Cheltenham Festival 2026 Preview 2 : Antepost Angle - DigiRacing

The race that gets the festival underway. Usually, it is run at a fast pace and for betting purposes, usually one that gets the juices flowing with bookmaker vs punter. Last year the punter struck first blow, backing Kopek Des Bordes off the boards, sending him off at 4/6 and the Mullins hot pot delivered to raucous scenes.

This year, the current antepost favourite isn’t trained by Willie Mullins, in fact you must go to 4th in the market for a Mullins horse to appear and he isn’t even assured to run in the race. Mighty Park is currently around 15/2 for the Supreme but is favourite at 7/2 for the Turners. He was a very easy winner of a maiden hurdle in January, beating Roc Dino by 38 lengths that day. El Cairos, who shortened for the race despite falling over Christmas, only beat that yardstick by 3 lengths at Thurles more recently. We could be left looking at Leader Dallier at double figure odds on the day for a Willie Mullins horse. We will be all left looking silly if that were the case and the horse went on to win!

For me though, there are horses in here that have shown more and two of them are even bigger prices than Leader Dallier. They are Idaho Sun, who burst the bubble of Mydaddypaddy on Boxing Day by retaining his unbeaten record over hurdles in the Grade 1 Formby at Aintree. I don’t think the omission of hurdles affected the result and he would be a horse to keep onside going forward.

Sober Glory is a horse that was selected in the DigiRacing 5 to follow for the season that we produced in partnership with Bookies Bonuses and apart from 1 blip at Sandown, which is a headscratcher for everyone as nothing came to light for the poor run, he has been very impressive on the eye. He hasn’t made the step up to graded company but has given weight away in two novice wins since the Sandown defeat. I am a little surprised that he isn’t being aimed at the Turners, as I think he will need a little further in time, but he deserves to take his chance.

The other two horses that have impressed me this season so far are Talk The Talk and Old Park Star. The former is a flashy horse that both Dawn & I fell in love with at Fairyhouse when he won there. You can’t miss him with his 4 white socks and he gained Grade 1 glory at the Dublin Racing Festival in a tight photo finish, which was well deserved after he stumbled and fell on landing when having the race at his mercy in a Grade 1 at Christmas. He would be the most decorated horse in the lineup if it wasn’t for that and he has to go close.

Old Park Star looks like a horse out of the ordinary. We were in Tenerife watching from the TV when he won at Cheltenham in December and immediately, I put him to our members at 16/1 for this race. I am so glad I did as what he did in the Grade 2 at Haydock was freakish too. Nicky Henderson will be hoping this horse can follow in the footsteps of Altior & Constitution Hill and become a Supreme winner that goes on to be something special. We are hoping so too.

The Turners has produced staying types in the past, but last years race was won by The New Lion who is currently the favourite for the Champion Hurdle. This year the market is headed by another JP McManus owned horse in Mighty Park who we spoke about in the Supreme preview above. It is hard to know exactly who will line up in the race at this stage but there is one that is pretty much assured to be there all being well. That horse is the Paul Nicholls trained No Drama This End. I was on the fence prior to his run at Newbury as I wanted to see with my own eyes whether the hype in the media was justified. 

I can say it was, and his victory in the Challow deserves to have him vying for favourtism for this race. Challow winners don’t have a great record at the festival though, but if any horse can buck the trend, it is this gorgeous grey.

My main fancy for this race is the Gigginstown owned, Gordon Elliott trained Ballyfad. Currently he is an 8/1 chance NRNB and he was the horse that was just beaten in the photo finish by Talk The Talk at the DRF. He clearly has the pace to be top class at 2 miles, and has proven that at the top level, however I feel he will unlock even more improvement when stepping up in trip, he has already won a 3-mile PTP.

We must mention I’ll Sort That who won the Grade 1 Ballymore (formerly the Lawlors), which is a race that produces Cheltenham Festival winners aplenty. He is unbeaten over hurdles and would likely be a much shorter price if he wasn’t trained and ridden by Declan Queally.

Another couple that are big prices that could be of interest are Kripticjim, who has some strong form in the book and was a winner at the course in a race that was pretty much run in the dark in January. Also Act Of Innocence, who had a lofty reputation somewhat quashed by suffering defeat on Challow hurdle day. He was giving lots of weight that day though and has won since. Owned by the same people that have Old Park Star and so it is likely he will run in this as opposed to lining two up in the supreme. 

