Cheltenham Day 2 Tips: 22/1 selection headlines Daryl Carter's tips

• Predators Gold is underestimated in the W/O market

• A 22/123.00 Grand Annual NAP

• Take a chance in a wide-open bumper at enormous odds

• Bet safely at the Cheltenham Festival - read more here

• Serial Winners Fund - We're paying £10k for every Rachael Blackmore winner at Cheltenham

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Rachael Blackmore Superboost

Rachael has a solid each-way chance on Monty's Star in the Brown Advisory at 14:10 today, and if you fancy the horse to finish in the top three then you can back it at the super-boosted price of 1/12.00, from 4/91.44.

13:30 Cheltenham - Back Predators Gold W/O Ballyburn @ 11/43.75 1pt

There are betting angles throughout the week, and Predators Gold - 11/43.75 W/O Ballyburn on the Betfair Sportsbook - looks like a good way to get the day off to a winning start.

Ballyburn is the highest-rated Novice coming into the Novice Hurdles, and his formlines are now hard-proven after Slade Steel's Supreme victory, and I don't want to take him on.

Predators Gold is the clear next best. Ile Atlantique surely doesn't want another furlong, having been collared late by Reading Tommy Wrong in the Lawlors Of Naas. He has now been beaten at 1.111/9, 1.645/8, and 1.011/100 in three of his last four outings, and that's enough for me to take him on with one that finds under pressure.

Mercurey is perhaps the best of the rest, but he may not be up to this level. I don't like the English challenge either with weak form lines.

Predators Gold was outstayed over almost 2m7f last time by his stablemate Dancing City, who was behind Ballyburn in a bumper. The selection ran keen in that race but managed to clock a good time figure.

He showed an excellent attitude to go down narrowly in a deep Grade 1 contest. He had previously been a superb second to the smart Caldwell Potter over 2m in the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice in similar ground conditions as today.

He is the second highest-rated horse in this field, and this middle-distance trip looks perfect. Danny Mullins in the plate on the five-year-old is a good booking, and I will take him to give Ballyburn most to think about and follow him home.

14:10 Cheltenham - Back Fact To File @ 10/111.91 2pt win

There's no each-way shape to this race with just the six declared, but Fact To File - 10/111.91 on the Betfair Sportsbook - has an air of quality about him, and the speed figures he has recorded at Leopardstown the last two times have been more than useful.

The devil is typically in the details, and his sectional performances have been awe-inspiring. Granted, I can understand why some would want to take him on now, up in trip on heavy ground with unproven stamina.

Still, he is by the same Sire as Brown Advisory winner Don Poli and Stayers Hurdle winner Sire Du Berlais, amongst others, while his Dam's Sire has produced multiple 3m winners.

His speed will be an asset in this race on a sharp track, and it should be noted that Willie Mullins has not entered another horse.

In my mind, Fact To File will hunt around behind and turn the taps on when he is ready, and provided that Mark Walsh does it at the right time and does not leave it too late, he should be very tough to beat.

Fact To File has only had four starts over obstacles in his life, and he is open to significant improvement returning to Cheltenham, where he was a strong second in the Champion Bumper. It would be highly surprising and disappointing if Willie Mullins' inmate couldn't care for some useful but beatable rivals.

At the same time, confidence has diminished slightly with the testing ground, but I felt Montys Star didn't handle the track last year in the Albert Bartlett when pulling up, and I expect the same again. He was beaten comfortably in his Point to Point by Stay Away Fay.

American Mike may have caught the selection when he needed the run. Sandor Clegane's connections would have preferred better ground, with his best form on soft or yielding and not heavy, but he is a likeable sort who can be forgiven his latest effort when racing on the wrong part of the track at Naas. I have stamina doubts around Giovinco, but Stay Away Fay has solid claims in the new headgear, so I wouldn't want to knock him too much.

14:50 Cheltenham - Back Built By Ballymore @ 8.07/1 1pt

I can't put my finger on Sa Majeste, but he could be anything and is priced like the second coming, so he must be respected.

Langer Dan must be backed, but he is a hard horse to put in a column at his current odds of 6/17.00, knowing he will trade much bigger in-running if adopting his usual hold-up tactics, so if you like him, perhaps look to bet him there.

I have liked Built By Ballymore - 8.07/1 on the Betfair Exchange - for this for a long time, and he is the one I will stick with, having seen ground conditions come perfectly in his favour.

