Ante-post Cheltenham Festival: Two horses to back at decent prices

National Hunt racing fans always have one eye on the Cheltenham Festival but, with the March showpiece fast approaching, it will soon be two.

The ante-post markets are well informed at this time of year, as we’ve seen plenty of trials and the leading candidates for the big races have emerged and established themselves.

Our expert has picked out his best ante-post Cheltenham Festival picks as things stand. The horse in question is a bona fide contender for Day three’s Stayers’ Hurdle and there could be more to come from the thoroughly progressive sort.

Stayers’ Hurdle - Impose Toi @ 11/2

Nicky Henderson has won most of the big races at the Cheltenham Festival many times in the last couple of decades, but it has been 25 years since he last won the Stayers’ Hurdle. Impose Toi could be the horse to end his long wait for victory.

The eight-year-old has improved with every run so far this season and he’s fancied to continue on an upward trajectory. Runner-up in last year’s Coral Cup, the winner was particularly well handicapped but he stuck to his task well.

This season has been an impressive one so far and the step up to three miles has facilitated a significant amount of improvement. He began the season with a comfortable success in handicap company at Aintree and it’s no surprise that he has gone up in grade since then.

Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle was next on the agenda and Impose Toi showed a good attitude to get the better of Strong Leader Confirming the form in the Long Walk at Ascot last month, that was a strong race and the fourth went on to win his next start.

Leading Stayers’ Hurdle contender Honesty Policy was back in third that day, so the form suggests that Henderson’s gelding is a serious candidate for the big race in March.

It’s likely that he will need to take another step forward as there will probably be at least two previous winners of the race in the line-up, but confidence is high and his profile suggests that further progress could well be on the cards.

Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase - Wingmen @ 25/1

Gordon Elliott ’s novice chaser Wingmen could be well suited by handicaps and, although he’s yet to win over fences, this race prevents a good opportunity to do so.

A race like the Martin Pipe would have been ideal for him at last year’s Festival, although connections opted to go for the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle instead.

They’re unlikely to make the same mistake two years in-a-row and the trip will be perfect.

He was competitive in some of the top novice hurdles last season and chased home the impressive Final Demand when second at the Dublin Racing Festival. Placing in all three starts over fences this season, he has bumped into some smart prospects.

Final Demand was in opposition again on seasonal debut at Navan and he ran well to finish second. Interestingly, he has been entered in the trial for this race at Cheltenham on Saturday and a big run there would surely shrink his price significantly.