talkSPORT betting tips – Best racing bets and expert advice for Day One at the Cheltenham Festival
03/10/2025 10:24 AM
Day one of the Cheltenham Festival 2025 gets underway on Tuesday afternoon and there are no fewer than four Grade 1 races.
The feature race is the Champion Hurdle where we'll see whether Constitution Hill retains all of his ability in his bid to maintain his unbeaten record under rules.
We've picked out three selections for day one including a value bet in Tuesday's opener, the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
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Cheltenham Festival Day One Tips
- 1.20 – Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Workahead
- 2.40 – Ultima Handicap Chase – Whistle Stop Tour
- 3.20 – Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle – Lossiemouth
1.20 Cheltenham – Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – Workahead
Willie Mullins has no fewer than six runners for this year's renewal, headlined by the Dublin Racing Festival winner, Kopek Des Bordes.
He has fairly obvious claims on form, but there are a few doubts over him handling the occasion given how keen he can be early in his races. It's also worth noting that the Champion Trainer hasn't had the winner of this race since 2021.
With those factors in mind, we've picked out an each-way selection to take on the short-priced favourite. Workahead appeals most for last year's winning trainer, Henry de Bromhead who took this with Slade Steel in 2024.
This son of Workforce is a point-to-point winner who shaped with plenty of encouragement when third in a warm race at Navan on his yard debut. Like many of the trainer's representatives, he came on markedly for that outing second time out to land a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown on Boxing Day.
That looks like a strong piece of form with the re-opposing William Munny seven lengths back in second and there's every chance he's going to get similar conditions here with a dry forecast in the build-up to this year's Festival.
That could be a key factor here and he looks like a good each-way bet, having achieved a fair bit more than many of this field if you take out the favourite.
2.40 Cheltenham – Ultima Handicap Chase – Whistle Stop Tour
One race of the week that the home team have a cracking record in and one that might be able to enhance that recent win-rate is Whistle Stop Tour.
Lucinda Russell's charge shaped looked highly progressive over roughly three miles earlier on in the campaign and he had a spin over these fences over the insufficient intermediate trip on Trials Day.
The yard have enjoyed success in this race before and it's a surprise to see this representative available at double figure odds.
3.20 Cheltenham – Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle – Lossiemouth
Lossiemouth is going to be a short price after dodging the Champion Hurdle to take on her own sex, but she deserves to be odds-on and she looks like banker material on day one.
The Rich Ricci-owned mare took a fall at the Dublin Racing Festival last time out, but her jumping is usually rock-solid and there's every chance she'll appreciate what is effectively a drop in grade.
The mare chased home Constitution Hill on her penultimate start and none of her rivals have that level of form in the book, so she should be a big player on Tuesday back at her preferred trip.
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