Cheltenham 2014 : JCB Triumph and Albert Bartlett Betting

The fourth and final day of the Cheltenham Fesitval is all about the Gold Cup though they are couple of other bi graces taking place. Here is our guide to the JCB Triumph Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle.

13:30 JCB TRIUMPH HURDLE

The Paul Nicholls runner Calipto heads the amrket for the JCB Triumph Hurdle at 7/2. The trainer has a decent record here in recent years in this race winning it in 2011 with Zarkandar and also in 2008 with Celestial Halo. He saddles the four-year-old Calipto who comes here on the back of two successive victories at Newbury. This recent form is a good trend for backers of the favourite as 17 of the last 20 winners of this race were winners last time out.

Next in the betting comes Broughton at 11/2 and the John Feruson runner is another last time out winner. That victory came on Ferbuary 2nd which is important as this puts the horse within the recent run record. In 1992 Zaynar won this race after a 55 day absence and this is the longest absence from the track of a winner of this race.

Guitar Pete is the 7/1 third favourite and this horse warmed up for this with a win in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. This is an important race as the last three winners of this contest have gone on to finish in the top two here. In 2012 Countrywide Flame finished third in that race and went on to win this at 33/1 so consider the second and third from this year Tiger Roll (8/1) and Plinth (12/1). Nicky Henderson is top dog when it comes to this race having trained the winner five times and he is represented by two here, Royal Irish Hussar (9/1) and Kentucky Hyden (25/1).

Eight of the last nine winners of this race have come in the first four of the betting while only one of the favourites has won the race. Three of the last seven winners of the race were top rated and this points me towards Guitar Pete who as stated before also won the crucial warm up for this at Leopardstown.

RECOMMENDATION: Guitar Pete to win, best available price, bet365

14:40 ALBERT BARTLETT NOVICES HURDLE

Briar Hill is the 11/8 favourite for the winning conbination of Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins in the Albert Bartlett on Friday. The six-year-old is five wins from five runs with one of these victories coming at the Festival last year in the Wetherbys Champion Bumper. On the neagtive side for the favourite is that Mullins has never had the winner of this race though will never have a better chance. On the positive side Cheltenham form is a huge positive for this race with five of the last seven winners having won at the course before.

The second favourite is Kings Palace who is another course and distance winner and comes in at 7/2. The David Pipe runner is a two time course winner with both these victories coming this season. The victory in the Bristol Novices Hurdle is a good sign for backers as the trend has shown that two of the last six winners of this race won this previously, with two others of the six having finished second and third.

Only once in the last nine years has a winner gone off at double figures and the rest of the field are all quoted at double figures or higher. Of these I like the look of Captain Cutter, Champagne West and Deputy Dan. The best though is to take Kings Palace who to me just showed that little more than Briar Hill on their recent runs and will go off at a bigger price.

RECOMMENDATION: Kings Palace to win, best available price, bet365

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13/03/2014     © Frixo 2026