Cheltenham Tips: Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase 2026 Preview & Best Bet

The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase takes centre stage on the second afternoon of the Cheltenham Festival and attention is already turning towards the staying novice division as the meeting draws ever closer. With the Festival now just days away and the leading contenders beginning to firm up in the betting, the picture for Thursday’s Grade 1 contest is starting to take shape.

This three-mile novice chase has produced some outstanding winners in recent years and the 2026 renewal looks set to be another high-class affair. Several of the leading yards appear to hold strong hands heading into the race, with the ante-post market continuing to fluctuate as punters weigh up the chances of the leading contenders.

Below, Billy Grimshaw takes a closer look at the key runners in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and assesses who could emerge on top when the tapes go up at Cheltenham.

Rarely in recent seasons have I changed opinion on a horse as much as I have on Final Demand this campaign. In the aftermath of Cheltenham 2025 I was convinced all three of The New Lion (first), The Yellow Clay (second) and Final Demand (third) were weapons with huge futures ahead of them in their respective divisions. In fact, I am fairly sure I had a flippant fiver on them all winning the Champion, Stayers’ and this race respectively.

With The Yellow Clay throwing in only poor runs this season, that dream was dead in the water fairly quickly but I did believe at least the first and third to be high class and live Festival contenders. After Final Demand’s chase debut, this race looked his for the taking and the odds compilers mirrored that collective wisdom by even making him odds-on in places. Many will have made him the banker of their squad of Cheltenham Tips.

His flop at the DRF, however, was a shockingly bad run in my eyes and exposed weaknesses I’d missed in March 2025 but came to spot further down the track. I am not sure this is the most straightforward of propositions and he looks to have a sulk or two in him, judging by the fact as soon as he was eyeballed both in the Turners last year and at Leopardstown last time, he seemed to wilt tamely.

I could not have him on my mind around 3/1, even though this race does not look a vintage renewal. His conqueror at Leopardstown Kaid D’Authie comes next in the odds grids but as I was so down on Final Demand’s run at the Dublin Racing Festival, I cannot get excited by him either at around the 5/1 mark in the Cheltenham Odds. Wendigo looks the best of British and while he looks like the type who’ll stay longer than the mother-in-law, I would prefer to be with his Kempton conqueror (NRNB given he is not a nailed on runner just yet) KITZBUHEL.

He has already dispatched of Kaid D’Authie on multiple occasions both over hurdles and fences and when these two clashed in their stable debut, I recall the excitement those at Closutton were experiencing. The stable clearly thought these were two Grade 1 animals in waiting and were intrigued to see which would emerge the better; the answer was Kitzbuhel.

There is a worrying trend to jump right in his form over fences but if Danny Mullins - assuming Paul Townend is on Final Demand and Mark Walsh on Kaid D’Authie - is in the plate I trust him to go for his stereotypical Danny Mullins Cheltenham ride of heading to the front and dictating the race. Should he be the leader early doors, I would not be surprised if those right jumping worries were soon forgotten about.

With the ground drying I’ve no stamina concerns about this awesome Kempton winner and although his latest run at Sandown was disappointing given he tipped up, it’s worth remembering just how stunningly good his jumping was over Christmas. If he is in front of these stayers and gets into a rhythm, this could be the type of horse who builds an unassailable lead and springs a Brown Advisory surprise.

Should Romeo Coolio come here I’d fear him as he certainly has the pace to trouble my pick, but with drying ground I am warming more and more to the chances of the Mullins perceived third string. There is no harm taking the price now with NRNB on our side and if he is confirmed, it won’t take long for others to cotton on to his claims in comparison to Kaid D’Authie in particular at half his price. Koktail Divin is another Irish raider I’ll fear if he turns up for Henry de Bromhead, but his target is still up in the air.