Suffice to say Willie Mullins is off our Christmas card list. This afternoon Cooldine finished off what Quevega started yesterday. We’ve been well and truly gelded by the Carlow man. Punters 2, bookies 0!”

So onto Day 3 of the best week of racing of the year, see’s the feature race the World Hurdle, and another list of great races.

Paddy Powers are being uber generous again so if you do not already have a PaddyPower account get one and get a free £20 bet too. The Paddy Power CHELTENHAM DAY 3 SPECIALS are that they will be Paying 5 Places in;·
· Pertemps Final (2.05pm)
· Festival Plate Handicap Chase (4pm)
· Kim Muir Handicap Chase (4.40pm)

So take some more of Mr Paddy Power’s money today with payments for 5 horses you have never had a better chance to win.

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Cheltenham Day 2 Card

1.30 – National Hunt Steeple Chase Challenge
2.05 – Ballymore Properties Novices’ Hurdle
2.40 – RSA Steeple Chase
3.20 – Queen Mother Champion Chase
4.00 – Coral Cup (Handicap Hurdle)
4.40 – Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
5.15 – Weatherbys Champion Bumper

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The Champion Chase often attracts smaller fields than the other Grade One events at the Cheltenham Festival but this feature contest of the second day of the meeting has lost none of its prestige as a result.

2.20 Cheltenham, Queen Mother Champion Chase, 2m

The sight of the best two-mile chasers jumping the 12 fences at championship pace with no margin for error is one of the highlights of the meeting and has produced some great finishes over the years. In 1994 Viking Flagship, Travado and Deep Sensation fought out one of the most memorable races ever seen at the Festival, while more recently Irish legend Moscow Flyer won it twice in 2003 and 2005.

4.00 Cheltenham, Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, 2m

Winning recent form has to be taken into account when attempting to find the winner of this hugely-competitive event, as five of the last six scorers came into the race having been successful on their previous outing. Since the race was first run in 1993 only two favourites have been successful, although bookmakers took a hammering when Tony Martin’s Xenophon landed a massive gamble in 2003. However no horse bigger than 33/1 has obliged in the race so, judging upon previous trends, complete outsiders may be best disregarded.

2.40 Cheltenham, Royal and Sun Alliance Chase, 3m and 1/2f

Almost certainly the stiffest test of stamina that any of these novice steeplechasers will ever have faced and any chinks in the armour will soon be exposed. But this contest has also been won by some of the very best jumpers around and the likes of Arkle, Master Smudge, Looks Like Trouble and – most recently – Denman have gone on to take the Gold Cup having first shown their Festival mettle here.

Paul Nicholls was securing back-to-back victories as Denman followed stable companion Star De Mohaison into the winner’s enclosure and the stable will once again hold a strong hand in this year’s race, with leading fancy What A Friend, part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson whose previous ventures into racehorse ownership have often proved highly successful.

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CHELTENHAM 2ND DAY SPECIALS (Thursday 12th March)

PADDY POWER EXTRA PLACE SPECIAL

· Paying FIVE places Coral Cup (4pm)

· Paying FOUR places Weatherbys Champion Bumper

Alex Ferguson’s Dream Double

33/1 What A Friend to win RSA Chase and Man Utd to win Champs Lge

10/1 What A Friend to win RSA Chase and Man Utd to beat Inter Milan in 90 mins on Wednesday

Five Star Value! Coral Cup
(4.00 Cheltenham Wednesday)
We are paying 1/4 odds 5 places on this race

Extra Place Value – Weatherbys Champion Bumber
(5:15 Cheltenham Wednesday)
We’re paying 1 /4 odds 5 places on this race

While the company specialises in small stakes, fixed odds sports betting, it also offers odds on a number of non-sporting and novelty markets, such as election betting and the outcome of popular TV events.

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Wednesday – Queen Mother Champion Chase

1-3 Master Minded; 10 Big Zeb; 12 Well Chief; 14 Petit Robin; 16 Twist Magic; 20 Briareus; 50 Bar
¼ odds 1, 2, 3

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Top Trainer odds

8-11 Nicholls; 4 Mullins; 5 Henderson; 8 King; 10 Pipe; 20 O’Neill; 33 Hobbs; 40 Meade; 50 Johnson, Twiston Davies

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Paul Nicholls is an even shorter-priced favourite to win the Cheltenham top trainer award (currently 1.51 to win it on Betfair) than his wonder horse Kauto Star is to take the Gold Cup 2.08.

