Cheltenham Festival Day 1 Lucky 15 Tips – Four selections for a Tuesday Lucky 15 at Cheltenham (£1 Lucky 15 Returns £3299)

The traditional Cheltenham roar may be ‘canned’ this year but, with ITV Racing broadcasting six races live, the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival should still give us plenty to shout about and a winning lucky 15 would be one of them.

Tuesday’s action gets underway at 1.20pm but our lucky 15 tip doesn’t start until the later races. The first bet comes from the big race of the day, the Champion Hurdle and the other three selections are from the subsequent three races, ending with the National Hunt Chase at 4.50pm.

 

3.05pm: Champion Hurdle – Epatante

In the Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (3:05), defending champion Epatante (7/2 with William Hill) was turned over at long odds-on in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, but had previously looked at least as good as ever when quickening clear to win the Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle. She has an 80-day absence to overcome but, following treatment on a sore back, trainer Nicky Henderson declared himself ‘very, very happy’ with her final serious piece of work last week. Drying ground holds no terrors for her and, at the odds on offer, looks decent value to get us off to a flying start.

 

3.40pm: Mares Hurdle – Roksana

The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (3:40) is, numerically, the least competitive race of the day and may provide an opportunity for Roksana (3/1 with William Hill) to win her third race in four starts this season. She was beaten, but far from disgraced, by Paisley Park and Thyme Hill in the Grade One Porsche Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December and recorded comfortable victories in Grade Two contests on either side of that effort. She finished fourth, beaten 12 lengths, behind Champion Hurdle favourite Honeysuckle in this race last year, having won it the year before, so she shouldn’t be inconvenienced by dropping back in distance.

 

4.15pm: Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – Nassalam

The Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4:15) is, as ever, fiercely competitive. However, Nassalam (18/1 with William Hill) has done little wrong in four starts for Gary Moore and may be capable of conceding weight to all bar one of his rivals. Time may tell that he caught a ‘tartar’ when proving no match for the unbeaten Monmiral at Haydock last month and his earlier form bears close inspection. His 2½-length defeat by Adagio in the Grade One Coral Finale Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Chepstow makes interesting reading in the context of this race and, while he has yet to encounter going faster than ‘soft’, there’s no evidence to suggest that he’s an out-and-out mudlark.

 

4.50pm: National Hunt Chase – Next Destination

Following the defection of Royale Pagaille, who runs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup instead, the Sam Vestey National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase (4:50) has taken on a different complexion and Next Destination (4/1 with William Hill) looks fair value to maintain his 100% record over fences. Formerly a Grade One-winning hurdler for Willie Mullins, the 9-year-old has taken to the larger obstacles like the proverbial ‘duck to water’ for new trainer Paul Nicholls. He coped nicely with the stiff fences at Newbury on his chasing debut and again jumped well when winning at Warwick last time so, as officially the best horse in the race, he has bright prospects.

 

Cheltenham Day 1 Lucky 15 Tip

• Epatante (3:05)
• Roksala (3:40)
• Nassalam (4:15)
• Next Destination (4.50)

£1 win lucky 15 returns up to £5923 at William Hill.

 

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