16:00
Cheltenham
Odds correct as of 10:41am 05th Mar
The Cheltenham Festival is almost among us! It looks like a wide-open Champion Hurdle this year and established owner Colm Donlon will be hoping to take full advantage. It costs £18,000 to supplement a horse for the Champion Hurdle and he has splashed the cash to get an intriguing improver added to the field. Currently available at 18/1, it’s going to be very interesting to see how he gets on if making the final field. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Tutti Quanti was a runaway winner of the William Hill Hurdle last time out and the handicapper has responded by putting him up to a mark of 151. Obviously he’ll need to improve again in order to feature here but the sky’s the limit for this improving sort. There was plenty to like about his most recent success but it did come off a mark of 138.
Paul Nicholls doesn’t really know how good Tutti Quanti is but the six-year-old is definitely going the right way. He said: “He could be the big surprise of the week. It’s hardly going to be fast on the first day anyway, but if it’s soft we’ll have a look. He’s rated 151 – Golden Ace is 152 and The New Lion is 159, so we’re not miles apart from them. His performance at Newbury tells you he’s improving rapidly, and when they’re on an upward curve like that you just don’t know where the ceiling is.”
Supporters be wary however, as if the ground dries up too much, he might not take his chance. Nicholls added: “I’ll probably stick him in the County Hurdle as well, but he might not find that so easy off his new mark and we’ll stick to the Champion if we can and if the ground is right.”
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.