Top Trainer – Cheltenham 2018 Tips

A market wrapped up between three, Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins who had 12 winners between them last week and Nicky Henderson who is the winning most trainer of all time at the festival and his team of horses speak for themselves.

Mullins Closing Gap On Henderson
Willie has plenty of horses at the head of the market and most are justified in being there although others are certainly there on potential. Mullins may trail Henderson in the list of overall Cheltenham winners but the gap is rapidly closing..

..and the Mullins record here over the last decade especially is something incredible.

Strong Year For Nicky
Henderson has the strongest team he’s had in some time. Buveur D’air, Altior, Apple’s Shakira, Santini, Chef Des Obeaux and Might Bite are the obvious ones in Grade One’s

..but it’s unlikely that he’ll win all five of those respective races..

..so he’ll need to find another winner here or there because five is likely to be the minimum requirement to claim the Top Trainer crown this year.

Elliott To Retain His Crown?
Elliott’s team is likely to be short of a few longer priced horses that can sometimes cause a shock at a meeting like this. With the chase continuing to be Ireland’s champion trainer at home, Elliott won’t be keen on wasting opportunities for his horses at Cheltenham if he can mop up some prize money at home.

That said, he does have a really good squad heading to Prestbury Park, headed by Samcro and Apple’s Jade.

Jury Duty has a big chance in the four miler, Cause Of Causes, Tiger Roll and Bless The Wings give him a massive chance in the Cross Country race, De Plotting Shed is well fancied, Felix Desjy has to have a chance in the Champion Bumper and there’s others like Squouateur, Farclas and Flawless Escape later in the week.

At 2/1, if you are having a bet in this market Gordon Elliott looks the best option to retain his crown from last year.

Ireland To Win Prestbury Cup
Meanwhile, the Prestbury Cup is an interesting market. Last year’s tally of 19 winners at the Cheltenham Festival is unlikely to be repeated by Irish trainers, but you never know.

There’s a lot of good horses in the country and while there are a lot of question marks over some of the Mullins runners next week..

..he still managed six winners last year having drawn a blank on the opening two days. Irish trainers to train more winners than British based trainers is 4/6 next week and our strength and depth make that look quite a decent bet.

Recommended Bet:
Gordon Elliott – 2/1

*Prices correct at time of publication.