As it has become an offence bordering on heresy to even point out that there are other horses running in the Gold Cup besides Kauto Star and Denman, the idea that one of Nicholls’ closest rivals, such as Alan King 9.0 or Nicky Henderson 11.5 might take the overall Festival crown feels like a theory only a madman would venture. But not even the most successful trainers have enjoyed uninterrupted glory at Cheltenham, so maybe Mr King and Mr Henderson are worth another look after all….

Trainers simply don’t win the top trainer honour three years in succession

Nicholls was the top trainer in 2006 and 2007 and thus will be bidding for a third successive triumph at this year’s festival. However, no trainer has managed to scoop the award outright three years running since 1980.

Gold Cup winners don’t often win the top trainer prize

Nicholls is a massive favourite to land the Gold Cup with both Kauto Star and Denman running from his stables. Yet only twice in the last ten years has the Gold Cup winner won the leading trainer award as well.

He’s got some serious competition in Alan King

Alan King narrowly missed out on the trainer’s prize last year with three winners at Cheltenham and will return this year with around 15 runners. All three of his winners last year (My Way De Solzen, Voy Por Ustedes and Katchit) will take to the track once more and with the likes of Group Captain and Franchoek also potential winners, King is a serious contender. In five of the past 11 years, three winners has been enough to take the title outright, and King is really determined to beat Nicholls.

From the Guardian, Tuesday March 4, 2008: “At Newbury, after Denman’s win, the trainer Alan King apparently spoke out in despair, suggesting that Nicholls’ pre-eminence might be bad for racing.

“I don’t think he said that,” Nicholls protests. “He certainly doesn’t believe that. Kingy is a good young trainer and he was gutted to have lost. He admitted his disappointment to a journalist and it got blown up. It took me 15 years to get to this point and Kingy is following in my footsteps. He mirrors me in a lot of ways – especially in his desire to win.”

Nicky Henderson is no slouch either

Henderson is the third most successful trainer at the Cheltenham festival of all time (31 wins), has the best Cheltenham record of all the trainers competing at this year’s festival and has been the top trainer at Cheltenham on a remarkable eight occasions.

Henderson may well bring 21 horses to this year’s Festival and his assault on the prize will be spearheaded by Punjabi and Afsoun in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle.

Two wins for anyone might be enough

On seven occasions since 1987, the top trainer has only had two winners at Cheltenham. Four of the last six winners have won just three races, so with such few wins required, a surprise is by no means impossible.

And it’s not all about winning

If there is a tie it will go down to the number of second places. If there is still a tie, the number of third places will be taken into account and the award will be shared if there remains a tie after that. Such is the enthusiasm for Nicholls’ horses that they tend to get backed blindly and go off at false prices, suggesting some of his rides are not quite as formidable as the bettors seem to think.

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Cheltenham Top Jockey Odds

11-10 R Walsh; 7-2 AP McCoy; 7 B Geraghty; 8 R Thornton; 20 T Murphy, R Johnson; 25 P Carberry, D Russll, D O’Regan, S Thomas; 33 P Brennan

One of the most popular Cheltenham Festival Special Bets for the Cheltenham racing enthusiasts is to work out who will be Top Jockey, that is which jockey will ride most winners. The bookmakers put up these odds in the last couple of weeks before the festival when the jockeys rides are being finalised. Betting on the top jockey is an excellent way of having a bet on the Cheltenham Festival Races as this bet gives you an interest right the way through the 26 races at the festival.

The big punters will also look closely at this market as they are always looking to gain an advantage and they may find some value in this market as against backing the individual horse selections.

The key to looking at backing a selection for Cheltenham’s top jockey is to assess how many good rides your preference has during the 4 days of the Cheltenham festival.

It is also important to take into account how often your selection may finish in the first three of each race as this will count if there is a tie at the end for Cheltenham top jockey.

