Five British horses to follow at this year’s Cheltenham Festival 

The Cheltenham Festival is rapidly approaching and we have picked out five leading British contenders to follow at this year’s meeting.

Watch all of the action live on ITV and Racing TV next week. Make sure to check out the latest horse racing odds

Constitution Hill – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Tuesday, 1.30pm) – Odds: 9/4

The Nicky Henderson-trained Constitution Hill is an exciting contender. Bought for £120,000, the five-year-old is unbeaten in two starts over hurdles, winning by 14 lengths on debut at Sandown, before powering to an impressive victory in Grade One company back at Sandown in the Tolworth Hurdle last time out. He takes on stable companion Jonbon in this event and he looks a leading player.

Edwardstone – Arkle Chase (Tuesday, 2.10pm) – Odds: 7/4

The Alan King-trained Edwardstone holds leading claims in the Arkle and is one Britain’s best chances of the week. The eight-year-old has won four of his five starts over fences and impressed when scoring in Grade one company at Sandown in December. The son of Kayf Tara has now won at Kempton and Warwick since, impressing particularly at the latter track last time out.

Bravemansgame – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Wednesday, 2.10pm) – Odds: 7/4

Paul Nicholls has compared Bravemansgame to the legendary Denman who won the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup and the seven-year-old can take the next step up the ladder with success in this three-mile event. A Grade One winner over hurdles, he has been imperious in four starts over fences, which included Grade One success at Kempton on Boxing Day. Pitched into handicap company last time out, the Brave Mansonnien gelding defied top-weight to record a smart three and a half-length effort at Newbury.

Shishkin – Champion Chase (Wednesday, 3.30pm) – Odds: 8/13

Nicky Henderson is chasing a record seventh win in the Champion Chase having already won this event with the likes of Altior and Shishkin. The eight-year-old son of Sholokhov tasted success over hurdles at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival and is unbeaten in seven runs over fences. He impressed when scoring in the Arkle at last term’s Cheltenham Festival. The eight-year-old impressed when scoring by 10 lengths at Kempton in December and then beat Energumene in a race to savour at Ascot in the Clarence House Chase last time out. He looks the leading candidate for this event is taken to come out on top.

Protektorat – Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Friday, 3.30pm) – Odds: 7/1

Dan Skelton’s Protektorat is part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson and the seven-year-old impressed when scoring in Grade One company at Aintree in April. Second in a competitive handicap at Cheltenham in November on his return to action, that was a pleasing effort and he then took another step forward when powering to a facile 25-length victory in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree in December. That was a fantastic performance on testing ground and he looks the pick of the British runners in a Gold Cup which features two-time champion Al Boum Photo, defending champion Minella Indo and the favourite A Plus Tard who was second in the race last year and impressed at Haydock earlier this term.

You may also like to read

Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.