Cheltenham Festival 2024 Tips: Kevin Blake's five best bets from 6/1 to 16/1

• Kev provides his five best bets for the Festival

• Tips for each day from 6/17.00 up to 16/117.00

• Betfair doubling donation from £5k to £10k into Serial Winners Fund during Cheltenham - read more here!

• Check out our Cheltenham Festival Ultimate Guide

• New Customer Offer - Get £20 in Free Bets

The time for talking is almost over. After an endless build-up, the Cheltenham Festival is nearly here.

A consistent theme in recent months has been the lack of competitiveness in the Graded races and that looks like being borne out next week. The record for the number of odds-on favourites for the meeting is seven and that looks set to be equalled and potentially threatened.

Of course, there are plenty of those favourites that I find it hard to see beaten, but when asked to write an article detailing my five best bets for the four days, I've decided to favour horses primarily in the handicaps rather than going down the road of selecting shorties.

Hopefully at least one of these can collect and put the page in profit for the week. Best of luck.

Tuesday - Ultima Handicap: Back The Goffer

There aren't many races that the Irish have tended to struggle in over the years, but the Ultima Handicap Chase has been one of the very few remaining strongholds for British-trained runners.

Last year it was Corach Rambler that held the line as he got the better of the very well handicapped Fastorslow. However, looking at the market for this year's renewal it will take a similar act of heroism for the Irish to be held off.

Irish-trained runners are very strong in the market and the one I like the most is the Gordon Elliott-trained The Goffer.

Considering he was just six-years-old, The Goffer ran a huge race to finish fourth in what arguably one of the best-ever renewals of the Ultima Handicap Chase last year.

The bare form alone reads very well given the subsequent exploits of Corach Rambler, Fastorslow and Monbeg Genius that finished in front of him, but one can readily make the argument that he shaped better than that result. He made a big move forward after the fourth-last fence and ended up in front very early prior to weakening on the run-in.

The Goffer has the look of one that has been laid out for this race all season. His unorthodox prep race couldn't have gone any smoother with him running out the impressive winner of a charity race at Punchestown last month.

He gets to run off a 2lb lower mark here than he ran off last year and with more patient tactics surely in the offing, he seems likely to run a big race once again.

Wednesday - Coral Cup: Back Brazil

The Coral Cup is always one of the most challenging races of the week to find the winner of, but we'll have a go at it with the Padraig Roche-trained Brazil.

The six-year-old is best known for downing one of the bankers of the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 when getting the better of Gaelic Warrior by a short-head in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. His career hasn't gone quite in the same direction as that rival since then, but he has won a Grade 3 hurdle and a valuable handicap on the Flat at the Galway Festival.

The attraction to him is two-fold. Firstly, he has been shaping for some time that a step up in trip over hurdles will very much suit him. This race will be the first time he has run over a mid-range trip. Secondly, there is also a possibility that he will improve for being gelded.

His most recent run was his first since that operation and he shaped as if in need of the run. This race was his only entry of the Cheltenham Festival which implies that waiting for this meeting to step him up in trip might well have been a long-term plan.

It wouldn't be at all surprising if he bounces back to form and runs a big race.

Wednesday - Grand Annual: Back Harper's Brook

The Grand Annual Handicap Chase is always one of the most competitive races on the Wednesday and I have taken a bit of a flier on the Ben Pauling-trained Harper's Brook.

The eight-year-old has become an object of derision and amusement in equal measure in recent times as a result of his pronounced tendency to pull himself up when in front on the run-in in his races. This has cost him victory on two notable occasions in the last year, trading at the dreaded 1.011/100 on both occasions.

However, I take a different view on that tendency, as it has served to hide the full extent of his ability. Most significantly, his connections could well have found the solution to the puzzle by dropping him back to the minimum trip.

That distance looked to suit him well when winning his latest start at Sandown and the reapplied cheekpieces have also seemed to have sharpened him up.

This contest promises to suit him well, as a big field with loads of pace in front of him can only help. He is unlikely to be too far off the leaders which is a positive as it has been difficult to get involved from off the pace in the race since it has switched to the Old Course.

While his price has shortened significantly since I put him up at 16/117.00 in my article on the Cheltenham handicap weights on this page 10 days ago (he was as big as 25/126.00 at one stage), I'm still very keen on him.

There is of course the possibility of this leading to one of the all-time bad beat stories if he repeats his party trick on a stage like this, but I'm prepared to take my chances.

Thursday - Pertemps Final: Back Gaoth Chuil

The Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle on Thursday is one of the quirkier races of the week with its qualification series. The criteria has been tightened up in recent seasons with just the top four in each qualifier being eligible for the final rather than the top six in the past, so it isn't as easy for horses to slip in under the radar.

The one I'm keen on isn't one with a particularly sneaky profile and she is the Ted Walsh-trained Gaoth Chuil.

The six-year-old has a stamina-laden pedigree (her dam was placed in both the Ascot Stakes and the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot!) and her form has marched forward since she has been stepped up to three miles in her last two starts.

She ran very well when second in a valuable handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival and shaped quite a bit better than the result. She charted a very wide path that day and he rider may have been ever-so-slightly guilty of overdoing the wait tactics on the day.

She has been raised a few pounds for that effort, but still retains scope to find further improvement over this trip. In particular, the style of race that the Pertemps Final tends to be will play to her strengths and make it easier for her rider to execute waiting tactics.

Friday - Triumph Hurdle: Back Nurburgring

The only Grade 1 to appear in this list is the Triumph Hurdle on Friday. The Nicky Henderson-trained Sir Gino was particularly impressive on his latest start at Cheltenham, showing a great amount of speed to run out the wide-margin winner. However, the Triumph Hurdle tends to place an emphasis on stamina.

As well as that, the form of the Henderson stable hasn't been overly encouraging in recent weeks which makes his short price look less appealing.

One that will be thoroughly suited by the test that the race presents is the Joseph O'Brien-trained Nurburgring.

The son of Zoffany has improved with each of his four starts over hurdles, putting up a strong performance on the clock when winning a Grade 3 juvenile hurdle at Fairyhouse in December prior to finishing a close third in a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting.

However, the bare form only tells half the story, as Nurburgring was bottled up in traffic in what was a slowly-run race and didn't get anything like a clear run. The course and distance of the Triumph Hurdle will play to his strengths much more and it wouldn't at all surprise to see him produce a career-best effort that puts him back in the mix of the finish.

Now read more columns in our Cheltenham Festival HUB.

Racing...Only Bettor. Watch our Cheltenham Festivla preivew show now.