The six-year-old has shown an abundance of promise in his last two outings at Limerick and Punchestown on deep ground, and he looks as though he could be another promising future staying-chaser for the excellent Martin Brassil team, which has its horses in excellent order to target this meeting.

I was particularly taken with him putting a good distance between himself and his rivals late in the day the last two times under minimal pressure, and everything points to a big run back up to 2m5f.

He is the play, while Doddiethegreat is very much respected along with many others in a wide-open race.

16:50 Cheltenham - Back Saint Roi @ 13/27.50 1pt

Saint Roi - 13/27.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - has undoubtedly been running with a view to a handicap at the Festival in mind, and I am happy to put a line through his latest run in Grade 1 company when never put into the race.

Instead, I would rather take a positive view of his Fairyhouse run in which he was dropped into a handicap for the first time over fences and the first since winning the County Hurdle in 2020.

He finished fourth of 11 that day and made eye-catching headway before being tenderly handled in the closing stages. That race clocked a good speed figure - much quicker than the win of Hunters Yarn, who runs in the Arkle - and he retains plenty of ability on that evidence.

He is one for ten over fences, but seven of those have come in Grade 1 company. He placed an excellent third in the Champion Chase last season behind El Fabiolo, and following that, he got within two lengths of Banbridge at Aintree over 2m4f.

There are not many in here who could pull off those performances, so with a third in the Champion Chase, third in the Champion Hurdle, and County Hurdle victory in three starts at Cheltenham, he is well worth chancing now. He returns to a handicap just one pound higher than his Irish mark.

His jumping will be a cause for concern, so it's a win-or-bust type of bet and a good reason to have two stabs at this race.

16:50 Cheltenham - Back Triple Trade @ 22/123.00 1pt e/w (5 places) NAP

Triple Trade - 22/123.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - looks overpriced after a very good season and two excusable defeats.

Triple Trade made his seasonal return with an excellent running on the two-length second to Dancing On My Own in a race which has produced plenty of winners, including a subsequent Grade 1 Betfair Tingle Creek third and a Paddy Power Gold Cup second.

That race clocked an excellent time figure, and Triple Trade came out very well in terms of numbers.

He then went one better at the Cheltenham November meeting when very strong at the finish to overhaul Calico, with Leopardstown scorer Madara in sixth.

I am happy to excuse his Ascot defeat to Boothill - which is useful form -given it came within an eight-day turnaround. He ran much better when perhaps a fortunate winner over today's Grand Annual favourite Harper's Brook, who idled late on, but the Joe Tizzard horse ran on very strongly to make up the ground.

Something was a miss at Lingfield last time, so I am happy to forgive that now that he is back at Cheltenham's Old course, where he has form figures of 1 and 2, having been kept fresh on ideal ground conditions, he makes plenty of appeal at large odds.

It's not to be forgotten that this horse was leading over the second last in the 2m4f Sandown EBF Final over hurdles in 2022 before looking like a non-stayer in horrid ground conditions, and that race has produced many high 140s/150s horses.

The eight-year-old has been improving this season over fences, and his handicap is only eight pounds higher than he won at the November meeting. He appeals at 20/121.00 or bigger.

17:30 Cheltenham - Back Sounds Victorius @ BSP 0.5pt

There's a very loose form line through Sixmilebridge that ties in with favourite Jalon D'oudairies, which suggests Cest Ta Chance could hold a leading chance in this race at double-figure odds, so it's undoubtedly wide-open.

After further digging, I ended up getting myself in a muddle with those at the top of the market, and I wanted to look further down the pack in a wide-open race that could offer the opportunity for a big-priced winner.

Sounds Victorius would be by far the least confident selection of the week, given the nature of this contest, but I do like the attitude he has shown the last twice. He has been crying out for a strongly run race and was forced to make the running on debut at Fairyhouse on seasonal debut on December 28 in a race that Willie Mullins had won for the last three consecutive years with Ile Atlantique, Redemption Day and Ramillies.

His latest assignment came at Punchestown, where he again suffered the fate of a small field and a slowly run affair, but he picked up very takingly in the closing stages under pressure. That was the same race Willie Mullins won with Ballyburn last year and James's Gate the year before.

While any bet in this race is a swing to some degree, I am hopeful that a strongly run affair for the first time will see this stout stayer to better effect. He will need to improve significantly, but this scenario could be ideal for him.

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