I love the Cheltenham Festival as much as the next betting man but what I can’t stand is all the false hype – seven sleeps to Cheltenham, give me strength. Punters are not five-year-olds and it’s not Christmas! However, now is probably a good time to take a look at the betting specials surrounding The Festival.
The possibility of soft or heavy going at Cheltenham next week will have several trainers looking to the heavens. Now that the snow has melted, the going is currently described as soft, good to soft in places by clerk of the course Simon Claisse. Up to 20mm of rain is expected over the next seven days so conditions are unlikely to get much quicker before the tapes go up on the first race. Betfred are offering 8/11 that the going is good to soft on the opening day and 5/4 that soft ground is reported. Any other scenario looks unlikely given the weather forecast for the area.
There are several markets in which you can bet on the number of winners that top trainers will record. William Hill offer 6/4 that Gordon Elliott will saddle five winners or more and the same odds that Nicky Henderson will do the same. Willie Mullins is Evens with William Hill to manage at least six winners over the four days of The Festival but expectations for the Paul Nicholls are more modest. The former champion trainer is only 3/1 not to manage a single winner.
Unsurprisingly, Mullins is the favourite to be Top Trainer. His great Irish rival Elliott is only a general 2/1, however, with the Henderson stable priced up at 9/4 by Unibet. The same firm have Ruby Walsh as their 4/6 favourite to be Top Jockey with Barry Geraghty at 5/1 and young Jack Kennedy at 6/1.
There are also odds on the total number of Irish-trained winners as well as which race at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival will produce the biggest winning margin.
