Kevin Blake's Cheltenham Festival Best Bets: Five top tips from our expert tipster

• Kevin Blakes gives us his five top tips for Cheltenham

• Brandy Love his best bet on Tuesday

• A trio of tips for Wednesday

• A strong fancy in the Turners Novices' Chase on Thursday

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Brandy is going to Love going left-handed

Brandy Love - Mares' Hurdle, Tuesday, 16:10

Ever since this time last year I have held the view that Brandy Love is potentially one of the most talented mares in training and she might well finally get the chance to show that in the Mares' Hurdle on Tuesday.

Readers with long memories may recall that she featured in this very article last year prior to her billed appearance in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, but a last-minute setback ruled her out.

That race was won in good style by Love Envoi, so imagine my feelings when Brandy Love kicked Love Envoi out of the way in a Grade 1 mares' novice hurdle at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival a few weeks later. One that got away!

The hope will be that she can belatedly have her day in the sun at the Cheltenham Festival in this contest.

The case with her is relatively simple in that she has shown remarkable talent in her last three starts despite hating going right-handed on each occasion.

She is already rated 149 based on those efforts and it would be a shock if she isn't notably better going left-handed.

This course and distance promises to be ideal for her and with her latest defeat at Punchestown being easy to forgive given that she was thought to be badly in need of the run as well as her aforementioned hatred of going right-handed, it wouldn't at all surprise if she produces a very big effort in the Mares' Hurdle.

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Warrior can fight off Ballymore rivals

Gaelic Warrior - Ballymore Novices Hurdle, Wednesday, 13:30

The Willie Mullins-trained Impaire Et Passe has been one of the big talking horses on the Cheltenham preview circuit in recent weeks, but while I do think Mullins will win the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle on Wednesday, I think he may do so with Gaelic Warrior.

The five-year-old was considered a banker for many on his first start for Mullins off a mark of 129 in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at this meeting last year. Those that felt he was well-in off that mark were absolutely spot on, but unfortunately for them, a tendency to jump to his right coupled with inexperience saw him touched off by a short-head by Brazil.

Since then he has made no mistake, winning two moderate contests in devastating style before making a mockery of a mark of 143 in one of the most competitive handicap hurdles of the season at the Dublin Racing Festival last time.

Significantly, his tendency to jump right only became notable after he hit the front that day and the fact that he jumped as straight as he did when in company will have given his connections a blueprint for how to ride him in this race.

The step up in trip promises to suit him well and while he has some talking horses in opposition to him, Gaelic Warrior appeals as being the form horse in the race. He represents a very fair proposition at his current price.

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Top class Galvin to take to Cross-Country course

Galvin - Cross Country Chase, Wednesday, 16:10

The Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase on Wednesday might not be considered the most attractive of betting mediums by many, but it is a race that has changed significantly since being switched from a handicap to a conditions race in 2016.

Since then, the biggest starting price of the seven winners has been 7/1 with all bar one of those winners having been 9/2 or shorter, so it has certainly changed into a race that has been dominated by those at the front of the market.

Gordon Elliott looks to have a very strong hold on the race with last year's winner Delta Work being on track to defend his crown while Galvin will look to play the role of spoiler on his cross-country debut.

The ante-post market has long favoured Delta Work for this race and it is easy to see why, as the five-time Grade 1 winner has taken really well to this discipline and has very much been trained with this as one of his major targets along with the Grand National.

However, Delta Work faces a very real test from his stable mate Galvin.

A high-class performer that finished fourth in the Gold Cup last year and ran up to a mark of 166 when winning a Grade 3 contest at Punchestown in October, he too has been earmarked for this race for quite some time. He has reportedly already been over to Cheltenham to school over this course as well as having schooled at other cross-country venues closer to home.

While winning this race on a first start in the discipline is tough, Delta Work showed that it can be done last year and Galvin might well hammer home that point this year, particularly if the ground is on the sounder side.

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Global Citizen makes plenty of appeal in Grand Annual

Global Citizen - Grand Annual Chase, Wednesday, 16:50

The yearly changes in how the British handicapping team treat the Irish raiding parties in the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival are always fascinating, at least to a numbers slave like me!

One of the most significant changes last year related to the handicap chases in that the British handicappers had implemented a policy change which saw them treat the home team much more generously through the season, but then they also hit the Irish raiders harder than usual with the weights for the Cheltenham Festival.

That double whammy had a significant negative impact on the performance of Irish-trained horses in the handicap chases, with just two of them making the first five home in the four contests at the meeting.

There hasn't been any respite for the Irish in this weights for this year's handicap chases, so it wouldn't at all surprise if the British again dominate these races.

I want to lean into this angle and the one that I consider the best bet amongst them is the Ben Pauling-trained Global Citizen in the Grand Annual Handicap Chase on Wednesday.

The 11-year-old helped prove the theory of this British-trained handicap chaser angle at this meeting last year, exploiting some extremely generous handicapping to win this race in authoritative style from Andy Dufresne who had been backed as if defeat was out of the question.

Global Citizen has been given quite a similar preparation to what he had last year, again benefiting from some eye-catchingly generous handicapping which has left him just 3lb higher than when winning this race last year.

While he is a year older, horses of his vintage have won this race in the recent past. One significant difference to last year is that his trainer Ben Pauling has been absolutely blasting in the winners this season from his new yard, whereas this time last year he was just tipping along at a below-average win rate.

One can be all-but sure that Global Citizen's campaign has revolved around this race and with him having the go-forward style that so suits it, he is likely to main a bold bid to defend his crown.

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Mullins runners set to Appreciate step up in trip in Turners

Appreciate It - Turners Novices' Chase, Thursday, 13:30

The Turners Novices' Chase has attracted a strong field this year headed up by Mighty Potter. He's a horse I've always loved and there has been an awful lot to like about his transition to novice chasing this season. The only issue I have with him is his price, which looks short to me in what is a strong contest.

The one that I think is overpriced is the Willie Mullins-trained Appreciate It.

The nine-year-old has been a top-class performer throughout his career, winning the Champion Bumper and the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. An interrupted campaign last season represented a bump in the road, but his belated transition to fences this season has been a smooth one.

There was a lot to like about his first two starts over fences, with him showing a notably assured and measured jumping technique.

His form and overall profile has long suggested that a step up to mid-range trips would very much suit, but his connections decided to persevere over the minimum distance for the Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival. That proved to be a red-hot contest run at a fierce pace.

It is to Appreciate It's credit that he laid up with such a pace for so long when other horses with plenty of pace such as Banbridge got outpaced, but his efforts in keeping tabs on the leaders seemed to take their toll on him up the run-in.

To me, that run indicated that he is ready to go up in trip and that is what his connections are doing now.

I suspect he will find the pace of a Grade 1 over a mid-range trip to be more comfortable for him and it wouldn't surprise to see him produce a season-best effort. He'll need to if he is to win, but I think he might just do it.

Want to see what Blake is tipping up on Day 1? Then look no further - click here.

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