Cheltenham Festival 2021 Best Bets

The Cheltenham Festival is here. Many of the decisions have been made and assuming no late withdrawals, we have a good idea of who will be running. This means it is time to look at our Cheltenham Festival 2021 best bets, which are a combination of rock solid favourites, three Irish bankers for a multiple bet and a couple of bigger priced each way fancies.

The Cheltenham Going

Look out for the going at Cheltenham, which could certainly affect your bets. Understanding "The Goings" is key and the good news is that this appears to be perfect for most horses as things stand, so our selections below should enjoy the conditions.

The going is currently good to soft, and with no rain forecast beforehand, should remain that way. We have rain forecast on Tuesday, but a dry week after, which should allow the ground to naturally stay the same throughout the entire four days.

Our Two Strong Win Selections

The two feature races on Thursday and Friday are where you will find our two strongest win selections of the meeting.

First up is Paisley Park, who runs in the Stayers Hurdle on Thursday. Helped by the withdrawal of Thyme Hill, the 2019 winner of this race has been in great form this season and returns to Cheltenham where the uphill finish plays right into his strengths.

With the main challengers to him, Thyme Hill (injured) and Roksana (running elsewhere) out of the way, Paisley Park can regain his crown.

Al Boum Photo is looking to win a third Gold Cup in a row, and he is the second of our big fancies, he runs on the final day of the meeting. Although a little older now, in terms of quality in the race and questions over his rivals, this could actually be the easiest Gold Cup for Al Boum Photo to win.

Preparations have been perfect, and the Willie Mullins runner is fancied to win a third title.

Two Each Way Fancies to Follow

On the opening day, with questions over the main contenders in the Champion Hurdle, we are going with an each way selection in the race. The consistent Silver Streak is our pick here, a horse who was unlucky to not win at this course earlier this season and has beaten Epatante since then.

If the real Epatante shows, she should win, but there is a question mark over her. Honeysuckle is an intriguing proposition but will a quick two miles against the boys suit her and lastly you have a lot of question marks over Goshen. With all of those to think about, Silver Streak is the one for us to run his race, and if any of the above disappoint on the day, he will be right there to pick up the pieces.

Our second each way selection is Imperial Aura in the Ryanair Chase on Thursday. This horse has won at this course, and at the festival, over pretty much this distance and is a real two and a half mile specialist.

If the real Epatante shows, she should win, but there is a question mark over her.

The same cannot really be said about the others in contention, who are a mixture of horses who don’t have the speed for the Champion Chase or don’t have the stamina for the Gold Cup. The Kim Bailey runner loves this course, another positive, and can go really well on Thursday.

Irish Banker Treble

Those looking to place a multiple bet over the week are likely to be looking at the runners coming from Ireland, and here are three that we strongly fancy for a treble.

First up is Monkfish on Wednesday, a horse who looks to be every bit a future Gold Cup contender, and potentially winner. He put up his best performance so far when winning at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, and can take the Brown Advisory Novice Chase before going onto even bigger and better things in the future.

Secondly, also on Wednesday, we are going with Chacun Pour Soi in the Champion Chase. A fragile animal, he missed this race last year but has been as good as ever this season. Again, he is another who was excellent at the Dublin Racing Festival, and has been blowing away the Irish opposition with ease. The British challengers don’t have too much depth, and this looks a great opportunity for him.

We round off the treble with Envoi Allen in the JLT Novice Chase on Thursday. We all know how talented this horse is, he is another potential Gold Cup runner in the future, and despite a late stable change to Henry de Bromhead, he is fancied to show his class and win this. Already a festival winner in the bumper and over hurdles, he is fancied to land the festival trifecta on Thursday.

Cheltenham 2021 Bets

• Tuesday – Silver Streak EW (Champion Hurdle)
• Thursday – Imperial Aura EW (Ryanair Chase)
• Thursday – Paisley Park WIN (Stayers Hurdle)
• Friday – Al Boum Photo WIN (Gold Cup)
• Irish Treble – Monkfish (Weds), Chacun Pour Soi (Weds), Envoi Allen (Thu)