Cheltenham Festival contenders to follow and avoid at Ascot this weekend

We are only four weeks away from the best week of the year, the Cheltenham Festival. It has been a tough year for us all and we all deserve a treat. Brace yourselves for four days of top quality action at Prestbury Park next month.

We may all feel that we have the ante-post markets sussed out already. However, we will still learn a lot more this weekend as the Ascot Chase will take centre stage. Not only that, but we will have a Grand National Trial too at Haydock.

Adrian Wall takes a look at a couple of the more interesting horses to watch out for below and maybe one or two to keep away from too….

Cyrname

Must be a huge player in the Ascot Chase but he is one to completely avoid for Cheltenham. He has never ran at the track before for a reason. He has Ryanair and Gold Cup entries but don’t get involved, he probably won’t run.

Janika

Dreadful run last month at Ascot to overcome but that was his first run for nearly a year. Has some good form around Cheltenham and was backed off the boards for the Brown Advisory when 2nd in 2019. Could have a tilt at the Ryanair.

Kalashnikov

Nearly became the only horse to win both the Betfair Hurdle and the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in the same season. Solid run when runner-up to Mister Fisher at Cheltenham in December. Loves soft ground and could go for the Ryanair.

Lostintranslation

Two-time Grade 1 winner who has seemingly lost his way completely of late. Pulled up in the King George after a 47 length drubbing when sent off favourite for the Betfair Chase. Tizzard is back in form now and he’s a Gold Cup contender if right back to his best.

Master Tommytucker

Fantastic horse with a huge engine and with a clear round he could win any Grade 1 he wants. However, he made a lot of mistakes the only time he visited Cheltenham and is not a good jumper. He will be found out there and is on to avoid.

Mister Fisher

As previously mentioned, beat Kalashnikov pretty comfortably and gave that runner three pounds in the process. Nicky Henderson’s star must have a major chance in the Ryanair.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.