Cheltenham Friday Tips: Check out Raceolly's best bets for day 4 on Gold Cup day

Our resident tipster Raceolly is back with his best bets for Friday at the Cheltenham Festival, which is Cheltenham Gold Cup day, and our man has a host of eye-catching big-priced fancies for what should be an epic day's racing at Cheltenham racecourse...

13:30 Cheltenham - Triumph Hurdle

Willie Mullins has won two of the last three runnings of this which was a nice relief after a string of places before that and he comes here with seven runners. There’s been an interesting stat in recent times that French bred horses tend to do very well in this and in fact five of the last seven winners have been French bred with four seconds which is another big tick for ZENTA. Bought by JP with an eye on with race it seems

14:10 Cheltenham - County Hurdle

This will be BALLYADAM's third visit to the festival after finishing 2nd in a Supreme in 2021 and a good 5th behind State Man in last year's County Hurdle when giving weight to the first seven home. Just four lengths behind recent Ballymore runner-up Gaelic Warrior last time out when only carrying 1lb less which came at a track that horses have a good record when coming here from with 21 of the 78 placing. Well handicapped on a few pieces of form and was a rather unlucky loser last year after a troubled passage and deserves to go closer this year.

14:50 Cheltenham - Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle

SEABANK BISTRO is an interesting runner in this after his very good 4th in last season's Champion Bumper and he’s ran consistently well this season at a lower level, but his run with Corbetts Cross was a good effort and he went off a fancied 8/11 fav in that contest. Corbetts Cross had first run and he made a mistake two out when the race was on which didn’t help but he stayed on well with the winner at the finish and didn’t look far behind CC that day despite the three length defeat. They reoppose today with a big gulf in price and the ground and step up in trip should play to the strengths of both but with Seabank Bistro easily the most appealing at the prices. Willie Mullins has won three of the last six runnings of this, two of them a lesser fancied runner and Patrick Mullins is a great jockey with a record of at least placing in 19 of his 50 rides in the UK over the last five years.

15:30 Cheltenham - Cheltenham Gold Cup

I’ve been on about AHOY SENOR for a good while now when it comes to the Gold Cup 2023 and tomorrow we find out if it was for good reason. Put up back in January when 66/1 for this he improved a bundle for the spring festivals for the previous two years and if turning up at his best he’s a very lively outsider. Finished in front of a bundle of the fancied runners last season and looked like the Gold Cup would suit him down to the ground when a staying on 2nd in the Brown Advisory last season behind L’Homme Presse, a horse he took his revenge on at Aintree soon after. He had excuses running very freely on first two runs of the season and probably wasn’t suited by the demands of a King George but bounced back at the track in the Cotswold Chase at the end of January. Ticks a lot of trends, eight-year-olds have won seven of the last 10, rated above 160, Grade 1 winner with course form and Lucinda Russell has had 10 of her last 16 runners win.

16:10 Cheltenham - Festival Hunters' Chase

Paul Nicholls has a good record in this winning it four times over the last 19 years and a further two places, three of them winners ridden by women which is interesting. He’s booked Natalie Parker to ride SECRET INVESTOR here who has a 26% win rate on her rides after 10 winners from 38 rides and a further 11 places under Rules. He was a 162-rated chaser in 2021 and only ran once under rules since then which came after a 650-day break at Chepstow. Easily won both Hunter Chase starts which came within a week of each other last month to qualify for this. He wouldn’t want much more rain but the new course will be slightly better and the forecast is looking better on a track that drains well.

17:30 Cheltenham - Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle

I’ve already made my case for ante-post punt Cool Survivor but I’ll be adding another to my bets with MARK OF GOLD. Gary Moore very rarely runs one in this but Mark Of Gold has improved with every run this season and now has a record of winning 50% of his hurdle starts. Form on soft ground if the rain did cause some damage and form at undulating tracks and the prep run at Kempton has been a step for 25 runners of the past 14 years of which 28% of them placed. Six-year-olds have won eight of the 14 runnings and of the 115 have ran, 23% of them ended up in the places. Previous winners tend to arrive in this on the back of a good run with eight of the last 10 having finished in the first three, five of them on the back of a win like Mark Of Gold does here