Cheltenham Festival: Day Two Tips

On Wednesday of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, we will see the second day of racing with the premium event of the day being the Queen Mother Champion Chase. One of the most popular days for online betting, the second day boasts seven fantastic races where several high-odds winners have made their name at the festival. The racing starts at 13:30 with the Ballymore Novices Hurdle and ends with the final race at 17:30 with the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, the most prestigious flat race in the Horse Racing National Hunt calendar. Day two features races on both the old course and the new course, so be sure to check out which course is featured in the race you're betting on.

Cheltenham Festival Tips Day 2

It’s day two of the Cheltenham Festival and there are plenty more fascinating races for punters to get stuck into.

Wednesday’s card runs from 1.30pm - 5.30pm and is headlined by the Champion Chase (3.30pm), which is always a superb sight with top two-milers jumping at speed.

We've assessed the action across the card on Wednesday at Cheltenham and picked out our best bets.

1.30 - Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m5f)

The Gallagher lacks the same strength in depth we often see and the door is open for BALLYBURN to justify prohibitively short odds following an impressive Grade 1 strike over two miles at the Dublin Racing Festival. On pedigree this extra five furlongs should suit him even better.

Ile Atlantique, who is a smart performer in his own right and almost struck at the highest level when last seen, is taken to follow home his stablemate.

Selection: Ballyburn to win

2.10 - Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1, 3m½f)

Willie Mullins is responsible for another short-priced favourite with Fact To File dominating the Brown Advisory market. However, this is no walk in the park as he embarks over a new distance with his stamina to prove.

There is no guarantee he will stay and a war of attrition makes horses like Stay Away Fay and MONTY’S STAR of interest. While Stay Away Fay has achieved more, preference is for Monty’s Star, who might prove to be the classier operator. The stage is set for a big run.

Selection: Monty’s Star

2.50 - Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (2m5f)

A typically tricky running and the suggestion at a big price is GUARD YOUR DREAMS, who finished seventh in this as a five-year-old and seemed to find two miles inadequate in a couple of Grade 2 hurdles this season on his return from a long absence.

He is back on a tempting mark of 137. The handicapper admitted to finding Sa Majeste a tricky horse to assess and he could be anything, so is of obvious interest.

Doddiethegreat merits a second look on this step up in trip with his Betfair Hurdle fourth at Newbury working out well, albeit the form of Nicky Henderson's stable is a slight concern.

Selection: Guard Your Dreams

3.30 - Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1, 2m)

If his jumping holds up EL FABIOLO should prove too good in the Champion Chase. He isn’t the most natural jumper of a fence, but that hasn’t stopped him from winning all of his chases with any amount in hand.

Old foe Jonbon is a player on his best form, but he lacks El Fabiolo’s class and disappointed last time in the Clarence House, while Edwardstone should get plenty out of their comfort zone if jumping with the same enthusiasm as he did when dominating up front in the Game Spirit last time.

Selection: El Fabiolo

4.10 - Glenfarclas Chase (3m5f)

Henry de Bromhead and owner Barry Maloney could be in for a big day as along with Monty's Star they are also responsible for MINELLA INDO in the Glenfarclas Chase.

Minella Indo loves it as the Festival, boasting form figures of 1212P in Grade 1s there.

He took to this style of racing impressively when fourth off a big weight here in December and renews rivalries with those horses off much better terms. Galvin and Delta Work are other former top-class operators of note and will not be far away.

Selection: Minella Indo

4.50 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase (2m)

Harry Cobden is riding better than anyone in Britain right now and can notch a deserved Festival success with LIBBERTY HUNTER in the Grand Annual.

Libberty Hunter is improving rapidly and scored a shade cosily from Arkle hope Matata on testing ground at this course when last seen. If he continues to improve, the rest may struggle to deal with him.

Joseph O’Brien’s runners here must always be respected and the progressive Solness stands out as a possible Irish plot job.

Selection: Libberty Hunter

5.30 - Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1, 2m)

Willie Mullins is responsible for nine runners in the Champion Bumper and it is significant that Patrick Mullins has chosen to ride Jasmin De Vaux.

However, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede also have a fascinating contender in C’EST TA CHANCE.

His short-head defeat on his rules debut in January was given a big boost by the winner following up easily and he looks a strong stayer. You Oughta Know is a big player on his Leopardstown trial second as well.

