It’s never too early to start thinking about Cheltenham and our ante-post tipping series is well underway. We’ve got a 25-1 tip for the opening race of the Festival for you to consider this week. The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle provides a cracking atmosphere with the famous roar as the tapes go up. It’s also a key pointer for finding the champions of the future. With this in mind, Liam Bramall has picked out one horse who could have a very bright future ahead of him. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Jeriko Du Reponet had one start in an Irish point and he could hardly have been more impressive. The fourth boosted the form by winning its next start and he should be winning plenty of races under rules. Nicky Henderson is completely enamoured by this horse and it’s fair to say he’s excited to unleash him.
His comments in a recent Racing Post stable tour were particularly enlightening. Henderson said: “He looks special – he’s stunning – and won his point easily. He’s the sort of horse you dream about and looks pretty mature so should be ready for hurdling. He’s an outstanding prospect.”
The Lambourn-based trainer has won three of the last eight renewals of the Supreme Novices’, with Altior, Shishkin and most recently, Constitution Hill. It’s fair to say he knows what’s required to claim victory in this race and if Jeriko Du Reponet is anywhere near as good as Henderson thinks he is, the horse won’t be 25-1 in March.
Jeriko Du Reponet @ 25-1 (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) 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)
Captain Bellamy (Champion Bumper) @ 25-1 (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.