Monkfish Catching The Eye For Cheltenham Novices’ Chase After Leopardstown Triumph

Monkfish is being heavily supported to score a Cheltenham Festival Novices’ Chase victory after Willie Mullins and Paul Townend combined successfully for a fifth time on a stellar weekend for the pair at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Last season’s Albert Bartlett winner made it three from three over the larger obstacles this season as he breezed to an 11-length victory in the Flogas Novice Chase, triggering BoyleSports to make him 4/5 favourite from 15/8 in the race formerly known as the RSA.

Monkfish has become one of our most well-backed horses in the Cheltenham antepost markets this weekend. It’s no surprise to see support bolstered after such an assured win.

Appreciate It had already delivered for the duo to land Grade One honours in the Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle and strengthened his claims to open the Festival with victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 7/4 from 9/4.

The headline race on Sunday’s card went the way of Kemboy, who went one better than last year when returning to winning ways in the Irish Gold Cup. A Cheltenham Gold Cup win has now been backed into 10/1 from 14/1, but he was also slashed into 12/1 from 25/1 for the Stayers’ Hurdle after trainer Willie Mullins floated the idea of re-routing him over hurdles.