Cheltenham is all about the joy of trying to piece together the perfect accumulator. We'll have tips later on the week on a more intriguing accumulator, but here's 4 bankers we think are definitely worth getting behind.
Starting off with Honeysuckle, who is the odds-on favorite for the Champion Hurdle tomorrow. This star mare, who is unbeaten under rules thus far - looks to have the winning of this race for the second year in a row and hopefully can add her third straight win to the Cheltenham Festival honors board having taken out the Mares Hurdle and Champion Hurdle. She is as short as 8/13 in a lot of places, and I suspect a lot of people will be siding to put her in to an accumulator.
I couldn't put anyone off, as to be honest she does seem to have the holding of the majority of these on form and unless Appreciate It, who seems to be the only lurker in the market, performs perhaps above expectations, she should be winning this race. She should be one for your accumulators.
Later on the Tuesday card, in the Boodles Handicap Hurdle, the unexposed Gaelic Warrior has become the subject of a mass gamble and is as short as 2/1 with many bookmakers. This Boodles race is a big field handicap hurdle for four-year-old runners and as a result, this could be an unwise horse to put into your accumulator. As much as the handicapper has probably been very gentle with this horse and he is a better horse than his mark would suggest, he still is able to win at that price without having to go in and back him. With that in mind, he might be one to swerve.
Looking forward to the Wednesday card, the horse to have on side when making your Cheltenham Festival Accumulator is the legend, Tiger Roll - who's running in the Cross Country Chase. Tiger Roll holds an awful lot of these horses on form and given the fact that this could be the last time we ever get to see him on the course, it would be a fitting way to end what has been a stellar career for the Gordon Elliott trained horse. He has won this race a couple of times previously, most notably when winning the race last year by a wide distance on nice ground. That ground looks forecast to be the same again this year and I can't see what's going to stop him. At a price of 7/4, he looks a little bit of value.
The obvious banker for the Thursday card comes in the Ryanair Chase and it is last year's winner Allaho. Allaho was a superb winner from the front in this race when dominating his rivals and putting in a jumping performance which ended up carrying him to a very facile success. His performances this year have been just as good and even though he wasn't at his best to win the John Durkin at Punchestown earlier on in the season, he was bloodless in his victory at Thurles in January and should be an awful lot better for that come March. His efforts at the Cheltenham Festival had been pretty good even before last year’s rout and he'll be hoping to add a second win to that list. He's a very short prize at odds on but if you want one that might be a banker, you can't go far wrong.
The Friday card doesn't look like it has any stonewall bankers. In the Mares Chase, I am a big fan of Elimay - who was a very unlucky second in the race last year when behind Colreevy. She jumped super that day and was unlucky to be outgunned. Her efforts this year have improved with each start, and she should go here with a massive chance. At a price of around 5/2, she looks a good bet and might be one that could boost up your odds of your festival accumulator.
An accumulator of Honeysuckle, Tiger Roll, Allaho and Elimay is available around 20/1 with Ladbrokes. It's defintely one to consider.
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