The main players for the Cheltenham top jockey in 2009 will undoubtedly revolve around;
Ruby Walsh, with the backing of Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins, is Ladbroke’s 11/10 favourite to be top jockey at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, but Tony McCoy looks better value at 7/2 with the magic sign.

Of course, Walsh rides Master Minded in Wednesday’s Champion Chase which effectively gives him one on the board already. However, McCoy’s rides look stronger overall and he may even be a short-priced-favourite after the opening day, at which point we can trade out to ensure a profit.

OK, his Supreme Novices’ Hurdle ride, Ainama (14/1 Skybet), is not everyone’s cup of tea after his Kempton defeat last time, but he could easily improve on his two runs to date. After that, though, he’s in line to ride the next three favourites, including Binocular (6/4 Paddy Power) in the Champion Hurdle. He’s no banker, but McCoy must have big chances on Calgary Bay (6/1 Sportingbet), second favourite for the Arkle, and Wichita Lineman (6/1 Stan James), who has been well-backed for the William Hill Trophy and, according to trainer Jonjo O’Neil, is his best chance of a winner at the festival.

Even if AP draws a blank on the first day, he still has a great book of rides for later in the week, with the likes of Karabak (7/2 Boylesports) and Aigle D’Or (6/1 Coral) well fancied on Wednesday, and a host of other fancied horses in the handicaps. In fact, he’s going to have a ride in virtually every race over the four days, so the current best odds of 7/2 look very generous.

Do have a saver on Choc Thornton, though, at 8/1 (Sportingbet). If there’s a jockey to trouble Walsh and McCoy, it is Alan King’s main man, although his cause hasn’t been helped by JP McManus purchasing Karabak, now the mount of McCoy (McManus’ retained rider). Still, he does have the leg up on Voy Por Ustedes (11/10 Totesport), many people’s idea of a banker in the Ryanair, and has a strong book of rides on Friday, in particular, including Walkon (5/1 Ladbrokes) in the Triumph Hurdle and Bensalem (5/1 William Hill) in the Albert Bartlett.

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8/1 Paul Nicholls to train the first three home in the Gold Cup place this bet at Paddy Power Now

Paul Nicholls number of Winners

15/8 Two or less
11/10 Three to Four
5/2 Five or more

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Master Minded Winning Distance

2/1 Up to and Incl seven lengths
5/1 Eight to ten lengths
7/4 Eleven lengths or more

The appointment of the great Irish rider Ruby Walsh as stable jockey has undoubtedly strengthened Nicholls’ hand in the big races. Their major successes include the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Azertyuiop (2004) and Master Minded (2008), consecutive wins in the King George VI Chase with Kauto Star (2006, 2007 and 2008) and the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Kauto Star in 2007. Nicholls’ finest hour came in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup where he saddled the first three horses home: in finishing order, Denman (ridden by Sam Thomas), Kauto Star and Neptune Collonges. Despite his achievements at Cheltenham, the Aintree Grand National remains the only major British staying chase to elude Nicholls. In recent years, Nicholls’ dominance has extended across the Irish Sea and his horses have plundered Ireland’s most valuable jumping prizes with increasing regularity. Some commentators have speculated that Nicholls is attempting to become British and Irish champion trainer simultaneously, although Nicholls has denied this, telling the Irish Times “It’ll never happen. I’m not chasing it and I was misquoted about chasing it”. [1]

Nicholls is renowned for being approachable and media-friendly. He writes a popular column on Saturdays in the Racing Post and his frank and honest opinions are well respected by members of the racing public. His hegemony over British jump racing looks sure to continue for years to come, despite fierce competition from the powerful Nicky Henderson and Alan King stables. In the autumn of 2008, Nicholls announced that his Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman was suffering from a heart problem, although few would bet against the horse successfully defending his crown in March. In December 2008, Nicholls trained his 50th grade one winner when Master Minded (ridden by AP McCoy) won the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown.

