Any Good Cheltenham Festival Tips? Cheltenham Festival frenzy is well underway as training yards across Britain and Ireland parade their Cheltenham hopefuls and endure the media questions. The preview evening circuit has grown so much that there are now several every evening in the weeks running up to the Festival. As much as these events build the excitement, are they any help with our bets? And what about the stable visits by the Press? Once the media have asked the welfare of the stars which won’t run and confirmed that the short price favourites are working well, is there any info from the stable visits that will really help us to back a good priced winner this year? A typical Preview evening - the guy at the end likes Native River, the Irish representative says Mullins likes Djackadam and someone, who would just love to have a horse good enough to run in the race, confirms that it would be nice if Cue Card wins. Will somebody please reveal a handicap good thing! But fear not, OLBG.com have been on the lookout for just that and now share with you the best tips they have found so far. Tizzard Open Day Thistlecrack might be back for Christmas, nobody in the yard will choose between Native River and Cue Card, and why should they? Nothing to say Cue Card can’t win and he isn't too old. In terms of decent bets, you could feel the confidence around Finians Oscar for the Neptune who is currently 5/1. There are some handicap good things but Joe Tizzard won’t reveal these until the OLBG preview night at Cheltenham Racecourse on Sunday 12th March. You can watch that via live streaming at cheltenham.olbg.com. Nicholls Open Day It’s no real secret that Nicholls’ best chances are in the Handicaps. Last year he won the Grand Annual, Martin Pipe and Fred Winter. In 2015 he took the Fred Winter and Coral Cup. Seven of his last eight festival winners have been in Handicaps. Paul nominated Romain De Senam in the Novice Handicap on Day One, currently 10/1 and Dreamcatching for Fred Winter currently 8/1, meanwhile other staff in the yard like Brio Conti, Martin Pipe at 14/1. Outside of the Handicaps, Lifeboat Mona is a big price at 20/1 for a mare only beaten once and he thinks she will run very well. Movewiththetimes could run a big race in the Supreme, currently 10/1. Henderson Open Day Nicky also thinks he has a good chance in the Fred Winter but can’t split his two. He suggested splitting stakes on Divin Bere and Domperignon Du Lys, both around 10/1. Further ahead, Nicky seemed to really like Kayf Grace for the OLBG Mares Hurdle 2018 so look out for odds on her when the ante post prices for next year come out. Betfair Preview Night This started getting a bit more interesting towards the end of the evening. Some on the Facebook feed suggested Gordon Elliott was starting to get a little tipsy. His charity bet was The Story Teller in the Martin Pipe which Betfair generously gave him 12/1, but for us he is around 11/2. Often what people do not say at the preview evenings can be telling. When asked about his Kim Muir runners, Gordon said that plans haven't been finalised. He won the race last year with Cause of Causes and this year has four entries General Principle (20/1), Stone Hard (25/1), Rightdownthemiddle (33/1) and Squouateer (16/1). It might be worth keeping an eye on which one of those runs. Nigel Twiston-Davies Open Day As usual, he was upbeat about his chances. He had this to say of Supreme Novice hope Ballyandy (5/1) “He is in really good form and I am delighted with him. He was really good in the Betfair and hope he can improve again.” He nominated Foxtail Hill (8/1) in the Close Brothers Novice Handicap Chase as his best bet for Cheltenham. He also mentioned that we shouldn't be ruling out a big run from Bristol De Mai (20/1) in the Gold Cup “he was very lame after Newbury but we have hopefully got him back to his best”. Now It’s Your Turn What do you think? Share your best tips for the festival in the free to enter £1,000 Cheltenham Tipster competition at OLBG
