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With the Cheltenham Showcase meeting behind us, it’s time for me to add my second and third ante post selections for the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. So far, I have put up Gaelic Warrior for the Brown Advisory Chase, and that selection is starting to look good, as connections have since earmarked the race as his most likely target.
Here, I have two more ante post betting tips for you and these will be the last until my Countdown to Cheltenham series goes live around the middle of the month. It has been a profitable series for the last two years and this season we plan to take it to a whole new level.
For this season’s series, I’ll be working closely with Jaime Wren and Scott Ruderham. Each of us will drop one selection in every episode, so you’ll get three tips for the price of one every time you tune in.
I have been using Ladbrokes for all of my ante post bets, so if you haven’t already got an account with them, then why not try out this bet £5, get £20 in free bets deal. I will also add that Ladbrokes are very competitive in the ante post markets, so it’s well worth taking advantage, because every point counts.
With just over four months to go until the start of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, now is a great time to start getting your ante post bets nailed down. I’ve already given you Gaelic Warrior and next I’m putting up my top picks for the two big mares’ races – the Mares’ Hurdle on Tuesday and the Mares’ Chase on Friday.
My ante post selection for the 2024 Mares’ Hurdle is the Willie Mullins-trained Ashroe Diamond. She is a beautiful-looking mare, sired by Walk In The Park, who has simply gone from strength to strength and I really fancy her chances in this.
Just to put a bit of context into this, Ashroe Diamond’s stablemate, Lossiemouth, is the current favourite for the Mares Hurdle. However, she is untested over the 2m 4f trip. Although I’m sure she can stay on to get the distance, I definitely think she will be less effective. In my opinion she would be better off running in the Champion Hurdle instead. She looks an out and out two-miler to me and she could also take advantage of the 7lb mares’ allowance.
On the other hand, Ashroe Diamond is already a proven winner over 2m 4f. She won easily at Fairyhouse in April, beating Whatcouldhavebeen by five lengths, having travelled supremely well throughout and she looked the real deal to me that day. I was rather disappointed by the fact that she skipped Cheltenham, but it was more than justified and I am a really big fan.
She also has some good form in Grade 1 company, which ties in with another of my favourites, Marine Nationale, and I also like the fact that she will be a seven-year-old when March comes. I think that her extra two years of experience over the favourite will prove vital and in my opinion, Ashroe Diamond is the one who will be coming up that hill in front.
Last season I put up Impervious for the Mares’ Chase and she got the job done for us in impressive fashion, with a 16/1 win. But with recent news suggesting that she will be missing the majority of this season, there is an opportunity for a new horse to take the crown and I think I have found a good one.
The Henry de Bromhead-trained Maskada won the Grand Annual at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, off a mark of 142 and she made really light work of it too. She travelled well the whole way round, showed a great turn of foot and put the race to bed by absolutely storming up the hill to win by six lengths. It really was an emphatic victory.
The runner up that day was the Willie Mullins mare, Dinoblue, who is a very good horse in her own right, but she was no match for Maskada, despite receiving weight, yet she is half the price for the Mares’ Chase, which makes no sense at all. Dinoblue did win her next two starts, but even off level weights she has plenty to find with my selection.
Maskada is now on a mark of 151 and I think there is still a little bit of room left there too. I believe she is a really strong candidate for the 2024 Mares’ Chase, and at 25/1, she is a cracking ante post bet.
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