Cheltenham Festival 2016 Ante Post Preview and Tips

We are now less than two months away from the beginning of the Cheltenham Festival 2016. At 1.30pm on Tuesday 15th March 2016 the Festival Curtain Raiser “The Supreme Novices Hurdle” gets under way, with an expected crowd in excess of 60,000 roaring their horses up the famous hill.

The biggest owners and trainers bring their top horses to the Cotswolds to take on the very best jumps horses around. The Festival has a race for every horse whether they’re young with potential or an experienced type looking to find a niche.

As the Cheltenham Festival sweeps the nation, horse racing enthusiasts and punters alike will be preparing for an emotional rollercoaster week. Personally the 4 day Festival is the racing highlight of our year.

We’ve been preparing for the meeting since the beginning of the jumps season and have enjoyed reading and watching trainer and owner interviews, pundits write ups. In fact anything Cheltenham Festival 2016 related to try and find that ante post value and we’ve also found a Cheltenham Festival 2016 tipping competition you can take part in.

At the beginning of the season we picked out the following ante post Cheltenham Festival 2016 bets that have a great chance;

Min (Supreme Novices Hurdle) – £20 @ 20/1 (now best price 13/8)

Djakadam (Gold Cup) – £20 @ 12/1 (now best price 4/1)

Invitation Only (Bumper) – £20 @ 33/1 (now best price 16/1)

We have also now singled out our front runners for the Arkle, Champion Hurdle and Foxhunter Chase amongst others, which we details further on in this Cheltenham Festival 2016 Ante Post Preview.

Last year Irish trainer Willie Mullins stole the show as his new breed of horses (largely of French origin) burst on to the scene, taking the majority of the big prizes. But for Annie Power falling at the last in the Mares’ Hurdle, the bookmakers could have lost a lot of money on accumulators.

The bookies are not making the same mistake for Cheltenham Festival 2016 and have slashed the price of a lot of Mullins’ string, as he has no less than ten ante post favourites, including five of the six races on day one.

He has the favourite in 3 of the 4 Championship races and if Vroom Vroom Mag can show even more potential, there is a realistic possibility that he can reach that feat for the first time in history.

The Timico Gold Cup is the pinnacle of the Cheltenham Festival as well as the racing season. The 3 mile 2 furlong race over fences holds the largest prize at £575,000, which in 2016 will be a new record high.

Last year Novice Coneygree made history by becoming the first novice chaser to win the Gold Cup since 1974. Unfortunately injury means he will not be back this year to retain his title, however the line-up is still mouth-watering with Willie Mullins’ Djakadam (last years’ runner up) heading the market at 4/1.

Gordon Elliott’s Don Cossack and another Mullins horse Don Poli are next in the market, whilst the British hopes seem to lie at the hands of Cue Card who is best price 7/1.

Willie Mullins’ Vautour is a bit of an enigma at the moment and his destination is currently unknown. Personally we’d love Vautour to take part in the Gold Cup, however there are views to say he should go for the Ryanair Chase before taking on the Gold Cup in 2017, what route he takes awaits to be seen.

With the Mullins string taking over the majority of the market, we have picked a couple of each way selections that we’re hoping will reward us handsomely.

Nicky Henderson’s horses have been in relatively poor form this season, however he is a good ground trainer so expect his string to be 110% fit come March.

Cheltenham Festival 2016 Ante Post Tips

Arkle – L’AMI SERGE (1pt Each Way @ 7/1) – Nicky Henderson’s horse will be improved on better ground and has so far taken to fences like a duck to water. His jumping looks immaculate and he should give the favourite something to think about.

Champion Hurdle – PEACE AND CO (1pt Each Way @ 14/1) – Nicky Henderson is not quiet on how much love he has for this horse, his poor performance last time out has drifted his odds massively. Last year he was untouchable and surely will improve when encountering better ground. He will be fit as a fiddle come March and at 14/1 he has to be backed each way.

Foxhunters Chase – ON THE FRINGE (2pts Win @ 9/2) – I have heard that Enda Bolger’s horse is in fine fettle and when they get him to Cheltenham he’ll be very tough to beat.

We will also be having a small bet on VROOM VROOM MAG (14/1) for the Mares Hurdle and ANNIE POWER for the World Hurdle (10/1). We’ve a sneaky suspicion that Mullins may go down that route with the pair.

If you love the Cheltenham Festival but lack the funds to back all of our tips, or simply get a buzz from the excitement it induces and just bet for fun, then we’ve got something you’re definitely going to want to get involved in.

This Cheltenham Festival 2016 tipping competition will be right up your street, entry costs just £10 but you could walk away with hundreds in prize funds as well as some bonus bets. It’s extremely well run by a true racing enthusiast, who puts together all the info you could possibly need to pick your winners.