willie Mullins, and the mare could be vulnerable, with our preference for Carrigmoornaspruce.
The six-year-old has been competing at the very highest level over hurdles since winning on debut by a commanding five-length margin. She was last seen finishing second behind Skylight Hustle in the Grade One Future Champions Novice Hurdle and that is rock-solid form.
She was a talented bumper horse last year, including when winning a Grade 3 Punchestown. Has looked more suited to racing over hurdles, and massively overlooked with the form in the book.
Next up is the Grade Two Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, run over an extended two miles and four on the New Course.
Our original tip Sixmilebridge was declared a Non Runer at lunchtime, but we like Western Knight at a big Each Way price.
He won two in a row before finishing a solid second behind the runner up of the Ultima here yesterday, and that was over a trip which has hasn't always looked to fully stay.
He jumps well, will be perfectly suited by the ground, and is off a low weight with improvement yet to come.
Lossiemouth’s diversion to run in the Champion Hurdle clears the way for Wodhooh to strike at Grade One level in the Mares’ Hurdle.
The six-year-old has won nine from ten starts over hurdles, which includes two wins at Cheltenham. She was excellent at the Festival last year when winning by a commanding four-length margin in the Martin Pipe.
She stays this trip very strongly, ticks all of the right boxes and still appears to be improving for an in-form Gordon Elliott stable.
The Grade One Stayers’ Hurdle looks like a thrilling prospect this year, with established horses such as Teahupoo and Bob Olinger taking on a host of improving runners.
Last-time-out winners have a poor record in the race, meaning that it could be best to forgive Impose Toi’s latest effort when second behind Ma Shantou in the Grade Two Cleeve Hurdle.
That could have been one too many runs in the first half of the season, and the Nicky Henderson star looked incredibly progressive before that effort, recording Grade One success at Ascot when beating Strong Leader and Honesty Policy.
He stays this trip well, and certainly looks like an each-way prospect at the prices.
The feature on Day Three is the Grade One Ryanair Chase. While there is understandably disappointment that Fact To File isn’t lining up in the Gold Cup, this does at least present a golden opportunity for the nine-year-old to record a second straight win in the Ryanair.
The Willie Mullins star is clear on ratings, and the next best will likely need to improve by around 10lb to get close.
He acts at Cheltenham, and is likely to dominate the 2026 renewal of the race just as he did 12 months ago.
ITV’s final race from Cheltenham on Thursday is the ultra-competitive Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.
Plenty can be given a chance, but a big each-way price makes Minella Sixo appealing.
The Gordon Elliott runner produced his best run of the season to claim second in the Pertemps qualifier last month, and he already has winning experience over hurdles.
The seven-year-old ticks plenty of trend boxes, including carrying the preferred weight and having the desired experience over hurdles and distance.
