Assessing the favourites in the Grade 1s on day three of the Cheltenham Festival

Day three of the Cheltenham Festival is unique to the other cards in the sense that it boasts not one, but two feature races. That’s right, the Ryanair Chase and the Stayers’ Hurdle both headline the penultimate day of racing at Prestbury Park and they are both thrilling contests in their own right.

What’s more, punters on what is traditionally celebrated as St. Patrick’s Thursday are treated to the features back-to-back — with the Ryanair Chase (or Festival Trophy) going off at 2:50 and the Stayers’ Hurdle runners setting off on their gruelling three-mile trip 40 minutes later at 3:30.

There’s also the Grade 1 Turners Novices’ Chase to get ball rolling for the fantastic afternoon of racing. So, with that in mind, read on as we take a look at the favourites for day three’s top-level contests.

Mighty Potter – Turners Novices’ Chase

Gordon Elliott hasn’t won a Grade 1 race at the Cheltenham Festival since Envoi Allen’s Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle win that was one of his seven victories in 2020. The Irishman has obviously had to rebuild from his controversial ban since then, but he has a couple of big chances to add to his impressive list of 34 winners at this year’s meet.

Mighty Potter might just be his biggest shout of the week. The six-year-old is the 11/8 favourite to win the Turners Novices’ Chase with this horse racing gambling site and he will be heavily backed after a fantastic start to his chasing career so far this season.

Mighty Potter is three for three since switching to fences, with back-to-back Grade 1 victories in the Drinmore Novice Chase at Fairyhouse and again in a Novice Chase at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival last month. Banbridge is his closest challenger in the betting, but the six-year-old was over 18 lengths clear of him last time they met.

Shishkin – Ryanair Chase

An ante-post market that has witnessed a lot of movement in the last month or so, dual Festival Trophy winner Allaho was the long-time favourite to retain his crown for a third time at this year’s meeting despite the fact he was set to head to Prestbury Park without a seasonal reappearance due to an injury.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned horse was ruled out in February after suffering an abdominal bleed however, and the Ryanair Chase has had a few favourites since — with Allaho’s stablemate Blue Lord and Joseph O’Brien’s Fakir D’oudairies both floating around towards the top of the market.

However, it is Shishkin who has firmed up at the fore at 8/11. The Nicky Henderson-trained horse looked all but finished as a top-class chaser after being diagnosed with a rare bone condition following being pulled up in last year’s Champion Chase. But he’s had a wind operation, been stepped up in trip to 2m4f and is back looking his best after winning the Ascot Chase. Will be tough to beat.

Blazing Khal – Stayers’ Hurdle

Arguably the most open of the Festival’s five feature races, the Stayers’ Hurdle has potentially had more ante-post favourites than the Ryanair Chase — with the bookmakers chopping and changing between the likes of two-time winner Flooring Porter, Home By The Lee, Teahupoo and Blazing Khal as the season has gone on.

It is the latter who sits at the top of the betting at the time of writing after returning from a mammoth 428-day break in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle at Navan in February. The seven-year-old also has course and distance form after winning the Grade 2 Bristol Novices’ Hurdle before that long layoff in December 2021. In terms of his rivals, Teahupoo and Home By The Lee, who have both won their last couple of outings, both has distance form. But Flooring Porter still seems like one worth watching despite those two fours in his form column. There’s just something about the Gavin Cromwell-trained horse stepping up in this contest and 6/1 is a tempting price.