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Which day of the Cheltenham Festival will be the windiest (strongest gust)

2/1 Tuesday
11/8 Wednesday
3/1 Thursday
9/2 Friday

What will be the highest recorded wind gust during the 4 days of the Festival

6/1 Below 30 mph
4/1 30-35mph
11/4 36-40mph
5/2 41-45mph
9/4 +46mph

What will be the highest recorded wind gust on the first day of the Festival (Tues 10th Mar)

8/1 Below 30 mph
10/3 30-35mph
5/2 36-40mph
9/4 41-45mph
3/1 +46mph

Paddy Power have given me an exclusive free bet offer for new punters, this offer is not available if you go directly to the paddy power website. Paddy Power are offering a free £20 bet when you bet £10

This afternoon’s meeting at the Cheltenham Festival has been abandoned due to high winds after a structure at the racecourse blew down this morning.
Officials made the announcement after another morning of intense gusts at Prestbury Park. All six races due to take place this afternoon – including feature race the Queen Mother Chase – will instead be staged on Thursday and Friday.

“We had a forecast last night indicating that wind speeds would gust over 50mph, up to and including 3pm this afternoon. We had a look this morning and that has sadly been reinforced,” Cheltenham’s managing director, Edward Gillespie, said.

“Many of the temporary facilities would not be safe at that level. The reason we are not racing today is for the safety of the customer,” Gillespie told Channel 4 Racing.

Cheltenham issued an official statement saying: “We have a weather forecast for today that predicts extremely strong winds over the next six or seven hours with a high degree of certainty. On that basis we have made the decision to abandon racing for today.

“The forecast for Thursday and Friday is much calmer and the races abandoned today will be rescheduled to be run on Thursday and Friday on extended cards, with a first race time of 12:30pm. The revised order of running will be issued in due course.”

Irish trainer Dessie Hughes, who had three entries on Wednesday including Schindlers Hunt in the Queen Mother Chase, said: “I’m very surprised – at the moment you’d race. We can’t do very much at this stage and we will have to wait until tomorrow.”

The racecourse was also hit in the build-up to the meeting on Monday by storms of up to 48mph. A hospitality tent was flattened by the high winds and the starter’s rostrum was blown over, damaging fencing. The situation grew untenable during Wednesday morning, however, and the tented village at the track had to be evacuated.

Gillespie said: “The rest of the crowd are close to the [worst-hit] areas so it’s not a case of just one area being out. Equally, it’s a west wind, which would take debris on to the track. We’ve had one structure blown down this morning, just before 7am. We cannot guarantee the safety of the customers but the good news is we can now stage all the races over the next two days.

“Tomorrow we will use the Old Course and on Friday [the races] will all be run on the New Course. We will be meeting at 4pm to assess the situation again.”

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Big Races on Day 1 include Day 1 (Tuesday 10th) Supreme Novices Hurdle Arkle Challenge Trophy
William Hill Trophy Champion Hurdle Cross Country Chase and the David Nicholson Hurdle.

The feature race is the Champion Hurdle
Sublimity has a good combination of speed and stamina and will be suited by the way the race is run…Afsoun could prove best of the outsiders.” Sublimity won comfortably at 16-1 and Afsoun was third at 28-1.
Celestial Halo must be sick of the sight of Binocular already as he has beaten him on both of their meetings to date, including in the juvenile hurdle run at Aintree’s Grand National meeting. The other defeat came at Ascot in December (Crack Away Jack was fifth). However, since then Paul Nicholls’ charge has won well at Sandown (with Osana back in second), and the trainer is convinced he can give Binocular a run for his money at the Festival. There is certainly no doubt about him seeing out the trip and he was an impressive winner of the Triumph last year.

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“He’s fine and we have just done a little operation on his throat which just needed some attention and he is back now for the first time today and he seems very well,” said Henderson.

Mad Max is a brute of a horse he is one of the biggest horses that Henderson looks after and he has so far turned in some error free runs and Henderson thinks there is a lot more to come

“His size doesn’t affect him but he will just be a better horse when he jumps fences. He is enormous but he has done everything right so far in his bumpers and over hurdles and he is very, very good,” Henderson told

The Seven Year old horse could be lined up for the supreme novice or the Ballymore but the final decision will not come till nearer Cheltenham Festival 2009

“We have yet to decide which race at Cheltenham we are actually going to go for, he is in the Supreme Novices’ and Ballymore Properties race and a lot will depend on the ground,” the trainer added.

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“Punchestowns is absolutely fine. We know we’ve left something to work on and it wasn’t the World Hurdle on Saturday,” said the Seven Barrows trainer.

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