Cheltenham Festival Tips: Kevin Blake's five best bets include 16/1 Champion Chase pick

• Final Demand could be the best of the Willie Mullins novices

• Take on Jonbon in Champion Chase with a 16/117.00 outsider

• County Hurdle has been Lark In The Mornin's target

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Timeform Superboost

Last year's Supreme Novices' Hurdle winning combination, Henry de Bromhead and Betfair Ambassador Rachael Blackmore, have another good chance of landing the Cheltenham Festival curtain raiser with the lightly raced Workahead.

The 7yo was incredibly impressive when thrashing William Munny - also in this race - at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and for this contest you can back him at the super-boosted price of 1/12.00 (from 4/91.44) to finish in the top five. 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.

Back Final Demand for the Turners' Novices' Hurdle @ 13/82.63

We are well accustomed to Willie Mullins having an iron-grip of many of the novice hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival, but sorting out the best of them from the rest is a task in itself. Many seem to consider Kopeck Des Bordes in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle to be the best of them this year, but in my mind Final Demand in the Turners' Novices' Chase is the pick of them.

The six-year-old is a big chasing type and it is in that context that he has impressed me so much this season. In winning his two starts over hurdles including a Grade 1 novice at the Dublin Racing Festival he has shown a particularly impressive level of athleticism in his jumping.

For such a big horse, he snaps up his front legs very quickly indeed and doesn't have to lift his substantial frame all that high at all to clear hurdles. While some seem to consider him a stayer in the making, I believe he has more pace than he is being given credit for. I expect him to prove very difficult to beat in the Turners' Novices' Hurdle.

Back Busselton for the Cross County Handicap Chase @ 7/18.00

The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is a race that will see significant change this year having been reverted to a handicap from a conditions race. This will serve to make it a much more competitive contest on the day and makes it a much more wide open contest.

The one that makes the most appeal to me down the bottom of the weights is the Joseph O'Brien-trained Busselton. The eight-year-old has been a smart performer on his day, winning the Kerry National off a mark of 142 as a five-year-old and has gone on to acquit himself well in multiple valuable handicap chases. He even won a competitive handicap on the Flat at the Galway Festival last summer.

Having changed ownership soon after, he has been targeted at this race and has gained the experience of two runs over this unique course. The most recent of those was quite promising and with the handicapper having treated him fairly, he looks like one that could be a major player if bouncing back to his best. Drying ground will very much suit him.

Back Found A Fifty for the Champion Chase @ 16/117.00

So much of the build-up to the Queen Mother Champion Chase will focus on whether Jonbon can finally gain what would be a very well-deserved first win at the Cheltenham Festival. He will come into this year's race in the form of his life and with him looking to hold a significant edge over his main rivals, he will be considered a banker by many.

However, the last 10 years have seen some highly-unexpected reversals in the race including El Fabiolo at 2/91.22, Shishkin at 5/61.84, Chacun Pour Soi at 8/131.61, Defi Du Seuil at 2/51.40, Douvan at 2/91.22 and Un De Sceaux at 4/61.67. The point of listing them is to remind all that even when everything seems stacked in a favourite's favour in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, they can still very much be undone.

To me, Jonbon is one to take on and the one I like against him at a much bigger price is the Gordon Elliott-trained Found A Fifty. He gave the well-fancied Solness 7lb and narrowly beat him in the Fortria Chase at Navan just a couple of short months ago and while one could argue that Solness was unlucky having been hampered by the winner at the final fence, the Elliott team strongly felt that Found A Fifty's idling tendencies masked his superiority.

While one has to forgive a very poor effort from him in the Paddy's Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting, but he is set to be sent to Cheltenham as a fresh horse and in a race that could throw up a shock, he isn't the maddest shout at all at a big price.

Back Kalypso'chance for the Champion Bumper @ 11/26.50

The Weatherbys Champion Bumper is perceived as being one of the more challenging races to sort out at the Cheltenham Festival, but the market has been proving well able to pinpoint the best contenders in more recent years. The last four winners have all been priced at shorter than 5/1 and in general, the market has proven to be a very solid steer in that time.

This year's renewal has an unusually open look to it, but the one I like is the Gordon Elliott-trained Kalypso'chance. The five-year-old won by a point-to-point at Corbirdge by a long way in April 2024 prior to changing hands for £85,000 and joining Elliott.

He wasted no time making a big impression, as he has produced two particularly impressive victories in his two starts to date, including in a Listed bumper at Navan in December. On both occasions he made a strong impression on the clock, with his latest performance being particularly robust. It isn't at all unusual for Elliott to put a horse away for Cheltenham having won pre-Christmas and one can be sure that he'll have him at fever pitch for the Champion Bumper.

Back Lark In The Mornin for the County Hurdle @ 6/17.00

The home team have been performing much better in the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival since the British handicapping team set out to tilt the table in their favour after the disastrous 2021 meeting that saw the Irish run riot with 23 of the 28 winners. However, one of the handicaps that the British have been struggling to wrestle from the Irish is the County Hurdle. Indeed, only one British trainer has won it in the last decade, with Dan Skelton saddling the winner on a remarkable four occasions.

In fact, if it wasn't for that pesky Willie Mullins, Skelton would have won the 2024 and 2022 renewals too. Skelton doesn't look to have a particularly strong entry this year with Valgrand looking to be his pick, so the Irish might well be primed to prevail again with the Joseph O'Brien-trained Lark In The Mornin appealing as being the one to focus on.

The five-year-old was a strong fancy for the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle last year until rain arrived that dampened confidence in his chance. Despite this, he still ran out the particularly easy winner of the race, hitting the front far too soon and going through the motions up the run-in. Having picked up an injury in the Swinton Hurdle on his next start, he made his return to action in a valuable handicap hurdle at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting and caught the eye in a big way in finishing a never-nearer seventh.

This race has been his target since then and with him looking likely to sneak in at the bottom of the weights, it wouldn't surprise to see him run a very big race.

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