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Cheltenham Ryanair Chase

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Ryanair Chase Preview

The Ryanair Chase is a competitive race over 2m 5 f and is run at 2:40 on Cheltenham Festival Thursday. The winner of the 2010 encounter will be in esteemed company with Imperial Commander winning in 2009 and Our Vic in 2008. This year’s prize fund is £250k, which might explain early entry from 43 runners. If you are new to online betting and want to get the best deal around then check out the free bets table at the foot of the page.

Expect no more than 10-12 to take to the starting line on race day. This is only the sixth time that the race has been run, having only been a fixture since the festival was extended to 4 days. The race has only been grade 1 since 2008, when it is thought that those not quite good enough to challenge Kauto Star and Denman should have a ‘best of the rest’ race. Interestingly 5 of the 5 winners have all come it at SP of 6/1 or lower.

The 2010 field sports last year’s hot favourite at the post, Voy Por Ustedes, but he can expect to go off at 8/1 for this year’s encounter. Recent poor outings in November at Ascot (3rd in a field of 8. Jumping way off rhythm) and in December at  Leopardstown (6th from 11) has seen him drift in the betting. Don’t be surprised to see him well supported by nostalgic bettors on the day of the race if the ground is hard.

Online Betting Preview

Poquelin heads the betting market this year in what is, as ever, a top class field. The Walsh / Nicholls combo will be hoping to follow up their performance in December’s Cheltenham meeting where Poquelin ran out a comfortable winner in good company to win the Gold Cup. This is a classy performer on it’s day but too many inconsistenncies for me in the past are offputting at such a low price of 4/1.

Hennessy Gold Cup winner, Joncol, will attract plenty of support in the market from the fanatical Irish bettors but I think that the value could lie elsewhere in a fascinating encounter.  I am going to plump some of my hard earned winnings (hopefully) on Barbers shop, the Nicky Henderson trained horse, who is just short of Gold Cup quality but has run respectable efforts in recent outings against Kauto Star and Denman.

We hope that you find our Cheltenham Ryanair Chase preview article helpful. Please let us know your thoughts in our comments section and tell us your betting tips. Check out our free bets guide below for the deals available to Geniebet readers with our online betting partners.

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Cheltenham Extra Places

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Extra places at Cheltenham means better value

Genie is always searching high and low for the best deal around for the Cheltenham special offers and, in recent years, a lot of the top bookmakers have been offering Cheltenham specials such as extra places on the main races, as well as those with bigger fields. Competition among bookmakers tends to means good news for punters. If you are new to online betting and want to get the best deal around then check out the free bets table at the foot of the page.

As bookmakers try to get as many new accounts as they can on the opening days of the Cheltenham festival, it is often the Tuesday and Wednesday that are heavy loaded with extra places.

For those of you not in the know and extra place is one over and beyond the normal place terms paid on that race. For example if you have a field with 20 runners it is the industry norm to pay place terms on the first 4 horses over the line. ‘Extra Place’ special means that, for this race only, the bookie will pay out on the first 5 horses over the line.

Judging by previous years experience we should expect extra places on a selection of the following races from Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet365 and William Hill in the following Festival races.

Extra Place Races

Tuesday 16th March
13:30 Supreme Novices Hurdle (4 places)
14:05 Arkle Challenge Trophy (4 places)
15:20 Champion Hurdle (4 places)
16:40 Mares Hurdle (5 places)

Wednesday 17th March
1:30 National Hunt (4 places)
16:40 Fred Winter Handicap (5 places)
17:20 Champion Bumper (5 places)

Thursday 18th March
1:30 Novices Handicap Hurdle
16:00 Festival Plate (5 places)

Friday 19th March
13:30 Triumph Hurdle (4 places)
15:20 Cheltenham Gold Cup (4 places)
17:15 Grand Annual Chase (5 places)

We hope that you found our guide to Cheltenham extra places helpful. We will update the article with exact details of where to find these extra places on the week of the festival when online betting companies serve to outdo one another. Check out the free bets table below for the best sign-up offers around.

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Cheltenham Arkle Challenge Trophy

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Arkle Challenge Trophy Preview

The Arkle Challenge Trophy is the second race of the Cheltenham festival. Some 20 odd runners will take on the 2 mile track in class 1 company. As part of Genie’s Cheltenham online betting guide we will be previewing all of the big races in this year’s festival. If you’re thinking of having a bet check out the free bet offers at the base of the page.

Following the Supreme Novices Hurdle each year, it would be easy to fall into an anti-climax but the Arkle Challenge Trophy has typically been the most tightly fought and entertaining race of Tuesday at the festival in recent years. In 2009 ForPadyDePlasterer came in at 8/1, bringing in a massive gamble in the worst opening day for the bookies in many a year. He beat off stiff competition from Kalahari King at the line after race favourite, Tatenen, fell at the third.

Arkle Challenge Trophy Betting Guide

Captain Cee Bee heads the ante post market for 2010 at odds of 7/2 with Paddy Power. Sizing Europe is second favourite at 6/1 with Ladbrokes. Last time these 2 horses met was at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and Sizing Europe came out on top that day when Captain Cee Bee fell at the last when well in contention. The Philip Harty trained Irish runner, who won the Supreme Novices Hurdle in 2008, will have to be careful of his jumping if he wants to see of stiff competition in this classy field.

