Cheltenham Festival Thursday Tips |
Irish NH Tips

Thursday’s Cheltenham Festival tips begin with Teahupoo who comes here as the reigning and defending champion of the three miles hurdling division and he will take some stopping here again this time around.

He's the model of consistency and rarely runs a bad race. He goes very well fresh and is a thorough stayer at the trip, but he also possesses a touch of class. He jumps well and has winning form against most of his rivals in here. He's the standard bearer and I can't see him beaten. Of the short priced runners this week he's of the most reliable to my mind. I'd struggle to see him beat.

This horse has been a real eyecatcher so far this season over fences. He's been running some decent races in some nice novice events without ever really threatening. That said, I don't think he has been overexerting himself possibly with getting a lenient handicap mark in mind.

He's a classy horse on his day who travels really well. He's the perfect ride in a race like this for Derek O'Connor. He can take his time and creep away and I find it hard to see how he doesn't play a major role here at the business end of the race. A mark of 140 looks fair and with a bit of luck he won't be far away.

This horse was a slow burner in his early career taking 10 runs to finally get off the mark, but he did the business in a Leopardstown handicap over Christmas, and he hasn't looked back since. He got 6lbs for his win that day but that wasn't enough to stop him as he duly followed up at the Dublin Racing Festival in good style.

He gets in here off a mark of 134 and he seems to really be progressing at last. He's a strong stayer over two miles so this step up to two and a half shouldn't be an issue for him. He's got a lovely racing weight; he's fit and well, and in tremendous form. He should be well capable of making the frame here at a double figure price and who knows he might scoop the lot.

*Information correct at time of writing. 18+ only. GambleAware.