Cheltenham Tips: An Each-Way Lucky 15 Acca for the 2025 Festival from @RoadCheltenham

The wait is almost over – we’re now less than 10 days away from the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and I’m excited to announce that I’ll be here to look through EVERY race for HorseRacing.net, with a selection on all 28 races across the meeting!

But before we get to that, I’ve placed an each-way Lucky 15 ahead of the Festival and I’m hopeful that all four will line up to give me a run for my money. Here, I talk through my four selections and why I’m keen on their chances at Prestbury Park.

BEYOND YOUR DREAMS – Fred Winter (10/1, NRNB)

Beyond Your Dreams has been an eyecatcher a couple of times this season but her run at Navan in November is the one I want to focus on. She ran a big race that day, finishing four lengths clear of subsequent winner Wendrock, given a BHA rating of 136, and just half a length off the 130-rated Total Look.

My selection has been given a rating of 123, which should see her get into the race – especially with a couple of the horses at the top of the handicap reportedly likely to skip the Festival. She could be the main dart in the race for JP McManus and I’d expect Mark Walsh to take the ride. It sounds like connections are sweet on her chances and 10/1, NRNB with five places looks very fair indeed.

UNEXPECTED PARTY – Grand Annual (9/1, NRNB)

An obvious one but I can see Unexpected Party going close in his bid to become the first back-to-back winner of the Grand Annual since Top Twenty won successive renewals in 1958 and 1959. The form of last year’s race has worked out extremely well and he looks well treated given the second, fourth, fifth and sixth are now all rated at least 8lbs higher than 12 months ago.

Unexpected Party will run off a mark of 144, just 6lbs higher than the 138 that he won off last season. He was given a revised rating of 149 after his 2024 Grand Annual success but Dan Skelton has campaigned him with the spring in mind and he’s down to a very workable mark. I’m expecting a very big run and I can’t see him out of the first five.

GEMIRANDE – TrustATrader Plate (16/1, NRNB)

I was struggling to get to grips with the Plate for a while but I’ve really warmed to the Venetia Williams-trained Gemirande and she has an excellent record in the race with three victories. He won the December Gold Cup cosily enough earlier in the campaign and was given a rise of 8lbs for that success – though I believe he had a bit in hand and the winning margin certainly didn’t flatter him.

He ran no race on New Year’s Day before adopting unusual hold-up tactics on Trials Day 24 days later. Gemirande is a horse that needs to race prominently and the Plate suits front-running types. By Flemensfirth and out of a Presenting mare, he’s a strong stayer over the intermediate trip and he looks overpriced to me.

JET BLUE – Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle (12/1, NRNB)

I’m a big fan of Jet Blue for this race and I can see the French raider going very close if he brings his best foot forward. He has been trained for the Albert Bartlett and the vibes from France suggest that he’ll go to the race with a leading chance – especially if Final Demand and The Yellow Clay both run in the Turners Novices Hurdle.

Jet Blue ran out a convincing winner over course and distance in December and that form has been franked since, with Yellow Car – winning the Grade 2 River Don Novices Hurdle at Doncaster. He’s versatile with regards to ground, he handles the undulations of Cheltenham and he is a Grade 2 winner. He ticks plenty of boxes and is perhaps going under the radar given he’s trained on the other side of the English Channel.