Under The Radar

Fifth in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir in 2024, he returned to the same race last year to defy a 4lb rise and win a shade snugly. A neck behind him was Johnnywho, who has progressed nicely and is well fancied for the Ultima, and they were eleven lengths clear of the rest. Trainer Paul Nolan loves a Cheltenham target job, and this race will have been ringed in the diary since last year. He's run a couple of non-descript pipe-opening races over hurdles this season and returns to Prestbury Park only 5lbs higher than last year. A great each-way bet to retain his crown.

Trends devotees will send for the men in white coats, but I'm confident Henry de Bromhead's 12-year-old can run a big race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup at around 40-1. His Festival record is unimpeachable, stretching all the way back to 2019, he ran a lovely race to beat subsequent Savills Chase winner Affordale Fury at Down Royal in the autumn, and his trainer reports him in rude health. Age is but a number.

You need a strong-travelling hold-up horse in the County Hurdle and Alan King's charge fits the bill perfectly. His second in the ultra-competitive Swinton Hurdle in the spring was followed by another silver medal in the Greatwood at Cheltenham in November, a line of form that has aged well. There he was beaten by the ultra-progressive Champion Hurdle hipster horse, Alexei, despite conceding first run to him on the sharper Old Course. The pair were well clear of the rest and his subsequent run at Ascot is not an issue as he was stuck in behind in a slowly-run contest. The County will suit him down to the ground.

Regardless of the race in which they run this horse - the Stayers' or the Pertemps Final - he has a cracking each-way chance. He got his qualification in for the handicap option by winning at Aintree in the autumn before nailing the big graded stayers' races at Newbury and Ascot before Christmas. I can forgive his Cleeve Hurdle run as he was too far back in a slowly-run race. If he were mine, I'd head to the Pertemps under a big weight, but his trainer Nicky Henderson has forgotten more about the game than I could hope to know, and I will trust his judgement.

Trainer Gavin Cromwell has had a pretty wretched season but still goes to Cheltenham with some decent chances. Midnight It Is came from a long way back in the usual cavalry charge over the minimum trip in last year's Grand Annual to finish third at a big price. A light-brigade style pace is almost assured again this time around, so I can see him creeping into it off a mark 5lbs lower than 12 months ago. I'd prefer him to run there but would also be keen on his chances were he to turn up in the Plate.

Dan Skelton's mare was fourth in the Dawn Run four years ago before finally returning to the Festival in 2025 to finish a well-beaten eleventh in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle. However, she was undercooked that day on what was her first run for over a year, and she ran far too free. She has had a much better preparation this time around and even got her head in front in a decent Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham back in December. Another crack at the Martin Pipe looks on the cards and she will be a juicy price.

Sent off a 66-1 shot in the Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase last year, he jumped and travelled well on the front end of an albeit slightly tepid gallop to finish a highly creditable third behind Caldwell Potter. He backed up that effort with another good run at Cheltenham's April meeting when trainer Willie Mullins was peppering the UK with runners in his attempt to steal away the trainers' championship. O'Moore Park has still yet to win over fences, so he qualifies to come back for another crack at the Jack Richards, or he may go to the Plate, run for the first time on day one on the Old Course. That would very much suit his run-style and I like his chances in either event.

Ran a terrific race to finish fifth of 17 in the Triumph Hurdle last year. She was up on the speed in a race that was run considerably faster in the early stages than the County Hurdle on the same track and the same day and she boxed on well to finish within four lengths of the patiently ridden winner Poniros and this year's Arkle favourite Lulamba. She holds an entry in the Dawn Run - for which she is still a double figure price - but could well line up in the BetMGM Cup. I would prefer her at 25-1 in the latter but would be prepared to back her at about half the price in the former too.

Although the 2024 Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner has yet to win a steeplechase, I am confident that he is pretty well handicapped in either the Plate or the Jack Richards Novices' contest. In his truncated chasing career so far, he has either come against a good'un - Lecky Watson - or been caught a bit flat footed in slowly run races with big finishing speed percentages. The way he rallied up the hill during his finest hour two years ago would suggest to me that a strongly-run race will be right up his street and he is very dangerous off a mark of just 143.

The ante-post markets seem to be suggesting that The Yellow Clay will go to the BetMGM Cup (the artist formerly known as the Coral Cup) and I have a suspicion that is the best option for him. He split The New Lion and Final Demand in the Turners Novices' Hurdle last year, racing prominently and jumping well, so a return to the Old Course should suit. A mark of 155, while hardly generous, is not insurmountable and I always like keeping young, high-class horses on side at double-figure prices when dropped into Festival handicaps.