‘Beginning to bear fruit’ - Three ante-post Cheltenham Festival tips

With less than a month to go we’ll soon be running out of opportunities for ante-post betting, but the preliminary entries for the handicaps were made this week, so now is the perfect time to take a closer look at some of the potentially well handicapped horses.

Here are three ante-post tips and they include a Joseph O’Brien-trained runner in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, a race which he has won three times in the last decade and that includes the last two renewals.

Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle - Glen To Glen @ 20/1

The Fred Winter is such a competitive handicap and the weights are congested, any small advantage can make a big difference.

With that in mind, it’s often a good idea to look for improving horses who could still be ahead of the handicapper.

One such entry is the Joseph O’Brien-trained Glen To Glen. This four-year-old has had three starts to date and, although he struggled a bit in his first couple of runs, he took a massive step forward to get off the mark at Cork in December.

O’Brien’s gelding wasn’t guaranteed to win and Manoir De Mirande was going well enough when one length ahead before falling at the last.

It was a significantly improved effort however and if progressing well again, he should still be ahead of the handicapper.

Ultima Handicap Chase - Herakles Westwood @ 25/1

Warren Greatrex has invested heavily in recent years and those labors are beginning to bear fruit.

The current campaign has been a pretty good one so far and it could be even better if he can land a Cheltenham Festival winner or two.

Handicaps present the best possible opportunities for him and Herakles Westwood is progressing into a smart staying chaser.

He won a decent handicap on the new course here on New Years’ Day and managed to get the better of the very useful Katate Dori that day.

It’s noted that the handicapper didn’t overreact and responded with only a small rise.

Herakles Westwood didn’t quite have the stamina required to get home over 3m6f at the Festival last season but this should be a much more suitable test.

David’s Well - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase @ 12/1

Staying ahead of the handicapper throughout the season is key to a horse’s chances in the Festival’s fiercely competitive handicap races.

One way of doing so is to continuously improve throughout the season, making it hard for them to catch up.

Chris Gordon ’s David’s Well has managed to do just that and he has been a revelation since switching to fences last season.

The seven-year-old is unbeaten in four chase starts and was last seen winning a hot handicap chase here on the new course in December.

Clearly connections are trying to keep a lid on his handicap mark and he’s been put up 7lb since that latest effort.

It’s hard to say how much more improvement there is to come from him but Gordon’s gelding is worth keeping on side until his limitations are exposed.