The 2023 Cheltenham Festival is finally here. The form has been studied, preview nights have been watched and free bet offers at horse racing betting sites are aplenty. Like every year, many punters have latched on to the bankers for their festival banker acca. Here’s the 16/1 acca for Cheltenham this year that punters are hoping will give them something to cheer come Friday.
Hailed by many as the greatest hurdler of all time, Constitution Hill has quite a bit to do to achieve what the likes of Istabraq did in his career. This year looks a golden opportunity for the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding. With Honeysuckle going for the Mares’ Hurdle, State Man appears to be the only danger. Nothing has managed to finish within 12 lengths of Constitution Hill over hurdles, and he looks like a solid base for any Festival multi.
Gordon Elliott’s unbeaten Gerri Colombe appears to have the Brown Advisory at his mercy. Admittedly not the flashiest horse in training, Gordon Elliott’s gelding always seems to just do enough to win. He’s won over a range of distances and ground conditions and seems to be a straightforward ride. Thyme Hill is the chief threat, but with many convinced that his chasing career has started a little too late, this should be a good result for favourite backers.
After pulling up in last year’s renewal of the Champion Chase and finishing a well-beaten third in this season’s Tingle Creek, it was easy to write Shishkin off. With seemingly nothing to lose, Nicky Henderson stepped him up in distance for the Ascot Chase and the spark was back. He blew his opposition out of the water and immediately jumped to the top of the Ryanair betting. He’s head and shoulders above the field in the Ryanair, and a repeat of that Ascot Chase run should result in another popular winner at the Festival.
It wouldn’t be a banker acca without a Willie Mullins horse, would it? Opinion on Galopin Des Champs is very much divided and ranges from ‘the most electric horse since Kauto Star’ to ‘probably won’t stay’. Were it not for a final fence fall in the 2022 Turners, the Gold Cup favourite would be arriving at the Festival looking for a Cheltenham win for a third straight year. His run at the Dublin Racing Festival, where he disposed of the re-opposing Stattler by eight lengths, should put some of the stamina questions to bed. He looks the banker on the final day of the festival.