Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Champion Chase
1 point each way Jonbon (6/1 Bet365, 3 places or else 11/2 Skybet, 3 places)
Jonbon has won eleven of his thirteen career starts and on the other two occasions has finished second to Constitution Hill and El Fabiola. He is a half brother of Douvan and is a model of consistency. The Champion Chase looks a match between Jonbo and El Fabiola with current champion Energumene out for the season. El Fabiola is the right favourite but Jonbon won’t be an each way price if he makes the race in March. I think he will be closer to 5/2 and he has been injury free so far throughout his career. Nicky Henderson will have him spot on for March.
Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Mares Chase
1 point each way Allegorie De Vassy (7/2 Bet365/ Betfair/ Betvictor/ Coral/ Betfred/ Ladbrokes, 3 places)
Allegorie De Vassy is again very consistent. She is a good jumper who was unbeaten in the lead up to Cheltenham last year where she bumped into a very smart mare in Impervious when finishing second in this Mares Chase. She was five lengths clear of the third Pink Legend who had finished second in the race the previous year. She is a big scopy mare who is only turning seven and I can’t see her out of the places. Impervious is out and her biggest rival could be Dinoblue in what looks a weak enough event.
Cheltenham Festival 2024 – Stayers Hurdle
½ point each way Sir Gerhard (25/1 Betfred, 3 places or else 20/1 Generally, 3 places)
Sir Gerhard is not guaranteed to take his place in the stayers hurdle so I have halved our stake in the hope that connections decide to go this route instead of persisting over the larger obstacles. Sir Gerhard has loads of ability but just lacks concentration and is likely to make a sloppy mistake over the odd fence in a race which usually costs him. I put him up as a selection last year in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and his jumping was terrible. He gave away so much ground at each fence and gave himself no chance. There is a lot of rubbish in the stayers hurdle and he could run a big race if going down this route. Willie Mullins has no strong candidate for the race and if he jumps poorly next time out I could see him reverting to hurdles. He is eight turning nine so it might make sense to give it a go. He won the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle in 2022 comfortably over 2m 5f on soft ground and is worth a small investment at the prices.