Selection: C’Est Ta Chance

Trends for our Cheltenham Day 2 Tips

Ballymore Novices Hurdle

When looking at this race, there were only a few trends that were unique when looking at the winner of this Hurdle race. In-fact all of the last ten winners have:

• Won 1-3 hurdle races
• Finished in the top two last time out
• Had won if they had run at Cheltenham before

There are a few other trends between the horses but most of them go hand-in-hand with the three sections above. Last year, Sir Gerhard was the exception to another trend which was that all of the last 8 previous winners were age six. However, at the age of seven, Sir Gerhard broke the trend and was only the second horse in history to win aged 7.

Brown Advisory Novices Chase

After winning in 2022, L'Homme Presse was the first horse to win this race in history. So, that is a trend that ended last year. These are some of the few trends that can be found with this race.

• Ran within the last 77 days
• Have run in 2-5 Novices Chases
• Won or were beaten by less than 3 lengths last time out.

As previously stated, there are very few trends for this race and it is a very difficult race to predict. There some other trends, but they tend to include a large portion of horses, so we feel they aren't worth mentioning as key trends here.

Coral Cup

The Coral Cup is the event where a number of unique trends come into play, trends that make you stop and analyse the field because there is tangible data to back up the trends. Some of the top trends for this race are:

• Had ran over hurdles in the last 22 days.
• Have won either 2 or 3 Hurdles races.
• 9/10 have never won a Grade 1 or 2 race before.
• 9/10 weren't the favourite in the betting odds
• 9/10 have never won a chase race.
• 9/10 winners had only won once - if at all that year
• 8/10 winners carried 6lbs+ less than the top weight.

Queen Mother Champion Chase

The feature race of the day has a few trends that could come in handy for those looking to place bets on the race, they include:

• Have had at least 1 grade 2 win in the past.
• 11/12 winners have ran at Cheltenham before with 7 winning previously.
• 7/12 winners ran in the Clarence House Chase in their last run, only 4 of them won that race.
• 9/12 winners were rated 164+
• 10/12 winners sat in the top three of the betting odds.

Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase

At the centre of our Cheltenham Day 2 tips comes the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. However, trends were hard to come-by for this event with only a small number of consistencies throughout, they included:

• 11/12 winners aged 8 or older.
• 10/12 winners sat top three of the betting odds
• 9/12 winners had previously won a race at Cheltenham.
• 10/12 winners rated 139+

Grand Annual Challenge Cup

The Grand Annual is well-known as an accumulator breaker for Cheltenham Festival fans, the favourite has only won the race twice in the last 12 races and we have had winners of 10/1+ three out of the last twelve races. There are a small number of trends here, they are:

• 9/12 winners were 10/1+
• 9/12 winners aged between 7 and 9
• 10/12 winners had previously run at Cheltenham
• 11/12 winners had a rating of 138+

Champion Bumper

The Champion Bumper is where we find a larger number of trends, which is convenient considering the race has a very large field of horses to choose from and stands as one of the most packed races at the Cheltenham Festival. Some of the most common trends in this race include:

• The last 10 winners all won last time out.
• If they had ran at Cheltenham, they had won.
• 9/10 ran winners at least 32 days ago.
• 9/10 had never finished outside of the top three.
• 8/10 were trained in Ireland.

Willie Mullins has won 12/30 renewals of this race with 9 placed horses in 10 years.

Why use tips on Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival?

Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival tends to be the day where bettors make their choices for the week ahead, a budget is set for the week and depending on winners and losers, that may increase or decrease. However, Day 2 is typically when most bettors utilise their free bets and the difference between a good Cheltenham Festival and an excellent Festival is maximising your profit from those free bets. Finding tips and trends for races such as the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Cross Country Chase and more are fantastic ways of picking a winning horse in these races, of course, nothing is every guaranteed but tips and trends help direct you towards horses who, on-paper, look more likely to succeed.

In horse racing, nothing is guaranteed, but there is a reason why in a 13-horse race, every horse isn't valued at 14/1 because there are attributes to each horse that determine their likely success. For example, if a horse is valued at evens, the chances of the horse winning are valued at the same price as a coin flip, which in theory, you would still lose 50% of the time, so anything you can find to tip the scales in your favour potentially should be considered.

Cheltenham Day 2 FAQs

What races are on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival?

Last year, three out of seven favourites won the races of Cheltenham Festival Day 2.

What is the feature race of Day Two?

The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the feature race of Cheltenham Festival Day 2.

Who is the favourite for races on Day Two of the Cheltenham Festival

If we were to back all the favourites in our Cheltenham Day 2 tips, it would look something like: