- Supreme Novices Hurdle
- Arkle Challenge Trophy
- Will Hill Trophy Handicap Chase
- Champion Hurdle
- Cross Country Handicap Chase
- David Nicholson Mares Hurdle
- Centenary Novice Chase
- National Hunt Steeple Chase
- Neptune Investment Hurdle
- RSA Chase
- Queen Mother Champion Chase
- Coral Cup
- Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle
- Champion Bumper
- Jewson Novices Chase
- Pertemps Handicap Hurdle
- Ryanair Chase
- Ladbrokes World Hurdle
- Byrne Group Plate
- Kim Muir Challenge Cup
- JCB Triumph Hurdle
- County Handicap Hurdle
- Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
- Cheltenham Gold Cup
- Foxhunter Steeple Chase
- Conditional Jockeys Hurdle
- Grand Annual Chase
Cheltenham RSA Chase
Cheltenham Festival race guide – RSA Chase betting verdict
Grands Crus, will he or won’t he? David Pipe and owner Roger Stanley’s decision to run him in the RSA or the Gold Cup is still up for debate, but should he stick to novice company the seven-year-old will almost definitely go off favourite. He’s currently best priced 9/4 for this race after his impressive victory in the Feltham at Kempton on Boxing Day and he looks the one to beat here. Bobs Worth, First Lieutenant and Invictus come here in good form too and can serve it up to Grands Crus. Get a free £25 bet with Bet Victor.
Aiteen Thirtythree and Jessies Dream are rated the main dangers by the bookies, connections of Jessies Dream think he will improve for the three miles on better ground but even if that’s the case he probably isn’t in the same class as the favourite, meanwhile it is difficult to see what Aiteen Thirtythree has achieved in smalled fields this year, he looks very promising but may find it difficult to dominate this field. At bigger prices Wayward Prince makes a bit of each way appeal as one of the more soild contenders in the race.
RSA Chase odds
Runners and riders will have to travel three miles and ½ a furlong in the process of taking nineteen fences on the old course for the RSA Chase. Novices five-years-old and up entered for this one will swing left-handed on their run-in and it has seen one big success story come out of it in more recent times. Paul Nicholls’ Denman ran out 6/5 winner of this race in 2007 and just twelve months later he fended off star rival Kauto Star to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup by a whopping seven lengths. And while it may seem unlikely a future Gold Cup winner will line up this year, it shows this race can provide the perfect stepping stones for horses that perform well in this chase.
Top yards and stables
When we talk about the top yards and trainers that consistently send out winners the same half a dozen keep popping up. Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls both have excellent records in this race with the former taking the 2004 and 2009 runnings of this event. And Nicholls’ proved he could ready a RSA winner not just with wonderhorse Denman; he trained Star De Mohaison to victory in 2006. But it’s Paul Webbers’ Time for Rupert that heads the very early ante-post market at 8/1 general after victory in a similar Novices Chase over two miles four furlongs at Cheltenham in November. It remains to be seen whether the 6yo gelding will head for the RSA Chase and if so he must be taken very seriously indeed.
The Irish have a good record in this race and last year Weapons Amnesty was just another of the many winners they have prepared for this race. He ran away with it last March, beating the second horse by seven lengths and well backed favourite Punchestowns by sixteen, who could only muster a measly fifth. He hasn’t quite followed in the footsteps of Denman after his victory, but could we uncover another hidden gem in the RSA Chase? A massive seven horses that have won this encounter have gone on to win the Gold Cup – the pinnacle of the festival.
After overlooking a possible tilt at the Gold Cup in favour of the RSA, Grands Crus is the obvious place to start. David Pipe’s runner was most impressive when pulling clear of smart types Silviniaco Conti and Bobs Worth at Kempton on Boxing Day. He meets the latter here again but FIRST LIEUTENANT, Sir Des Champs and Join Together could pose the main danger on recent form. First Lieutenant gets the tentative nod returned to the scene of his Neptune success 12 months ago.
1- First Lieutenant
2- Grands Crus
3- Join Together
Victor Chandler
Bet 365
Cheltenham Festival free bets
Click here for a full range of Cheltenham free bets from the UK’s biggest and best online bookmakers