Sports Line is our ‘one to watch’ in this race. The Willie Mullins trained stead jumps like a salmon and looked massively impressive at Navan in recent times, which was followed by an encouraging run at Leopardstown where he was beaten only by the weather and the distance. Recent planned outings at Naas and elsewhere being abandoned due to weather will have hampered preparation somewhat but it may prove to be a blessing for the punters, as it will insure that you can get a tasty price with his best surely yet to come. A very juicy 14/1 is currently available with both Bet365 and William Hill.

Other favoured race entrants also include Somersby, Long Run and Riverside Theatre. We will preview the betting in full when it comes up to race time and the field has been confirmed.

We hope that you enjoyed our Arkle Challenge Trophy guide. Please keep an eye for online betting updates and tips and let us know your thoughts through our comments section below.

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Cheltenham Supreme Novices Hurdle

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As part of our Cheltenham online betting guide Genie is looking forward to the betting on the Supreme Novices Hurdle, where Dunguib heads the market, now best priced at 4/5 with Paddy Power. Be sure to check out our cheltenham free bets guide if you are thinking of having a punt.

Supreme Novice’s Hurdle Preview

Irish trained horses have been successful in 7 of the last 9 runnings of the Supreme Novices Hurdle. The festival curtain raiser often throws up a surprise, with the average winning price being 10/1 in that period.

Approximately 20 horses will set off at a frantic pace in the grade 1, 2 mile race and this year is particularly intriguing as we will be looking at one of the potential future superstars of the hurdling world. A famous roar from the Cheltenham faithful will signal that the festival gets underway and we can all take our minds off the recession for 4 days at least. All going well, we might have made enough to retire by Friday at 5pm. Don’t bank on it!

Supreme Novice’s Betting

Last year the well backed favourite Cousin Vinny was seen off by Go Native. In 2010 all of the post race attention is on the hot favourite, Dunguib, who heads the market after 8 consecutive wins; 5 since coasting to victory in the Champion Bumper last year at the Festival. Proven on the track and proven in this company means that Dunguib is well deserving of his favourite mark and if you are placing a lucky 15 on tuesday you might be well advised to put Dunguib at the top of the slip. The Philip Fenton trained 7 year old with B T O’Connell on board will be going off as the odds on favourite but this is a race that has thrown up many an unfancied winner in years gone by. Dunguib loves the heavy ground and the betting line will move to reflect the weather forecast.

We will be updating the article with latest betting odds when the starting field has been confirmed. Menorah looks set to head the ‘best of the rest’ market as trainers decide whether they would be best to avoid a head-to-head with Dunguib, in favour of a run in lesser company on another day.

We hope that you find our Cheltenham Supreme Novices Hurdle guide to be helpful. Please leave a comment to let us know your thoughts and tell us who you will be betting on. If you’re new to online betting then take a look at our free bet offers below.

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Cheltenham Gold Cup

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Cheltenham Gold Cup Preview

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the flagship event of the Cheltenham Festival and at 3 miles 2f it is quite the marathon. There will be a flurry of online betting as 2 big names go tete-a-tete. In the past 3 years it was somewhat of a 2 horse race as Kauto Star and Denman were well ahead of their rivals. This year is no different and the betting reflects the likelihood that Paul Nicholls will be going home with the trophy, one way or another.

Gold Cup Favourites

The Gold Cup pitts the 2 jewels in the Nicholls’ stable crown against one another to fight it out for the biggest prize in British fence racing. Last year’s winner Kauto Star followed up victory with wins in the Betfair Chase in November at Haydock followed by further glory at Kempton on Boxing Day in the King George VI Chase. The 10 year old gelding will of course be bidding for his third triumph in the Gold Cup, having also beaten all before him hre in 2007. Proven in all kinds of weather and footing means that Ruby Walsh and Kauto Star are sure to be in the shake up come the finish line at this year’s Gold Cup. Kauto Star is currently available at odds of 11/8 with Paddy Power.

Denman has had some ups and downs in the past year. In 2007 he won the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase which was on the back of 8 wins in his first 9 starts. This was followed up by 3 more impressive performances which included victories in the Hennessy Gold Cup, Lexus Chase and Aon Chase. He the ran out a clear 7 length winner over Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and then there was ‘potential best of all time’ talk before the news broke that Denman needed to get treatment for an irregular heartbeat. The laws of chance had conspired against Denman and, just when things couldn’t have been going better.

A lacklustre display leading up to last years festival and with massive question marks over his health Denman went off at the 13/2 second favourite. He ran an brave race but looked a shadow of himself when comfortably beaten into second by Kauto Star. However all is not lost and the latest twist in the saga is that, with Ruby Walsh on board he ran out a clear winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup in November. A P McCoy saddled him for the first time in the Aon Chase just last week and he was unseated during the race after going off as a red hot favourite. This offers no real help to me in making a decision in the Gold Cup. His jumping is not a concern and the unseating should not be read into too deeply. Whether indeed he will be at his very best for the festival or whether he is still feeling the effects of that irregular heartbeat is still very much up in the air.

Gold Cup Betting Guide

I have not yet made my mind up. I know that Denman on his day is the pick of the 2 but don’t have enough to go on to believe that he can rekindle the flame and run out clear winner for a second time in 3 years. I’ll possibly have a small bet on this one but nothing major. It’s one of the very few horse races that I am happy to just sit back and enjoy for the most part.

Such is the expected dominance of the Nicholls yard in this race that Imperial Commander is deemed ‘best of the rest’ and is available at 14/1.

This concludes our preview of the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup. If you would like to have a bet then check out our free bets table below which will link you through to the best sign up offers around. Our  Online Betting Guide is a must read for those gearing up for the festival.

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