The 2019 staging of the Cheltenham Festival is fast approaching and cards for the 28 races are starting to be finalised. Punters are annually left spoiled for choice with the wide range of selections which are on offer and it is no different this year, but the main focus will be who will prevail in the headline races on each of the four days. A number of high-profile horses have been retired in recent times, but that does not mean that some names are not looking to continue their dominance.
When considering your Cheltenham betting odds for the Tuesday, you will be unable to ignore Buveur d'Air for the Champion Hurdle with the French horse having prevailed in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the race. Buveur d'Air went off as the odds-on favourite 12 months ago and lived up to that tag, but you can get horse racing betting odds of around 7/4 right now and that offers good value. The eight-year-old underperformed on Boxing Day at Kempton, but he has since returned to winning ways and we feel that he deserves the nod over his rivals at his favourite course.
While Buveur d'Air offers value on Tuesday, the same cannot be said with the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday. Altior stormed to victory in this race 12 months ago, and odds of 2/5 will tell you that bookmakers make this race a foregone conclusion. The Irish horse has won each of his four races since prevailing at the 2018 festival, with his shortest winning distance still three-and-a-half lengths. He will find himself in better company in the middle of March, but he is on a 17-race winning streak and unless you want to take your chances on his nearest challengers - who start at 5/1 - we feel that selecting the nine-year-old is a no-brainer despite the short odds.
The Stayers Hurdle on Thursday is an opportunity to boost your profits, although recent history suggests that you are best backing a horse between 15/2 and 14/1. Only Thistlecrack in 2016 has prevailed at odds shorter than the lowest of those prices. The race card is still to be finalised but Penhill is likely to try to defend his crown from 12 months ago and is worth a punt. The Willie Mullins trained horse has not raced since April, but Penhill is two for two at Cheltenham having also won the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in 2017. Keep an eye on Faugheen, though. A price of 8/1 is currently on offer due to being 11 years of age and having fell on his last outing in December, but Faugheen demolished Penhill less than a year ago and must be considered.
The festival's last feature race is the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Native River will be looking to retain his crown. Richard Johnson rode the Irish-bred horse to victory by four-and-a-half lengths last year and an 11/2 price is currently available, which should definitely appeal to each-way punters. However, no horse has won two in a row since Best Mate's triple-header between 2002 and 2004 and we feel obliged to go for one of the favourites. Presenting Percy marked his Cheltenham bow by prevailing from a 24-horse field in the 2017 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle and backed that up with success in the RSA Insurance Novices' Chase 12 months ago. Each of those wins coming on different grounds, and we feel that Presenting Percy should add his name to the list of winners of one of the most famous races in the world.
