Saturday ITV Racing Tips: Three to back at Cheltenham at up to 9/2

• Madara to win the big race of the day

• French can come up trumps in Grade 2 hurdle

• Henderson mare looks leniently handicapped

• Place £10 bet on any sport on the Betfair Exchange to start your Free Bet Streak

Timeform Superboost

Paul Nicholls' Stage Star is a standing dish around Cheltenham and goes for the December Gold Cup today at 13:50. He's a three-time course and distance winner and is fancied to go well again today.

However, if you fancy he'll run well without winning then you can back him to finish in the top five at the super-boosted price of 1/12.00 from 8/131.61. To take advantage of this super-boosted price 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 tipsers or writers.

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13:50 Cheltenham - Back Madara

We're straight into the meat of the action at Cheltenham on ITV this Saturday, with the feature race of the day, the December Gold Cup, the first of seven races on the channel on what is a busy day.

There's also terrestrial coverage of Doncaster, though it's at Cheltenham where I'll be having my three bets.

This is a cracking renewal, and the form primarily revolves around last month's Paddy Power Gold Cup, where Il Ridoto came out on top, with several of these in behind.

There were a couple of notable eye-catchers that day, in particular Dan Skelton's Madara, who was making his debut for the yard having previously been in the care of several trainers, most recently Sophie Leech and Keiran Burke.

In a race where the pace held up, Madara made really good progress from the rear into fourth without being given anything like maximum assistance from the saddle, connections clearly having one eye on preserving a favourable handicap mark.

He also went without his usual cheekpieces that day, but the headgear is reinstated for this assignment and I'm expecting Madara to finish much closer to Il Ridoto this time, the handicapper having eased him another pound for that recent run.

15:00 Cheltenham - Back Jet Blue

The 3m Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle is hardly the deepest race of its type, but it's an interesting puzzle to solve nonetheless and the market will probably revolve around the progressive Skyjack Hijack and Clondaw General.

The former has progressed at a rate of knots, moving up from 0-100 handicaps to this sort of level by winning six on the spin.

He's been better than ever in novice company on his last two starts at Exeter and Newcastle, though this will clearly be the acid test of his credentials.

In contrast, Clondaw General is much less experienced but won his sole point in Ireland and scored nicely on hurdling debut at Worcester in October, though the form of that four-runner isn't anything to get too excited about.

I'm prepared to take both on with the French-trained Jet Blue, who has stamina to prove having never gone this far but retains plenty of potential on his first start for the David Cottin yard.

His form in his native country is some of the best on offer and he'll take plenty of beating if staying this longer trip.

Jet Blue looks well worth chancing at 9/25.50 on the Sportsbook.

15:35 Cheltenham - Back Joyeuse

A 2m 4f mares' handicap hurdle closes the Cheltenham card and Nicky Henderson's Joyeuse could well have been let in lightly from an opening mark of 119.

She's clearly not been the easiest to train, but won on her first start for the Henderson yard when taking a Taunton maiden hurdle 450 days on from a winning debut in a French bumper.

We had to wait the best part of a year before seeing Joyeuse again, but her comeback third against a pair of race-fit opponents last time was full of promise and it's encouraging that she's now stringing back-to-backs runs together for the first time in her career.

The pair that finished ahead of her on that latest outing now have BHA ratings of 134 and 128, which makes the Henderson mare's opening perch an attractive one as she starts out life in handicaps.

The early 5/23.50 has gone but a price of 2/13.00 is still acceptable on the Sportsbook for a mare who should rate considerably higher than this by the end of the season.

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