Cheltenham Ante-Post Accumulator

It's the time of year that I like to start looking at my Cheltenham ante-post bets as it's just after the main contenders have had their Christmas runs but they run again and the prices shorten.

Last year at Cheltenham I had 9 bets of which 7 won and no horses came out of the 1st 3. Notable successes were ante-post bets on Quevega at 5/4 and bets on Finian's Rainbow at 4/1 in the Queen Mother. There was obviously the ones that didn't go too well, Hurricane Fly backed ante-post from 7/4 down to Evens and sent off at 4/6 failing to get the job done.

This year I'm going to start my Cheltenham betting with an ante-post dutching accumulator which pays over 80/1. The aim of this is to find a number of horses that I think will start shorter on the day therefore meaning they are currently value now.

To do this bet you will need to select the horses to find the best odds available at the time, for this I used Oddschecker and to work out the percentage of your total stake to put on each bet use a dutching calculator.

It's not a bet to go mental over but £25 spread over the 8 lines will return around about £2000.

*Odds correct at 13:00 Saturday 5th January

Mares Hurdle
Quevega has won this race for the last 4 years and seemingly the only thing that could beat her is if she is in season or injury. The trainer has stated that she won't be going for The World Hurdle so 10/11 on a horse that will start 1/3 has to be taken.

Queen Mother Champion Chase 
I was at Cheltenham last year when Sprinter Sacre won the Arkle and was blown away by how easy he won. He has speed and fantastic jumping, when those two are combined he can take a 1/2 a length plus out of anything over a fence.

The below shows his seasonal reappearance where he wins the Tingle Creek and shows how easily he eats the ground up on decent horses. His main danger this year would appear to be Flemenstar, however if the Irish horse goes for this race it will be an after-though as they thought they had a Gold Cup winner. You very rarely win a race at The Cheltenham Festival with an after-thought.

                                

The Arkle

Like last year Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty team up in this race with a horse that wins it's races easily. Simonsig was one of my big fancies last year and I was very happy to back it at 9/4 in the Neptune. He has gone chasing this year and from his two runs over fences it looks like he's just got better. He's currently even money but I'm expecting around 4/6 on the day.

The Champion Hurdle

One of Hurricane Fly or Grandouet will shorten after the Irish Champion Hurdle on January 27th. That's why I've put them both in my Ante-post selections. The main dangers in the Champion Hurdle this year appear to be Zarkandar, who I don't fancy as Ruby Walsh won't be getting off Hurricane Fly to ride him (that's a tip in itself) and Grandouet who will come on for his run behind Zarkandar on ground which didn't suit. Darlan is the current market favourite based on his performance at Kempton on boxing day and whilst that was a great performance, I backed him at 3/1 because there wasn't much opposition in the field. Cinders and Ashes may have won the Supreme last year but I believe that was a weak race. As at least one of the selections will start shorter they make good ante-post sense.

Dynaste

I went to Kempton on Boxing Day with the intention of backing this horse in The Feltham, I was expecting 1/2 but got 4/6  before the off. This horse was hurdling last season against Big Bucks and the problem with judging the form of those races is that horses have to be ridden differently if they want a chance of winning.

This season he has gone chasing and won all 3 of his starts and he won The Feltham by 9 lengths due to a round of massive jumping. No Feltham winner has ever won The RSA Chase and that's probably why the price is around 5/2. He could alternatively go for The Jewsons so I think it's worth putting him in for both as whichever one he goes for I believe that he will start shorter than he currently is.

The Gold Cup

Bobs Worth's form from the Hennessy is currently the best in the book and that is the only reason he goes into my selections. I actually fancy Sir Des Champs, I backed him at 3/1 at the festival last year where he won by 4 1/2 lengths in the Jewsons. This season hasn't gone too well, he was 5 lengths behind Flemenstar at the beginning of December however I felt he needed the run. Next time out he ran in the Lexus where he showed that he had improved for the run but for some reason was running flat throughout the middle of the race. The Lexus ties a lot of form lines together and is well worth a watch. My feeling is that Sir Des Champs will improve again off the stronger pace set in The Gold Cup.

                                    

Of the other challengers I don't fancy Long Run as I feel he make too many mistakes. Paul Nicholls chasers are always shorter than they should be, due to the Kauto Star effect, and his record in chases at Cheltenham since the Kauto win in 2009 is awful so that rules out Tidal Bay and Silvinato Conti. If Flemenstar sticks to his original plan and goes for this race I'll be surprised as I don't think he stays the trip.