Unless you have been taking a break on the moon you can hardly have escaped the talk about this years Cheltenham Festival which started today. Most of the talk has of course been about the clash on Friday between the great ‘Kauto Star’ and the one they call The Tank ‘Denman’.

I’ll come back to the big two later, as there was some absolutely superb racing today.  I had put two of the races as additional info on the Daily Advisory Service and then I had backed another one myself. In the 1.30 I selected ‘Get Me Out Of Here’ this one came 2nd at 9/2, then in the 2.40 I backed ‘Ogee’ who came 3rd at 8/1 and finally in the 3.20 I backed both ‘Khyber Kim’ and ‘Zaynar’, in this race the former came 2nd at 7/1 and ‘Zaynar’ came in 3rd at 15/2. So near but yet still 4 points down.

I probably shouldn’t be too hard on myself mind you, this is Cheltenham and I did at least avoid those short priced losers such as ‘Dunguib’ at 4/5 and ‘Garde Champetre’ at 7/4.

Cheltenham is not an easy course to ride with all it’s undulations and then the famous and character building Cheltenham Hill so if I can make a profit on the week, I will be pleased.

Going back to The Gold Cup, maybe I should be putting my stake money on ‘Kauto Star’ as I predict a history making win from this awesome horse, but that may be a little sentiment creeping in there as I have been a big Kauto fan for some time.

As a betting medium I don’t think I will be backing ‘Kauto’ if he is less than Evens, as normally I rarely back below 5/2. But ‘Kauto’ is something special and if he turns up at his best, has a good run without any mistakes, has to have an outstanding chance of becoming possibly the greatest chaser ever!

‘Denman’ had an almost faultless career until last year and he has also had his heart problem but is now said to be back to his best. Personally I don’t think he is quite as good as his stablemate but there are probably as many people who disagree with me as those who agree.

In racing almost anything can happen and it sometimes does, but I really hope ‘Kauto Star’ can once and for all prove his the greatest and put his rivals to the sword.

Maybe with the Gold Cup aside, I don’t recommend backing at prices that are too short at the festival. The racing is so competitive and almost all of the horses in many of the races can be given a good chance if things fall right. Many professional backers will not back at the big meetings such at Cheltenham, Aintree, Ascot and Epsom because of the often extremely competitive nature of the races. 

Todays Tip –  Whether you do or do not back in very competitive races is up to you of course, but if you do the main factor I feel you should have on your side is value for money. If you don’t feel the price on offer is good value then don’t back it.