Many were waiting for DRF to see if Willie Mullins was going to unleash anything of note for Cheltenham. It was a horse for this race that I thought did just that. Doctor Steinberg ploughed through the mud to win very impressively, and he is still available at 3/1 to back for this race. 

It is still a very open betting race with many horses not confirmed. The weather is playing havoc too and there will be a few horses that may take up the option of the Turners Novices instead as this will become a real attritional test of stamina if it comes up soft or heavy.

Another Willie Mullins horse that has been on my radar is Sortudo. He finished 7th in the Champion Bumper last year and looks a horse that will need a bigger test of stamina, even though he does have some speed too. He beat J’alon Doudaries on hurdle debut very easily and looked the winner of the Grade 1 Ballymore at Naas, before running around a little and being beaten by I’ll Sort That. He had beaten that horse in a bumper the previous season and it is always a race to pluck horses out from, even if they haven’t won. He is still 14/1, and if he turns up on the day I would be a big fan of him.

This year’s Arkle Chase could be one of the races of the festival. We need to say that quietly though, and hope that the horses get to the race safe and sound. We also don’t know yet if Romeo Coolio is going to line up here, in the Browns or take a bigger leap and move out of open company into the Ryanair, as you would probably think that the in between trip of 2 ½ miles would be perfect. His battle with Kargese at Leopardstown was superb and he showed what an outstanding horse he is.

Kargese is shorter in the betting, but this is only down to the fact that she is more likely to run in the race at this stage. She has class, but I don’t think she would be up to beating the boys here.

The top of the market is tight, and rightly so. Lulamba did step out of novice company to win at Newbury in style last time in the Game Spirit. He is another that should see out the trip well and we saw him win in the Henry VIII at Sandown stylishly.

Kopek Des Bordes is a horse that there has been so much talk about. He won his chase debut as expected in November but hasn’t been seen on a racecourse since. That is unless you count the two times that Dawn & I have been there to see him gallop after racing. He looked very good in both workouts and from that you can see that unless he gets another setback, he will line up on the Tuesday. Quite honestly, it is impossible to pick between the two of them at this stage and like I said, it is a race to savour.

While doing the write-ups for the novice races in this piece, it must be said how open they all are this year. Something that we probably wouldn’t have said in the past few years. Competitive racing is what we all want, and it will be interesting to see how the markets shape up over the next 10 days.

Many people, including myself thought the Browns would be almost a procession when watching Final Demand make his debut over fences. It was a fantastic display of jumping and he rightly went straight into favouritism for this race after that. He won by 8 lengths at Limerick over Christmas, but many weren’t as impressed and the runner up Gold Dancer hasn’t done anything to boost that form. He then finished 3rd of 4 at the DRF, with Kaid d’Authie running out an impressive winner that day. The JP McManus owned horse was one I had bookmarked as a stayer in the making when he finished 2nd to Kitzbuhel over 2m3f at Punchestown in November. Kitzbuhel is likely to skip Cheltenham and looks a horse for the King George next season.

We don’t know if Romeo Coolio will be running in this race. If it was me, I wouldn’t want him taking on this trip so early in his chasing career as it can leave its mark on horses for the future. The ground would likely need to be fast enough for him to take his chance.

Kitzbuhel form ties in with Wendigo from Kempton, and in that race, Wendigo was off the bridle after a circuit. He stayed on to be 3rd that day and then went on to give weight and a beating to 2 rivals at Ayr. He has also won a Grade 2 at Newbury, finding the tactics to his liking when Regents Stroll & King Of Kingsfield set a strong gallop.

The Big Westerner will get the mares allowance in here and is one that we have seen run well and win in the flesh this winter. Another horse that was impressive in the flesh was Oscars Brother when winning as he liked in attritional conditions at Navan.
If the ground does come up soft, I would be a fan at big each-way prices of Salver. He started his season over an inadequate trip at Exeter behind Lulamba but soon made amends when stepping up to 3 miles at Sandown. The ground and track were too quick for him at Kempton, but he then won at Windsor in a Grade 2, staying on late to win by 4 ½ lengths.
It is a puzzle that everyone will be looking to piece together and I would have to nail my mast to Kaid d’Dauthie at around 6/1 and if the ground was very soft, Salver would be very much at the forefront of my mind.

Next week we will look to tackle some of the handicaps and you will also be able to watch Dawn & I preview the Festival on YouTube, with 2 videos coming your way. Just make sure to check out the channel at @DigiRacingOfficial, subscribe & get notifications on so you don’t miss out.