Betfair Official Blog

Cheltenham Betting: BGC Handicap Steeple Chase (Cross Country)

Click here to view market

You've picked your bankers, you've loaded cash into Betfair and you're coming up with ingenious ways of skipping work between 11th and 14th March. Yes folks, it's nearly here.

We've had lively discussion to date on the big races like the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, but with a week to go, now is the time to have a glance at the handicaps, as the weights have recently been allocated. Once again, the Irish have their eyes on a couple of races, and the handicaps normally offer lots of nice prices in both win and place markets.

There's one race in particular that the Irish have firmly in their sights, namely the BGC Handicap Steeple Chase (Cross Country).

The cross country is always an entertaining spectacle, and course form is a massive advantage. The Irish have a good record in this race, which was first run in 1995. In fact, Irish trained horses have filled an impressive nine out of the twelve win and place positions in the past three years. Here's a look at the main candidates in this years' renewal:

Wonderkid: Tony Martin is famous for landing a gamble, and I've been in touch with his stable to see which horses might be worth a punt this year. Of course, every trainer likes to think they have a Cheltenham winner on their hands, but he was particularly bullish about Wonderkid. Importantly, Wonderkid already won a chase here back in December, and he's proven at another difficult chase course: Punchestown. A small negative is his relative youth (eight), as this race usually goes to horses aged ten or over. That said, he has the stamina, the ability and the experience to justify his favouritism and 10st 11lbs does not seem like a massive burden all considered.

Garde Champetre: Enda Bolger has a great record in this race, and his runners should be layed at your peril. Garde Champetre hasn't managed to impress at Cheltenham to date, but his win last-time-out at Punchestown when beating stablemate Heads Onthe Ground showed that he could be a serious chaser over the next couple of years. He looks like he's on the up, and is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Heads Onthe Ground: As mentioned, he was beaten into second by his stablemate recently, but at eleven, he's the right age and has won this race before which is always a massive plus here. He's also performed very well at Punchestown, and is rarely out of the placings. The handicapper is on to him however, and he'll be carrying a hefty 11st 12lbs, which might just prove a tad too much.

Le Duc: Despite the success of Irish horses in recent years, the English are not shying away, and it would be foolish not to note any Paul Nicholls trained horse in this years festival. Le Duc finally won last time out after 22 losing races. Nicholls is quite confident of his chances here, but there's a strong opinion in Ireland that he's not up to the stamina test that is the BGC. Carrying 11st 1lb, it seems like he's been treated harshly in the weights considering his long string of losing runs - and he's one of the few Nicholls horses I'm considering laying this year.

Conclusion

Day one of the festival can see a number of prizes go to Ireland, including the cross country. A strong point-to-point scene in Ireland has ensured that we regularly produce the top cross country horses, and are prepared for stamina sapping races such as this. The Irish record in this race speaks for itself, and Wonderkid looks set to continue this trend. Large field handicaps always produce some high prices however, so it's worth keeping Garde Champetre onside in the place market. Le Duc is the best of the English challengers, but there are serious doubts about his stamina.

* Cheltenham is all about opinions. If you agree or disagree with the above, feel free to say so and post a comment. Similarly, if you've spotted something we haven't - post it up!