Ante-post Stayers' Hurdle: Paddy Flood highlights his 'best value runner of the meeting' Johnny Ward, Vincent Finegan and Paddy Flood joined Emma Nagle on our recent jump season preview and revealed their best ante-post Stayers’ Hurdle bets. Paddy Flood is particularly keen on a 12-1 chance, who he believes is overpriced for the three-mile feature on day three of the Cheltenham Festival. Paddy Flood “Ballyburn was such a dominant hurdler, the way he carried himself, I thought he’d have no problem jumping a fence, but he was just panicking - once he got inside the wings - he doesn’t shorten or he doesn’t launch himself, he just panics when he gets there. “When you lose a length or length-and-a-half at every fence, that adds up a fair amount. He adds a nice bit of spice to the race though. "I’d ride Bob Olinger all day now in front of everything. He bolted in last year. Bolted in. I don't know why he's the price he is. He's the best value runner I'd say at the meeting, to be honest, at 12-1. "I think Bob Olinger won it easy last year. "He loves it and he's unbeaten in Cheltenham. So at 12-1, it's last year's winner for me." Johnny Ward "I'm still not sure about Ballyburn for this division. “The Yellow Clay at 9-1 with BOYLE Sports, he'd be the one for me. He's definitely going to run this race if he's fit. He's a very hardy horse and acts well around Cheltenham. “He’s a typical kind of Yates stayer type. "This is his target. He's by Yates the same as Flooring Porter. He's perfect for this race." Vincent Finegan "Ballyburn was a very good hurdler but I don't like them coming back is the first thing. It's a sign of defeat first off, isn't it? So that would worry me. "The one that for me is Teahupoo. it's the usual thing - race them lightly, aim for one race. That seems to be the secret to everything about championship races, the aim for most of these is Cheltenham. They are being aimed for one race. "Teahupoo is being aimed for one race in Cheltenham. He will have two runs before he goes there and that's all you want and he will get there." Watch our 2025/2026 Jump Season Preview Show Get a host of free bets with BOYLE Sports
