Cheltenham Tuesday Acca Tips: Lucky 15 Picks For Day One

The Cheltenham Festival is finally here and we have tips, previews and more coming out of our ears here at HorseRacing.Net! Billy Grimshaw will be providing an each-way lucky 15 every day this week and he kicks off with Tuesday's offering here...

13:20 Cheltenham - Supreme Novices' Hurdle

First things first, I expect KOPEK DES BORDES to win this race with relative ease on the back of his stunning success at the Dublin Racing Festival. Plenty smarter than me who work in numbers and figures were waxing lyrical in the aftermath of that race that this lad would not have to improve one jot to win most Supremes over the last few years were he to turn up in the same form at Cheltenham, but with the improvement he showed from first start to second I think we may see an even better horse at Cheltenham and I'm hoping for a wow of a performance to kick the week off.

He is my idea of the winner but makes no real appeal for a bet like this given he is evens in most places, but with Romeo Coolio, Workahead and plenty others sure to be going all out for the win here, I am siding with the horse who chased him home at Leopardstown to do so again in KARNIQUET at a massive price. Now it is often folly to bet a horse each-way if you do not think it can win, but when 40/1 is offered that logic does not apply and I think this horse has plenty of improvement left in him and should be ridden quietly once again to pick up the pieces after his stablemate has broken the hearts of the rest of the pretenders.

Karniquet was a big improver from first to second start, like the favourite, and the team wanted to send him handicapping but couldn't due to how highly rated his conqueror was. That indicates to me that they will use this as a bit of an educational race for bigger and better things down the track, but he for sure is oozing with talent and I'd not be surprised to see him fill the same spot of second behind Kopek and in front of plenty shorter than him in the market. He's also worth a go in the without markets as a single if you can get anything close to 18/1.

14:40 Cheltenham - Ultima Handicap Chase

Over the years I have been stung backing horses antepost in Cheltenham handicaps, with sometimes the horse simply not turning up and other times the horse being available at much bigger prices on the day than the bet I placed thinking I was being shrewd. With extra places on the day too, it seemed the time was right to leave that branch of antepost punting behind this year. You can imagine my frustration, then, as I have watched the price tumble on WHISTLE STOP TOUR from 33/1 when I first saw it and chose not to bother backing to the 10/1 he is now in most places.

Lucinda Russell of course knows how to win this race better than most, and it is one of the few contests on the week in which backing British pays dividends, and the noises out of her camp are that this lad is as good as any horse they've sent to this contest. Considering she has sent dual winner Corach Rambler, who also won a Grand National and placed in a Gold Cup, that is quite the vote of confidence. Last time out he ran here but over a trip obviously too short for him and connections confirmed that was merely to keep the horse fit, and now stepping back up in trip and with a lightweight on his back I am expecting a bold show.

Crebily rates a big danger as he has great course form following his second in last year's Plate, and Broadway Boy could be dangerous from the front if on a going day but I'm quietly confident of our pick's chances and would be disappointed to see him out of the first four home barring accident.

16:40 Cheltenham - Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle

This is always a competitive affair and we can be sure that plenty will still have tonnes of improvement after this race given they are all relatively lightly raced four year olds, but for all the race looks a tough puzzle to solve I'm quite sweet on one each-way. LIAM SWAGGER runs for a yard that have quickly made a name for themselves in turning flat horses into smart jumping prospects and James Owen looks to have plotted this lad for this race from a long way out. The key factor in my confidence is the weather forecast and current ground, as with this race the penultimate on the card I am fairly convinced even if the clerk of the course goes overboard with the hose pipe on Monday night, things should've dried out plenty by this time at the course.

Liam Swagger disappointed at Newbury on his last spin over jumps but I am fairly sure he is simply a proper good ground horse and hated every part of the soft conditions that day, so putting a line through that run there's no way he should be 20/1 in here. His early season form on similar ground to what he'll encounter here was very smart and with the pace in this race often furious I like the fact he will be ridden in mid division and held together by Sam Twiston-Davies before hopefully slicing through the pack of beaten horses. I fear Murcia even off a big weight following his close second at Naas last time out, in a race which has proved a sharp trial for this in recent years. Plenty more of course have a chance, but our pick stood out like a sore thumb to me when I saw the prices and he rates a solid third leg in this bet.

17:20 Cheltenham - National Hunt Chase

It's great to see Jack Kennedy back fit in time for his sport's Olympics and I am more than happy to take the double figures the bookmakers are offering for Gordon Elliott's number one stable jockey to win the National Hunt Chase and etch his name in the history books as the first pro jockey to do so. This race has had plenty of makeovers of late and in its latest iteration it is now a handicap and not amateur rider only, so this race will be informative for future renewals but it's all about the here and now, WILL DO looks tailormade for this test.

He is still a maiden over fences but that is no bad thing in a race like this and his latest outing when second in what will work out a smart race at Punchestown is as good a piece of form as anything brings here, in my view. He is not the sort of maiden who has looked allergic to winning and with this the furthest he has ever gone and Jack Kennedy sure to allow the horse to find his own place and way of doing things in the race, I expect him to at least hit the frame. Haiti Couleurs rates the obvious danger and has clearly been laid out for this race a long way out, but his price has gone a bit too skinny in a race this competitive so an each-way play on the Elliott first string will do for me.