Cheltenham Festival tips: Antepost betting preview for the 2021 National Hunt Chase
Matt Brocklebank turns his attention to Cheltenham's National Hunt Chase and reckons Gordon Elliott can add to his impressive record in the race.
Racing betting tips: Cheltenham Festival antepost
1pt win Escaria Ten in National Hunt Chase at 14/1 (Hills, bet365)
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Gordon Elliott’s ESCARIA TEN (14/1 Hills, bet365) has earned a shot at the National Hunt Chase and looks a value alternative to stablemate and 7/2 favourite Galvin in the antepost Cheltenham Festival market.
Elliott – who won the race for a fourth time courtesy of Ravenhill last March – has a total of six possible entries at the time of writing but, with Coko Beach and Run Wild Fred holding obvious handicap options elsewhere at the meeting and Braeside not really coming up to scratch, it should pay to focus on the aforementioned duo, plus Pencilfulloflead.
Escaria Ten was on Wednesday given a single handicap entry at the Festival in the Ultima, but won’t look thrown in there (BHA rating of 147 having been given an entry at Warwick last week) and he seems equally as unlikely to take the Grade One route.
Pencilfulloflead has a few questions to answer himself, having been beaten six and a half lengths by Escaria Ten in a Grade Three at Naas at the end of January, and it could be the Elliott pair bumped into something special there in the Henry De Bromhead-trained Eklat De Rire.
The talented winner jumped superbly and made every post a winning one under a canny Rachael Blackmore ride, effectively booking his date with Monkfish in the Grade One Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase on day two of the Festival in the process, but it was the runner-up who caught the eye with this race in mind.
Escaria Ten never really looked like winning that day, especially after jumping slightly to the right two fences from the finish, but he was good at the last and kept galloping resolutely all the way to the line to be beaten just under two lengths.
It was probably a career best from the sizeable seven-year-old – at least matching the form of his bloodless victory at Thurles in December – and he’s evidently loved the step up to three miles-plus the last twice, having found things happening all to quickly on chasing debut when fifth behind Monkfish at Fairyhouse in November.
That was a strong race, not just the winner who is very much on the path to stardom, but Sams Profile and Diol Ker were third and fourth respectively and have since fought out the finish to the Grade Two Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park.
So Escaria Ten is progressing quite rapidly and it’s obviously hoped he learned a great deal from his first taste of Cheltenham when ending up 15th of 23 in the Martin Pipe last March. Dropping back in trip having won two hurdle races over further last January, he suffered a troubled passage on that occasion but wasn’t really up to it anyway at that stage.
He’s stepped up measurably this time around and although a relatively dry long-range weather forecasts hints that conditions may be more to the liking of Galvin that the selection, day one Cheltenham ground (good to soft at best) will hold no fears at all and another steep rise in trip to three miles, five furlongs looks tailor made for this individual. He is readily preferred and there’s no issue with the 14/1 with Hills and bet365 given this looks his only logical target.
Another point worth considering is that, following the news regarding amateur jockeys not being permitted to ride at this year's Festival, Adrian Heskin - retained rider to the McNeill Family - looks set to come in for the ride on Escaria Ten and that could be a decent little boost for his backers given he's ridden the horse twice over hurdles, being successful on both occasions.
Galvin could continue his association with Robbie Power, who got on well with him when winning at the Showcase Meeting at the start of the season, though he's typically been the mount of Davy Russell in the past and Jack Kennedy may also be in line for the ride.
Published at 1415 GMT on 24/02/21
More Cheltenham Festival previews & tips
Matt is assessing the 2021 Cheltenham Festival markets and will be publishing his antepost previews in the build-up to the big meeting over the coming weeks. Click here or on the image below for the full schedule.
Already advised...
Wednesday February 17
1pt win Dame De Compagnie in Mares’ Hurdle at 8/1 (NRNB)
Wednesday February 10
1pt win Tritonic in JCB Triumph Hurdle at 12/1
Wednesday February 3
Wednesday January 27
Wednesday January 20
Wednesday January 13
Wednesday January 6
Monday November 16
Wednesday November 25
Wednesday December 23
Wednesday December 16
- 1.5pt win Ronald Pump in Stayers’ Hurdle at 20/1 & 0.5pts win Honest Vic in Stayers’ Hurdle at 100/1
Wednesday December 9
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