Cheltenham Day Three Tips: Rhys Williams fancies 25/1 French import on stable debut and three more at big odds

• Showed plenty of promise on debut

• Strong traveller likely to be suited by this test

• Venusienne is overpriced in the Mares Novice

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Cheltenham Day 3 Superboost

Last year's Brown Advisory Novices' Chase winner Fact To File is back in action on Thursday looking to make it back-to-back wins at the Cheltenham Festival and Betfair have a very generous Superboost on him to win the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at 15:20 on Thursday!

You can back him at the super-boosted price of 11/43.75  from 11/82.38 to win the fourth race on the card on Day 3. To take advantage, just click on the odds in the below bet banner to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

*Please note. This superboost is provided by the Betfair Sportsbook and not by any of our tipsters or writers. You can read about all of Betfair's offer on every day of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival right here.

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Mares Novices' Hurdle, Cheltenham, 13:20 - Back Venusienne

Venusienne makes her first start for Willie Mullins in the opening Mares' Novices' Hurdle and I think the market has underestimated her potential.

She only had one start in France in a division of the fillies Prix Finot when trained by Philippe and Camille Peltier and showed plenty of promise. She raced on the outside a little further back than midfield in the early stages before making ground to track the leaders early on the final circuit. She nearly jumped into a share of the lead at four out but was taken back to track Karamoja and continued to do so until being angled towards the near side entering the home straight. She easily took the lead approaching two out and quickened away from her rivals but a mistake and an awkward landing at the last didn't help her cause and she was passed by Ginagold in the last few strides.

It's been a mixed bag from the other horses in that race since, as may be expected from a three-year-old newcomers hurdle, but it was a good performance on the clock. The way that Venusienne travelled through the race was taking and suggests that she can cope with the shorter trip while the ground should be no issue for her too. I think she also looked green when hitting the front so hopefully she will have mentally matured during her long absence from the track and that 541-day break is no issue given the trainer.

It may be that she will shape well in defeat here before showing her best at Fairyhouse or Punchestown but I think her chance is currently being underestimated and any 16/117.00 or bigger appeals.

Pertemps Final, Cheltenham, 14:40 - Back American Sniper

The market has found the more obvious contenders in the Pertemps Final but there are a trio of British trained runners at big prices at the bottom of the weights who I think could fare better than their prices currently suggest.

The first of those is American Sniper who won a qualifier at Newbury early in the season. He followed that with a good run in defeat under a penalty over a shorter trip when blinkers were applied for the first time. They certainly lit him up as he went clear with over a circuit to go and he was still in front turning into the home straight before fading on the run-in to finish sixth.

He ran well next time with cheekpieces back on at Wetherby before running poorly at the same track last time when he was never travelling over a trip that was too short and on ground too soft for him.

American Sniper is now back on better ground and the blinkers go back on. Hopefully they will result in him travelling sweeter and Jack Tudor can get him to settle better than was the case when Gearoid Harney rode him in November. It may be that this trip in a big field will stretch his stamina but he looks to have been clearly campaigned for this since winning the qualifier and he's off only a 4lb higher mark than was the case that day. Any 25/126.00 or bigger appeals.

Pertemps Final, Cheltenham, 14:40 - Back Guard The Moon

Guard The Moon is another horse to come into this on the back of a poor run but I think the market has overreacted to that performance at Chepstow.

He was reported to have had an interrupted prep and they thought he needed the run badly but I think it was also a case of him being shuffled back early on and not enjoying being ridden more patiently than usual.

Earlier in the season, he put up three good performances on decent ground when ridden handily. He beat Long Draw at Warwick before finishing second to Harbour Lake in a qualifier for this at Aintree. Guard The Moon was then dropped back in trip to 2m4½f at Newbury and ran a fine race in defeat behind Impose Toi who is one of the market leaders for the Coral Cup.

I would expect that the plan will be to ride Guard The Moon much handier than last time and Sam Twiston-Davies being back in the saddle is a positive for his chance. It may be that the interrupted prep will mean that he's still not quite at the level they would wish but I think he's overpriced given the quality of those runs earlier this season and any 25/126.00 or bigger appeals.  

Pertemps Final, Cheltenham , 14:40 - Back Idem

Finally, at an even bigger price, I think Idem has the capability to run well if he decides that he wants to apply himself properly.

I don't think he was suited by a fairly steadily run race when he finished eighth behind The Wallpark in qualifier in October when he also lost a shoe. Idem ran badly next time at Market Rasen but I think the ground was much softer than ideal for him that day and he bounced back when winning at Kelso two starts ago.

He qualified for this race when finishing fourth in the qualifier at Musselburgh when he could have got closer but for last mistakes. Having been held up, he was closing and still travelling well when getting three out all wrong. He picked up well under pressure and was in contention for a place when he flattened the last hurdle and could only finish fourth.

This is likely to be well run and that should suit Idem given his typical running style. His jumping is a concern and I think he's a bit quirky but he has the ability to run better than his price suggests. Any 40/141.00 or bigger appeals. 

Now read Katie Midwinter's tips for day three of the Cheltenham Festival