1:15 Cheltenham Tips

Fortune De Mer's two wins have both come at Cheltenham. Although he only won by a short head on his last visit, that was in a Grade 2 novice hurdle. He has since finished 2nd, beaten by a length at Ascot off 124, and can still be competitive off 127 today.

This last-time-out C&D winner (in good style) has to be the bet of the day for me at 5/1 to defy the 6 lb rise in the handicap. The conditional jockey on board keeps the ride, and he's got a very impressive record here: 3 wins and 7 places from just 12 rides. There are two real keys to the horse following up that win here. The first is that the LTO win was the first after a wind op, which has clearly improved the horse. The second is that the time of that race on good-to-soft was very good compared with previous runnings of the race on better ground.

On what looks a fantastic Cheltenham card for Friday, one that catches my eye is Kel Du Large. The Jane Williams 5-year-old gelding was unbeaten in three starts (two in NHF affairs and one in a hurdle). He was off for a lengthy period (621 days) before reappearing at Exeter last month and was obviously fancied, as he went off at odds of 8/13f. Understandably he needed it and was a shade short on fitness, being outpaced 2 out, before keeping on to finish third of six, beaten only four lengths. He will strip fitter today, and off bottom weight looks a nice each-way bet.