Our Road to Cheltenham ante-post series continues this week and we’ve got another exciting prospect for you. Bumpers are a good educational tool for young and immature horses that aren’t quite ready for hurdles. The Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival is the one that everyone wants to win. We’ve selected a 25-1 shot which is trained by Paul Nicholls and is set to make his debut under rules at Chepstow on Tuesday. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Captain Bellamy had one run in an Irish point back in April and absolutely bolted up by 14 lengths. Two subsequent winners have come out of the race, including the seventh who was almost 30 lengths behind Captain Bellamy and one of the horses that pulled up. This certainly bodes well and he’s a recruit with massive potential.
He makes his debut under rules for Paul Nicholls in the bumper at Chepstow on Tuesday and if winning impressively there, his current price for the Champion Bumper in March won’t last long. His trainer has won three of the last five renewals of the Chepstow race and is clearly one he targets.
Paul Nicholls has really targeted bumpers over the last couple of years. The Ditcheat handler had 18 individual bumper winners last season and already has one under his belt for the current campaign.
It’s clear that we won’t see the very best of Captain Bellamy until he starts jumping obstacles but he could have the engine required to be very useful in this sphere. Representing the connections of the third in 2023’s Champion Bumper, he is certainly one to watch this season.
Captain Bellamy @ 25-1 (Champion Bumper) 1pt win
Ballyburn (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle) @ 7-1 (2pts win)
Blazing Khal (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase) @ 20-1 (1pt win)
Wrappedupinmay (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle) @ 33-1 (1pt win)
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.