Cheltenham Festival Day 2: One Favourite, One Value Pick and One Longshot To Consider

Day two of the Cheltenham Festival could well be a memorable one for trainer Willie Mullins, who holds three of the favourites on today’s card.

The Irish trainer sees short-odds favourites Chacun Pour Soi and Monkfish head to the Champion Chase and Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, while he possesses the top two in the betting for the Champion Bumper in the form of Kilcruit and Sir Gerhard.

With seven hotly-contested races on Wednesday’s card, we’ve taken a look through the runners that might be worth backing today.

Here are three picks to think about for today’s racing at Prestbury Park.

Favourite – Chacun Pour Soi – Champion Chase (4/5 @ Various)

The feature race of the day could well see one of the stars of the two-mile chase scene transform into the superstar of the division.

Chacun Pour Soi has looked untouchable this season, bolting up by a combined winning distance of 33 ½ lengths on his three starts this season.

Grade 1 successes at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival and the Dublin Racing Festival has made the nine-year-old the clear favourite for this contest and it will take a special performance to beat him.

It would not be a surprise in the slightest if Chacun Pour Soi was to bolt up on his Cheltenham Festival debut.

Value Pick – Bravemansgame – Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (4/1 @ Various)

You know a horse is special to a trainer when he is drawing comparison to one of his former greats.

That’s exactly what Paul Nicholls did with Bravemansgame after his Challow Novices’ Hurdle victory over Christmas, mentioning Denman in the same breath as the six-year-old.

The Grade 1 winner has made significant progress this season, winning three of his four starts over hurdles this term.

He faces a sterner test in Bob Olinger and Gaillard Du Mesnil, but if Nicholls’ prospect can improve further, he could land a first Festival success here.

Bravemansgame holds more value than his two imposing counterparts, and it could well pay off.

Longshot – Witness Protection – Coral Cup (28/1 @ Various)

A locally-trained eight-year-old, Witness Protection makes his handicap debut in a fiercely competitive Coral Cup.

Martin Keighley’s runner had just snuck into the contest at the bottom of the weights, but he could outrun his odds of 28/1 here.

The gelding has made some progress this season, landing victories at Chepstow and Stratford.

However, he was beaten by a head at this distance at Wetherby earlier in the season.

Nevertheless, Witness Protection could well be worth some each-way value in this contest at the very least.