Owen’s monster Cheltenham Festival Lucky 15 that could return £167,185

The Cheltenham Festival is within touching distance. The holy grail of National Hunt racing begins on March 16th and provides us with four days of top-class action.

Although there are plenty of star attractions that will be tough to beat, such as Envoi Allen, Monkfish and Chacun Pour Soi, there are some remarkably competitive contests in prospect. Where there is competition, value tends to rife, and that’s what I’m looking for.

I’ve taken a scan through the races at the Cheltenham Festival and have come up with a monster Lucky 15. It could return a whopping £167,185 with four winners, but I’d certainly be happy with just the four places! You can find my picks below.

At the time of writing, William Hill are best priced on the Lucky 15. 

Champion Hurdle – Song For Someone (20/1)

This year’s Champion Hurdle looked wide open, until Honeysuckle romped home in the Irish Champion Hurdle. Along with Epatante, they are clear in the market, but Song For Someone is the forgotten horse for me.

He’s gone from strength to strength this season, returning with a dominant Grade 2 victory at Ascot, before landing the International Hurdle prior to Christmas. His jumping has been his prize asset and the fact they omitted three flights that day was a detriment to him, so the effort can be upgraded.

He has several key qualities of a champion hurdler. A strong traveller who pings his hurdles, he won’t be faltering from the front in March. If he can get into a good rhythm and get his rivals on the stretch, he surely has a placed run in him at the very least.

Ryanair Chase – Mister Fisher (14/1)

The Ryanair is shaping up to be a cracking contest. At this stage, Mister Fisher looks overpriced for Nicky Henderson. He enjoyed a smart novice campaign last term that culminated in a close fourth in the Marsh. There was no disgrace in that defeat, with Samcro, Melon and Faugheen the horses ahead of him.

He was pulled up in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on return, with ground conditions the apparent culprit. That was left behind, however, as he was a comfortable winner of the rescheduled Peterborough Chase in December.

That course and distance success was a big step in the right direction and I believe he’ll be an even better horse on spring ground. On ratings, he’s right in the mix and doesn’t have much to find on paper. At a general 14/1, he’s surely one that is being slept on.

Stayers Hurdle – Sams Profile (25/1)

Having missed all of the 2019/20 season, Sams Profile has made up for lost time this term and is a stayer going places for Mouse Morris. He was sent chasing for his first two runs of the campaign, falling on debut before a fair run behind Monkfish at Fairyhouse.

A return to hurdling helped matters, however, as he toughed it out to win the Galmoy Hurdle last time. It was a messy race for him, but he motored home down the straight. Despite clattering the final flight, he held on from a rallying rival in tiring conditions.

Placed at Grade 1 level as a novice hurdler, he evidently has plenty of potential. Further improvement is needed going into the Stayers’ Hurdle, but he’s unexposed and a return to slightly better ground could help matters.

He’s lightly-raced over three miles and with a strong pace to aim at in March, a place is certainly up for grabs.

Gold Cup – Delta Work (40/1)

There’s no doubt about it, this year’s Gold Cup revolves around Al Boum Photo. He’s the one to beat, but behind him, there’s going to be an almighty fight for the placings.

A five-time Grade 1 winner, Delta Work has to enter the reckoning for Gordon Elliott. He finished fifth in last year’s renewal, where a steady early gallop didn’t help his cause. Beaten just five six lengths twelve months ago, he’s been disappointing in three starts this season. The Irish Gold Cup perhaps didn’t go his way, with Kemboy making all, but it was still a performance below his mark of 170.

That being said, a return to Cheltenham for the Gold Cup should bring out the best in him. He needs an end to end gallop and the spring ground will be perfect for him. The one thing we need to see from him, is a career-best round of jumping. A clean round has been missing on many an occasion in his career and he needs one to be winning a Gold Cup.

If he’s able to do just that, however, he should be staying on in grand style towards the placings.

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.