Mixed Bag For Punters As Easysland Upsets Tiger Roll

It was a mixed day for punters on the second day of racing at the Cheltenham Festival, but bookies were breathing a sigh of relief after popular selections Tiger Roll, Defi Du Seuil and Appreciate It failed to live up to their favourite tags.

Favourite backers got off to a flyer after Envoi Allen, one of the bankers of the week, romped home in the Ballymore Novices’ Chase at 4/7 and was handed an introductory quote of 8/1 by BoyleSports for next year’s Arkle.

But Easyland put a spanner in the works in the Cross Country Chase by denying Tiger Roll in his attempt at a fifth Cheltenham Festival victory. Gordon Elliott’s dual Grand National winner has now been eased to 8/1 from 5/1 for the Aintree spectacle, but remains the favourite in his bid to complete a historic Grand National treble.

Willie Mullins finally landed his first win of the festival in the Champion Bumper, but it was 11/1 shot Ferny Hollow and not the highly fancied Appreciate It who landed the spoils for the Closutton handler in the last.

Envoi Allen was a popular banker for many, but we escaped major carnage with the likes of Defi Du Seuil and Tiger Roll going down to defeats.

Things could have looked very different had Appreciate It won the last race, but that swung things in our favour with battle to be recommenced tomorrow.

*Prices correct at time of publication.