Cheltenham Betting
The Arkle Chase - Cheltenham Tuesday
• Respect the top rated hurdler.
• 21 of the last 22 winners had finished first or second in all completed chase races.
• Favorites have a poor record.
• Usually discount runners aged 8 or older.
• Respect French bred horses (7 wins from last 15 races from less than 23% representation).
• Your selection should have finished 1st or 2nd last time out.
• No more than 5 races over fences 10/10.
• SP not bigger than 11.0
There’s a decent race in store here and some people will strongly fancy Captain Cee Bee, the current favourite, as he should be on race day unless some mishap occurs.
The current price of 7/2 would not interest me, especially when there can be doubts over his jumping ability; he fell 2 runs ago and was not very smart last time out.
If he gets his act together he will certainly have as good a chance as any of winning this contest. I know some people have decent priced ante-post bets on this one and would be quietly confident. If he jumps well he has a leading chance.
The Arkle is sure to find out if a horse can jump and jump at speed, and that’s what is required here.
The one that stands out to me is Riverside Theatre who won his last 2 races in quite impressive style; he jumps very well and is put away until race day by Henderson, who knows what it takes to win this event.
When Riverside Theatre won at Kempton over 2 miles on good to soft ground by 12 lengths, easing down at the finish, he entered calculations for this race.
He may be even better on good racing ground on the day; some people may discount this horse to be a flat track performer, but I disagree, and this one could be the surprise package come race day.
Somersby is another who is an impressive jumper and warrants a second look in the betting market. He looked well when beating Crack Away Jack at Sandown last time out.
Sizing Europe has done nothing wrong and I feel him and Captain Cee Bee could beat each other on different days on different tracks.
So I have to come back to Riverside Theatre as a win / place bet at a nice price (currently 8/1) to surprise a few people.
Selection: Riverside Theatre 2 pts win and 1.5 pts place @ 9/1
