Cheltenham Festival Champion Bumper Tips 2024 – 5.30pm Wednesday 13th March
Our 2024 Champion Bumper tips for the Cheltenham Festival come from Adam O’Brien who has picked out two bets for the last race on Wednesday.
It has often been a starting point for potential superstars such as Cue Card and Envoi Allen, who have both won the race in 2010 and 2019 respectively.
Read our Champion Bumper betting tips below and the two each-way picks for the race, using the bet365 NRNB promotion meaning you get your stake back if your horse doesn’t run.
Champion Bumper Ante-post Betting Tips
Yet another race where the Irish have dominated in recent years (23 of the last 30) with the last UK winner coming in 2016. The King Willie Mullins has amassed 12 winners of the race including 4 of the last 6 and he’s always the best place to start when trying to pick apart the race.
This year’s race is as wide open a Champion Bumper as I can remember and the market confirms that with no stand out at the top of the betting odds. It’s congested with the top 5 separated by only 1 point on the Oddschecker grid. With only 3 weeks to go until the race it is rare that there’s no obvious number 1 from Closutton or a horse that has stamped their authority on the division, like we’ve seen in recent times.
The top end of the market didn’t have the best record up until 2019 but since then 2 favs and 2 2nd favs have taken the last 5 renewals so even though there’s no obvious favourite at the time of writing, it’s likely that the winner will come from a fancied horse on the day.
7 of the last 8 winners had won a listed/graded bumper before heading to Cheltenham. That stat looks like being kicked into touch with no graded winner likely to be in this field. The market leaders have won races but in much weaker contests than they might have previously. Maughreen, Jasmin De Vaux and Jalon Doudairies have all won well and looked impressive but we don’t know how that form stacks up against graded animals so we need to be cautious on them.
Usually, the best trial for this is the Grade 2 at the DRF. The winner of that contest often goes to the top of the betting after that and that’s what happened this year when Jeroboam Machin was an impressive winner. Unfortunately for connections that horse was ruled out for the season the week after and left the race wide open once again. We haven’t seen anything new in Ireland since the DRF and I believe all the form we have now is all we will have until the race concludes.
The shortest-priced Brit in the betting takes us to Teeshan. The same connections as last year’s 3rd (Captain Teague), he was seen bolting up on debut in a Class 2 at Exeter 2 weekends ago and is the only horse to have added any form to the race since the DRF. He had been a huge talking horse leading up to that race after he won his only P2P by 41 lengths last year. He wouldn’t be without a chance but he’s not certain to turn up with trainer Paul Nicholls suggesting that he could wait for Aintree.
Experience seems key in the Champion Bumper with 6 of the last 10 winners having run in at least 3 bumpers before the Cheltenham Festival. That’s not good news for the well-touted Romeo Coolio. It’s no secret how highly those at Cullentra think of him but he’s had a disturbed campaign with setbacks which has resulted in him only seeing a racecourse once. Even though he’s sure to improve for that debut, he wasn’t as impressive as he might have been and it is difficult to know what that form is worth. The one-time ante-post favourite has a chance but you would have to be trusting the hype to be confident in him with the lack of experience he has under his belt.
Other horses who have only had 1 run include previously mentioned Jasmin De Vaux, Maughreen & Teeshan whilst Jalon Doudairies has only had 2 starts under rules. Those horses will go to Cheltenham with minimal experience, on top of no graded form and that would worry me, especially as they occupy the top of the market.
I want to be backing experience and graded form in this and that is why I believe You Oughta Know and The Yellow Clay will be my plays in the race. Both these horses will head to Cheltenham with 3 bumper starts to their name. You Oughta Know has had a campaign that started in the summer where he beat Albert Bartlett prospect Croke Park. He then had time off and returned to the track for the bumper at the DRF where he ran well and only had the impressive Jeroboam Machin in front of him. With that race being a key trial and strong form, and with the winner a non-runner, he has a great chance for our Champion Bumper tips. It will be interesting to see what Patrick rides and if he chooses him over Maughreen (if she goes) and Jasmin De Vaux then I think he might well go off favourite.
The Yellow Clay has a similar profile as he got his bumper experience in early too. He won 2 bumpers last March as a 4-year-old before having a 314-day break and returning at the DRF in the above-mentioned race. He was sent off an unfancied 40/1 there but was the horse to take out of the race after coming home strongly to finish 4th despite being hampered and pushed back. He was only 2 ½ lengths behind the 2nd You Oughta Know and I think he will come on loads for that run, off that break.
Both horses offer great value to me and are worth backing now.
Follow Adam on Twitter for more Cheltenham ante-post thoughts.
Champion Bumper Each-way Tips 2024
Back You Oughta Know 1 pt EW at 9/1 (bet365 ante-post price)
Back The Yellow Clay 1 pt EW at 14/1 (bet365 ante-post price)
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Champion Bumper Trends
- Age – 11 of the last 12 winners were aged 5 or 6.
- Price – 2 of the last 12 favorites winners were favourites, 5/12 winners were in the top 3 in the betting.
- Last Run – 12 of the last 12 winners won on their previous run before the Champion Bumper, 6/12 winners ran within the last 39 days.
- Previous Course Form – 2/12 winners had at least 1 previous run at Cheltenham, 2/12 winners had 1 previous win at Cheltenham.
- Previous Distance Form – 11/12 winners had at least 1 run over 15-17 furlongs, 10/12 winners had at least 2 previous runs over 15-17 furlongs, 11/12 had a previous win over 15-17 furlongs.
- Previous NH Flat Form – 10/12 winners had at least 2 previous NH flat runs, 12/12 winners had at least 1 previous flat win.
- Rating – 12/12 winners were rated 118 or higher.
- Season Form – 12/12 winners had at least 1 run and 1 win that season.
Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Tips
| Race | Tip | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1.20pm - Turners Novices' Hurdle | Kawaboomga (ew) | 8/1 |
| 2.00pm - Brown Advisory Novice Chase | Dancing City | 3/1 |
| 2.40pm - Coral Cup | ||
| 3.20pm - Cross Country Chase | ||
| 4.00pm - Queen Mother Champion Chase | Jonbon | 5/6 |
| 4.40pm - Grand Annual Chase | ||
| 5.20pm - Champion Bumper |
