myracing.com Road To Cheltenham 17th January 2017

It was a rather quiet weekend on the Cheltenham Festival front but with the news that bet365 and Paddy Power have just gone Non Runner No Bet on the four Championship races, the bets are starting to fly on ante post. Now is the time to start getting your bets on for the Festival in the knowledge that if your runner doesn’t show up on the day, you get your stake returned. Great value to be had! Follow @myracingtips on Twitter for all the latest tips, gossip and banter.

This Week’s Racing

There’s a very busy week ahead with the Clarence House Chase the highlight at Ascot on Saturday. The Willie Mullins trained Un De Sceaux goes to battle against Ar Mad and recent winner Special Tiara for what should be a cracking little renewal of the race. The Peter Marsh Handicap Chase is a ferociously competitive handicap held at Haydock Park and Alary is the current favourite at present. There’s also a fantastic Mares’ Hurdle on as the new recruit to the Henderson yard, Kotkikova, heads a tasty renewal of the race.

Performance Of The Week – Overland Flyer

Paul Nicholls has lacked a young superstar in recent years but he might have one on his hands in the form of Overland Flyer. A former Irish point to pointer, he was purchased by the Colm Donlon and got off to the perfect start for the Nicholls’ team at Taunton to win his maiden hurdle by 22 lengths. He forged clear when push came to shove with all of his rivals pushing hard in behind. He won in the manner of a really good horse and he is now 20/1 for the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham in March, a very fair price.

Other Cheltenham News

Vaniteux finally ended his very frustrating run at the weekend, albeit in a quite moderate four runner Listed affair at Kempton with Vibrato Valtat back in 2nd. He has earned quotes of 40/1 for the Ryanair Chase and 66/1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.