Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:15 | Winning time: 5m 8.3s

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Selected odds by:

I'm To Blame^h⁴¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 124| CD

2/5

Has won by 14L and 26L in his two visits to this track, the latest over this trip. Doesn't look particularly harshly treated for that and has strong claims.

Form: 11-131

Quest For Life^p²⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: M Walford| OR: 120| D

13/2

Cheekpieces return after some ordinary recent runs following a summer break. 1lb drop, and claims if at his best, but he needs to scale those heights again.

Form: 3-10503

Mountain Hawk⁴⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: C R King| T: T D Easterby| OR: 120

11/2

Took a bit of time to get used to this discipline, but stayed on strongly from a long way off the pace to swoop late at Newcastle last time. Potentially progressive, and needs to improve to follow-up.

Form: 4/4621

Blunder Buss⁷³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-7| J: Callum Bewley| T: C Grant| OR: 119

12/1

Scored from just 1lb lower last season, but inconsistent and has only come close to that level once in three more runs. Not written off, but others make more appeal.

Form: 331-357

Braddan Head^t⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 10-6| J: Sean Quinlan| T: Mrs Dianne Sayer| OR: 104

50/1

Not devoid of promise for Charlie Longsdon, but beaten a long way on debut for this trainer and can only watch him at present.

Form: 755-P4

Forecasts

I'm To Blame (2/5), Mountain Hawk (11/2), Quest For Life (13/2), Blunder Buss (12/1), Braddan Head (50/1)

Mountain Hawk grasped the nettle well enough in the end at Newcastle last time. He looks capable of winning more races, but he may have to give best this time around to I'M TO BLAME, whose wide-margin C&D success last time marks him out as a confident choice to follow-up. Quest For Life looks next best.