Paddy’s Paull Binfield delivers the inside track on five horses to keep onside for the fab four days this week.
Paddy’s 5 best-backed Cheltenham horses
Tuesday – Ultima Handicap Chase – Hyland
Wednesday – BetMGM Cup – Kateira
Thursday – Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle – Hewick
Friday- Triumph Hurdle – Mon Creuset
Friday – County Hurdle – Karbau
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Nicky Henderson’s charge HYLAND returns to a course where he won two novice chases over this sort of distance in 2024 and a venue where he’s three victories from five outings.
The nine-year-old has yet to win this season in three starts, having been pulled up before the second last in last year’s Grand National, but ran his best race last time when only being beaten a length and a half by Deep Cave in the Howden Silver Cup at Ascot just before Christmas.
His handicap mark of 143 looks extremely workable given his second to Katate Dori in last season’s Ladbrokes Trophy at Kempton off a 4lb higher rating.
He didn’t always jump with fluency that day, but Henderson will have worked on that at home and let’s not forget that he was runner-up to The Jukebox Man, who is now close to favourite for the Gold Cup, in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase before that.
Wednesday – BetMGM Cup – Kateira
This classy mare’s trainer Dan Skelton knows exactly what is required to scoop this competitive handicap having won it twice recently with Langer Dan in 2023 and 2024.
On her day KATEIRA is extremely good and she easily beat last year’s Champion Hurdle heroine Golden Ace by 28 lengths in a match in a mares’ hurdle at Wetherby on her seasonal debut in November.
Her form since then has been a little underwhelming, including a ninth of 15 last time in a handicap hurdle at Ascot in February, when jockey Nico De Boinville told the stewards that she was never travelling.
But she must have been showing something on Skelton’s gallops since then to be included in this list and a glance through her back history also throws up a memorable day at Aintree in 2024 when she beat Jango Baie, a leading contender for this year’s Gold Cup.
HEWICK‘s exploits in winning a King George, landing a Galway Plate and conducting a successful international raid in the American Grand National, not to mention his visit to a pub, have made him a public horse in the same sort of mould as Constitution Hill.
These successes have by a country mile made him our biggest loser going into the Festival in a career that now sees him run over both hurdles and fences.
His last run when fifth of seven in the Long Distance Hurdle in Newbury in November, when beaten by fellow Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle candidate, Impose Toi, doesn’t exactly fill one with confidence.
However, it often pays off to forgive a horse one poor run and he looked just as good as ever when keeping on well to beat Moon D’Orange by four and three quarter lengths in a long distance hurdle at Thurles last October.
This four-year-old could well be unbeaten going into his third start and it’s not that much of a surprise that punters have latched on to him after Closutton conjuror Willie Mullins said that ‘he’s a nice price for each-way’ for Friday’s opener. That price soon disappeared but MON CREUSET won his first start in a French bumper for Fabrice Foucher before being bought by the powerful Gigginstown House Stud team and transferring to Mullins.
His hugely-anticipated Irish debut saw him go off a furiously-backed evens favourite for a maiden hurdle at Naas in January, when he was travelling easily before hitting the second last, sprawling on landing, and eventually finishing fourth to Kai Lung.
We’ll never know if he’d have won, but he may well of and the third home in that contest, Saratoga, is favourite for this race after subsequently finishing second to the unbeaten Highland Crystal in a rated hurdle at Naas last month.
This six-year-old is a very interesting contender for Willie Mullins’s powerful squad in a contest that he’s won eight times, including with subsequent Champion Hurdle hero State Man.
This will be KARBAU’s first start in handicap company, having been placed third in two Grade 1 novice hurdles at Aintree and Punchestown last season.
His starting price of 33-1 at the first venue was, perhaps, unsurprising given he was beaten 57 lengths by stable companion Kopek Des Bordes in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, but after his creditable effort in Liverpool, he still went off at 22-1 in Punchestown.
He couldn’t quite justify favouritism on his one outing so far this season in a Grade 3 hurdle at Naas in January, but he was only beaten a length by a match-fit Glen Kiln and the money would indicate that he could be regarded by connections as better than his handicap mark of 150 here.
Paddy’s 5 best-backed Cheltenham horses
Tuesday – Ultima Handicap Chase – Hyland
Wednesday – BetMGM Cup – Kateira
Thursday – Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle – Hewick
Friday- Triumph Hurdle – Mon Creuset
Friday – County Hurdle – Karbau
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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