Racing
Cheltenham 2021 tips – outsiders to follow
The countdown to the 2021 Cheltenham Festival is well and truly on and the greatest racing show on earth is just days away. 28 races over four days lie ahead and the top-quality racing action will see punters once more go into battle against the bookies across the week’s Cheltenham Festival races. There are plenty of well-fancied horses for this year’s Festival – such as Shishkin, Monkfish, and Envoi Allen – but there will also be plenty of shocks and big-priced winners over the course of the week. We take a closer look at two horses that look massively overpriced for the Festival – both are currently available at odds of 33/1. Without further ado, here are Cheltenham 2021 tips and two outsiders to keep an eye on.
Cheltenham Festival 2021 tips – outsiders to follow
Chris’s Dream (Ryanair Chase – 33/1)
Chris’s Dream proved to be a very smart chaser last season, winning the Troytown Handicap at Navan and the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park before heading to Cheltenham and the Gold Cup.
He finished well down the field as Al Boum Photo, hoping to become a triple Gold Cup champion, defended his Gold Cup crown but Chris’s Dream travelled well for a long way in the race before fading late on, in the classic style of a horse that just failed to see out the trip.
Then he returned in the Champion Chase at Down Royal in October, going down by just a neck to The Storyteller, who has since put in a top-class effort running 2nd to Kemboy in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival. Chris’s Dream then headed to the John Durkan at Punchestown where he was a disappointing 5th in a high-class field.
That Punchestown run was just five weeks after his Down Royal effort and there’s an argument to be made that the race just came too soon for him. As such we’re willing to take another chance on him as one of the outsiders in our 2021 Cheltenham tips.
He’s a horse that runs well fresh – showing form figures of 2112 in his last four races following a break and, promisingly, he’ll be arriving at the Cheltenham Festival well refreshed.
Trainer Henry de Bromhead commented:
“The plan is to run him in the Ryanair Chase. He seems to run much better when he’s fresh, so we decided to put him away for this.”
At a big price, in a wide-open-looking Ryanair Chase, and over a distance he’s won over previously, he could offer some excellent each-way value in your pools betting for the week, especially in a place pool.
Thyme White (The County Hurdle – 33/1)
One of the most competitive races of the week, the County Hurdle is typically a betting nightmare for punters but one horse to keep an eye on this year is the Paul Nicholls trained Thyme White, who is the second entry in our Cheltenham 2021 tips.
He was down the field in the Boodles’ at last year’s Festival but was back with a bang on seasonal debut at Chepstow in October, winning impressively at odds of 6/1. Next up was Newbury at the end of November where he unseated Harry Cobden at the second-last while still very much in contention.
Connections then gave him a break and he returned to Newbury with a solid effort in the Betfair Hurdle last month, where he looked a big danger before not seeing the race out. That was his first start in three months and trainer Paul Nicholls was quoted after the race:
“He is an intended runner in the County Hurdle, and he ran a really tidy race in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury the other day. He hadn’t run for a long while but going to the last he looked really dangerous and he just needed the run.”
On quicker ground at Cheltenham and with a strong pace to aim at, Thyme White could well run a big one in the County. He looks to offer some great place value and is definitely one to keep an eye on, as far as Cheltenham 2021 tips for outsiders go.
Make sure you keep an eye on our horse racing tips throughout the week.
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