Cheltenham 2021 - Ante Post Bets

[Altior]

Love Malone Road but couldn't back him until I see him romp home again. He hasn't been seen in nearly a year and a half

[Saxon Warrior]

Put the kettle on, Champion Chase?

Shopping around best price 25s

It could be the Epatante style decision from this year for PTKO in 2021.

Is her preference
for 2M, and receiving 7lb from the geldings in the Champion Chase
or
2M4F and going for the Mares Chase.
The Mares Chase is to be a Grade 2, so (like the Mares Novice Hurdle) Graded winners may have to shoulder a penalty in it for those successes.

[Eggs]

...Mark Howard in his Monday Sporting Life column reflects on the Festival, and highlights;

Allart took the eye in the Supreme and could be one for next years Marsh.
Big Breakaway for RSA (as mentioned by lots).
Real Steel for the King George (33-1 with PP).
Saint Sonnett tailor made for the BV Gold Cup in November.

[JackieMoon33]

Some post-festival musings and take aways....

The Strong Getting Stronger
Looking at the trainer standings it jumps out that the big trainers and owners are dominating even more right now and I'd expect this to continue. This is not only in the graded races but also spreading to the handicaps too. The big owners and trainers have the luxury of strength in depth which allows them to also plot up graded horses into the handicaps too. Many of the handicap winners this week (especially the novices) would probably have run in alternative novice races had they been owned by less powerful owners and trained in smaller yards. Take Saint Roi as an example, if he was owned by a syndicate and trained by Emma Lavelle, he'd have likely run in the Supreme and had a different campaign throughout the season. The same can be said for Column Of Fire, Front View and Five O'Clock in the Martin Pipe; different owners and trainers and they'd have been campaigned differently and taken up novice engagements instead.

Champion Bumper
I never like to get too caught up in the the festival Bumper too quickly as it often proves to be a bad trial for next seasons novice hurdlers. As mentioned in the Bumper thread, I'm not sure this years festival bumper will amount to much, bar the first two home. Ferny Hollow proved he has a good engine but is still reluctant to settle. Appreciate It is a good horse for longer trips but I'm not sure he's superstar material though. With that in mind I'll definitely be waiting on the Punchestown festival to shed some more light on potential novice hurdlers for next season. My current favourite is Uhtred for the Supreme as he looks to have the right blend of stamina and gears. I've also shortlisted a bunch of other Gigginstown horses that will no doubt improve once hurdling: Eric Bloodaxe, Wide Receiver, Farouk D'alene, Forged In Fire. The last batch are more likely middle distance and stayers but they've shown enough in bumpers to keep an eye on.

Novice Chasers
From the Supreme I agree with others that it was a shame that Captain Guinness and Elixir D'ainay got taken out before the finish as they were both going well. On the flip side, this means their odds are longer for ante post purposes. One of my first bets of the season was Chantry House for the Ballymore and I'll be following him again over fences as he'll be stepped up in trip now. Shishkin was an impressive winner but will be too short for me to back.

From the Ballymore it will be all about Envoi Allen again but it will be tough to nail down his target this far out and his odds are prohibitive too. I would say nearly the whole field are chasers so it will be worth following a few from this race. I was let down by Longhouse Poet as my pre-season selection but he could improve over fences (I would not back him until seeing him though). The other one I liked early on was The Big Breakaway but it was either; too soon for him, Tizzard was out of form, or Tizzard just can't get them cherry ripe for Cheltenham. I wrote the below before the season started and although The Big Getaway did not run in the Albert Bartlett, I'd be surprised if he's not upped in trip for Punchestown and then becomes a high class staying chaser next season.

The Big Getaway - Willie Mullins - Albert Bartlett - 33/1

An expensive purchase out of the Irish PTP scene for powerful connections. Ran in two bumpers finishing runner up both times, the second of which was at the Punchestown festival and the small field would not have helped him (the form is decent though). The Big Getaway is a HUGE horse so I’m not too worried that he was unsuccessful in his Bumpers. On breeding and running style he’s another I feel will end up over staying trips and his huge stride should devour the Cheltenham Hill if he’s good enough to line up. I’ll go a step further and say he’ll be lining up in the RSA the year after too.

From the Albert Bartlett the front three are going to make up into very good chasers and despite the bunched finish, should prove very excellent form in the long run. You can throw Column Of Fire into this group too as he'll be a stayer and was better than a handicapper as most thought.

[Halffat1]

So having been a member for about a year, I thought it's time to write my very first post with a view of joining in the lively debate this year rather than just reading it. Here are my three which interest me most so far:
Captain Guinness - Arkle - 25/1 - Who doesn't love a De Bromhead horse going chasing? Was running well in the Supreme before he was brought down.
Topofthegame - Gold Cup - 25/1 - I know that he has been out for the season and therefore has some additional risks factored into his price but on that 2019 RSA form, franked by Santini last week, he looks a tad overpriced.
The Big Breakaway - Any race - 20/1 - This horses looks an obvious *cliche alert* chaser in the making and with there being a number of possible targets, for all the RSA is most likely at this stage, I think the price for any race is very fair.

[Can't Catch Me]

I've backed Pic D'Orhy for the Arkle at 20/1 as well.

[Kevloaf]

So having been a member for about a year, I thought it's time to write my very first post with a view of joining in the lively debate this year rather than just reading it. Here are my three which interest me most so far:
Captain Guinness - Arkle - 25/1 - Who doesn't love a De Bromhead horse going chasing? Was running well in the Supreme before he was brought down.
Topofthegame - Gold Cup - 25/1 - I know that he has been out for the season and therefore has some additional risks factored into his price but on that 2019 RSA form, franked by Santini last week, he looks a tad overpriced.
The Big Breakaway - Any race - 20/1 - This horses looks an obvious *cliche alert* chaser in the making and with there being a number of possible targets, for all the RSA is most likely at this stage, I think the price for any race is very fair.

Welcome to the forum.

25/1 about Topofthegame is a very interesting price, even this far out.

I'll mull over that

[Altior]

I love TOTG but I'd have to see him run again. Been caught and buried too many times backing a horse after an injury, so I'd wait on the likes of TOTG, and especially those like Malone Road.

[moneymurdoch]

The Big Breakaway 20/1 any race
Uhtred 25/1 any race

Probably the only two that catch my eye this early on.

They are taking Rayapour to the flat over the summer with York and Royal Ascot two early potential targets. If he does well then doubt he will ever see a hurdle, but another one I'll be watching closely over the summer.

Figaroc another I'll be keeping an eye on.

[somer1]

Just seen that BET365 have 11 races priced up for 2021

[Halffat1]

I'll mull over that

Try not to mull it over too much, it appears in the place it was 25/1 is now blue and the best price (general price) is now 20/1.

[taylorch1990]

First bets placed myself for next year looking at how my ante post went the Envoi Samcro double was my best winner and all my early patents and Yankees were bust so gonna stick to singles and doubles mainly starting with Captain Guinness in the arkle and The Big Breakaway in the RSA singles and the double also done the 250-1 sky request a bet of Goshen, Envoi and Topofthegame all any race.

[FaugheenTheMachine]

Who did the racing post stick up for 2021 festival today?

[Rigga]

Do the trixie Goshen EA and TOTG.... 888-1.... Albeit guessing the races for Goshen (CH) and EA (RSA)

[taylorch1990]

Do the trixie Goshen EA and TOTG.... 888-1.... Albeit guessing the races for Goshen (CH) and EA (RSA)

Envoi could end up in about 4 different races imo so that just took the risk out of it for me.