ANNIE POWER

Tuesday - OLBG Mares’ Hurdle

Current best odds: 4/7

Willie Mullins has more than a couple of short-priced favourites over the course of the Cheltenham Festival but none are nearly as solid as Annie Power in the Mares’ Hurdle.

She is a stone clear of her main rivals based on official ratings and there is every chance that she will be capable of achieving even higher ratings than she has. This course and distance appeals as being very close to her optimum and she doesn’t have any ground worries.

The main concern is that she hasn’t run since last season but it is important to note that she was never actually injured. She wasn’t quite herself and her connections decided to take a cautious approach and rest her. She has hit every target that Mullins has set her at home thus far and promises to arrive at Cheltenham in top form.

There has been some speculation that she could run in the World Hurdle instead but she didn’t seem suited by the longer trip of that race last season. With her likely to be plenty fresh without having the benefit of a recent run, personally I would be amazed if she ran there in preference to the much softer touch of the Mares’ Hurdle.

DJAKADAM

Friday - Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup

Current best odds: 10/1

This year’s Gold Cup really is wide open, particularly when one considers the lingering stamina concerns surrounding the favourite Silviniaco Conti. There are only a handful of runners in the field that are not on the exposed side, one is the Noel Meade-trained Road To Riches and the other is the Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam.

Of the two, Djakadam is very unexposed, as he has had only five runs over fences. He has been considered a potential Gold Cup contender by the Mullins team since the beginning of the season but only really stamped his credentials on the track when readily defying top weight in the Thyestes at Gowran Park last time.

While not many six-year-olds have won the Gold Cup in the modern era (Long Run was the only one in recent decades), he is clearly open to more improvement and the regard in which Mullins holds him in is hard to ignore. Ruby Walsh is likely to ride him and his price will only contract in the days leading up to the race.

DON POLI

Wednesday - RSA Chase

Current best odds: 11/4

Willie Mullins has a series of top-class novice chasing prospects and while Un De Sceaux may claim star billing, Don Poli in the RSA Chase is a more attractive betting proposition at the available prices.

A progressive novice hurdler last season who won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, he has always appealed as being a chaser in the making and he has made a smooth transition to the larger obstacles this season. He has won both his starts, most notably when beating the subsequent Grade 1 winner Apache Stronghold in the Dr P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown last time. A notably lazy sort, his connections feel that the best is still to come from him and he won’t need to improve much on his Leopardstown form to take all the beating in the RSA Chase.

With his two main market rivals Coneygree and Kings Palace both being front-runners, the race promises to set up very well for him and he will be very tough to beat.

JEZKI

Tuesday - Stan James Champion Hurdle

Current best odds: 5/1

The betting market for the Champion Hurdle has been the subject of heated debate in recent weeks and opinion is divided across the industry.

For me, there is no doubt that the exciting but ultimately untested Faugheen is underpriced and a consequence of that is there is value available elsewhere in the market, most notably in the shape of the Jessica Harrington-trained Jezki.

It is no secret at this stage that the small fields and soft ground that tend to prevail in the Grade 1 hurdle races at Leopardstown do not play to Jezki’s strengths, yet he has twice acquitted himself very well behind Hurricane Fly this season. The bigger field, presumed stronger pace and most importantly, the sounder surface, will all help bring out the best in Jezki and an improved effort seems sure to be forthcoming from him in his bid to retain his Champion Hurdle crown.

At the available prices, he represents an excellent each-way bet, as it is difficult to see him finishing out of the frame and it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him win.

NED BUNTLINE

Friday - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase

Current odds: 8/1

There will be no shortage of plots for the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival but one of the more attractive ones is the Noel Meade-trained Ned Buntline.

The seven-year-old has always been held in the highest regard by Meade but injuries and bad luck have both played a role in him failing to deliver on the big stage as of yet. He was arguably a shade unlucky in the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival last season, with a mistake at the top of the hill that may have cost him more than the one and a quarter lengths margin he was beaten.

He had a wind operation in the autumn before making a satisfactory return to action over hurdles at Christmas. A bid for compensation in the Grand Annual has been the plan for him for quite some time and a 4lb higher mark is unlikely to be sufficient to prevent him from making a very bold bid to go one better in this year’s festival finale.