‘He looks thrown in’ – Gordon Elliott thinks this horse will win at Cheltenham 👀

This is an exciting time of the season with most of the big weekend meetings being Cheltenham trials. Gordon Elliott was delighted with the run of one of his Festival candidates in recent weeks. If all goes to plan, it’s full steam ahead to March for the horse in question. Already a Cheltenham Festival winner, the horse ran nicely on Trials Day a couple of weeks back and Elliott is full of confidence. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

‘I was very happy with him.’

Delta Work was perhaps one of the least popular winners of the week at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. It didn’t go down well when he downed stablemate Tiger Roll in a pulsating finish. Despite my personal misgivings, the Cross Country Chase always goes down well with the racegoers, especially when fan favourites such as Tiger Roll are taking part.

The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham on Trials Day differs from the race in March as it’s a handicap and Delta Work put in an excellent performance to finish third, giving lumps of weight away to the first and second. This understandably thrilled his trainer. He said: “I was very happy with him. He gave the winner and the second lots of weight. Off level weights, he looks thrown in. There will hopefully be plenty of improvement in him after that run.”

All systems go

You absolutely want horses proven on the cross country course as it’s such a unique test that some horses take to really well and others tend to dislike. Combine his proven course form with the better weight conditions and potential physical improvement and you have a recipe for success in March. Gordon Elliott knows how to train festival winners so his confidence has to be a huge positive.

Delta Work @ 11-10 with Betfair (Glenfarclas Chase)

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.