Cheltenham Festival Antepost Tips - Sam Turner has a 12/1 ante-post pick for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle

• River Don winner here to stay

• Nolan novice appeals for Festival test

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Talented Shantou delivers and DRF will provide more clues

Thank you for finding the latest instalment of my Cheltenham Festival Focus and, with the hugely informative Dublin Racing Festival ahead of us, there is little doubt the weekend's action will have a huge bearing on ante-post markets for the March bonanza.

In last week's column, I centred on the claims of Ma Shantou and his Stayers' Hurdle pretensions and thankfully that worked out nicely with Emma Lavelle's progressive stayer posting a superb performance to lift the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle.

There is nothing worse than a tipster crowing about ante-post prices as it means nothing unless they win, so let's concentrate on the display itself which saw the seven-year-old power clear of Impose Toi to tick a number of boxes and confirm his Festival target.

A genuine pace produced a speed figure on a par with Ma Shantou's previous performances at Cheltenham and the data I liked the most was the 53.6secs that it took for the Cleeve winner to cover the final four furlongs off the back of that strong gallop.

Given the International Hurdle was run at a crawl with the three remaining participants sprinting in the final quarter of the race, The New Lion was only around seven to eight lengths quicker than Ma Shantou despite covering a mile less.

That proves Ma Shantou has both speed and stamina in abundance and, as this was his third course win, he ought to give a good account on the third day of the Festival in the face of a stiff Irish challenge.

Don't underestimate the mighty Donn

Other notable performances on a dramatic and controversial afternoon included Donnacha who held off Jagwar in game fashion to win the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase.

Much was made of the latter not winning, which is often the case for a well-backed Saturday favourite, however it would be a huge mistake to underestimate the winner going forward, especially on his beloved soft ground.

Not only was the overall time extremely swift, but the final four-furlong sectional was only marginally slower than Spillane's Tower despite the Cotswold Chase being run at a dawdle for the first circuit.

Donnacha and Jagwar covered the final furlong in 14.33sec and 14.31sec respectively, while first winner Jordans Cross completed it in 15.11sec and Spillane's Tower 13.09sec so it appears a strong piece of form with the first two across the line stretching ten lengths clear of the dead-heating Triple Trade and Javert Allen.

According to RaceIQ, this was one of Jagwar's better jumping displays and his pedigree is synonymous with a stayer so it will be interesting to see where connections head next.

Although winning trainer Nigel Hawke suggested Saturday was Gold Cup day for Donnacha, I'd be optimistic of his chances wherever he ran next granted genuine cut in the ground. He is a very useful chaser granted his favoured conditions.

Trials Day priorities Dawning on National Hunt punters 

Given my comments on the Cotswold Chase and the 'speed' figure it produced, Grey Dawning had very little realistic chance of winning given his track position throughout.

The word 'trial' was very appropriate for anyone who backed the grey as he was compromised by a patient ride, albeit a kick at the start and a mistake at the second last didn't help either.

The Betfair Chase winner, a sizeable drifter in the lead up to Saturday, would have also found conditions testing enough so this run can be excused, especially as he was unlikely to have every screw tightend with the Festival on the horizon.

Connections have made no secret of the fact they are training Grey Dawning for one day and this was another reminder that Trials Day is exactly that and what happens at the end of January is just a step closer to an ultimate aim in the spring, as galling as that can sometimes be for punters.

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle: Better to support Thedeviluno at 12/1

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle
Cheltenham Festival, Friday March 13, 15:20

So which race run over the weekend may have been the biggest Cheltenham pointer?

That honour might have been afforded a race not even staged at Prestbury Park with the Grade 2 River Don Novices' Hurdle at Doncaster producing a fine winner in Thedeviluno.

Although the staying feature doesn't have a rich tradition of throwing up Albert Bartlett Hurdle winners, it did produce last year's fourth in Yellow Car and this year's renewal was certainly a demanding test of each horse's stamina.

Thedeviluno certainly passed that examination with flying colours, beating smart Kelso winner Country Code by five lengths going away, while the pair were a further 13 lengths clear of The Last Cloud who was third in Grade 1 company at Aintree over Christmas.

Rider Sean O'Keefe produced his strong travelling mount to join Country Code two furlongs from home and there was only ever going to be one result from that point on.

There is little doubt the Irish raider benefited from sitting off a strong early gallop, but he boasted the quality to lie up with that pace before finding a gear change and the new course at Cheltenham should really suit him.

Connections were disappointed their son of Elusive Pimpernel was beaten at Navan over two-and-a-half miles on his penultimate start, but his conqueror Doctor Steinberg is a red-hot favourite for a Leopardstown Grade 1 this weekend and this step up to three miles really suited the selection.

He has also beaten Skylight Hustle his season and that rival has won his next two, including a Leopardstown Grade 1 over Christmas (admittedly a shade fortuitously) and is as short as 12/1 for the Turners so Thedeviluno is entitled to hold excellent claims for the final novice hurdle of the Festival.

Next week's column will deal with how the Dublin Racing Festival played out and the impact on the relevant Festival races so, until then, enjoy a cracking weekend and thanks for reading.

Sam Turner's Cheltenham 2026 Ante-post Ledger

Supreme Novices' Hurdle - Act Of Innocence win @ 25/126.00

Arkle Chase - Romeo Coolio @ 11/26.50

Champion Hurdle - Alexei each-way @ 33/134.00

National Hunt Novice Handicap Chase - Zertakt each-way @ 33/134.00

Brown Advisory Novices Chase - Wendigo each-way @ 20/121.00

Stayers' Hurdle - Ma Shantou each-way @ 50/151.00

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle - Thedeviluno win @ 12/113.00

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle - The Blue Room win @ 40/141.00

Gold Cup - Gaelic Warrior win @ 8/19.00

Now read Katie Midwinter