English/Ire
King’s best bets - 11th March 2026
Sam King is back with four selections on day two of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
Old Park Star ensured both myself and favourite backers kicked the week off with a winner in the Supreme yesterday but I'm happy to take on No Dramas This End in today's opener.
Paul Nicholls' impressive Challow Hurdle winner might prove to be the real deal, but this is a deep enough contest at around 5/2, he's opposable.
Gordon Elliott has won the Turners Novices' Hurdle (1.20) twice in the last ten years with Samcro and Envoi Allen. They were both odds-on to collect the prize but his contender this season, Ballyfad, is a juicy 12/1 having seemingly been a touch forgotten about in the market.
Ballyfad looked potentially out of the top drawer when dispatching Leader d'Allier by nine and a half lengths on his hurdling debut at Leopardstown on Boxing Day and such was the impression he created, connections opted to pitch him straight into Grade 1 company on the back of it.
Gordon Elliott's charge might have suffered defeat on his next outing over hurdles, but he certainly did his claims as being a top-class novice hurdler no harm when going down a short-head to Talk The Talk - who seemed to not handle conditions in yesterday's Suprreme - in the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle.
After battling on well all the way to the line, it's no shock to see connections move him up to two miles five furlongs here and if that contest at the Dublin Racing Festival hasn't left it's mark, then this uncomplicated and sizeable five-year-old, might just prove the answer here.
Ballyfad – 1pt Each-way
Odds – 12/1
The addition of Romeo Coolio gives this year's Brown Advisory Novices' Chase (2.00) further depth but whilst his Irish Arkle success took the perfect boost when Kargese landed the English equivalent yesterday, he too is opposable at the prices.
Koktail Divin had plenty of options and its interesting connections have plumped for the three-mile Grade 1, with the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap Chase also firmly on the radar earlier in the week.
Twice a good runner-up on a soft surface early on over fences, he seemed to relish the better ground when bolting up at Leopardstown in December and I'm expecting to see bundles of further improvement now that he moves up in trip.
Henry De Bromhead's stable jockey Darragh O'Keefe looked all set to ride stablemate The Big Westerner earlier in the week, so it's clearly worth noting that he's made the switch to Koktail Divin. There's no doubt that this is a deep contest, but he could be capable of a much bigger effort.
Koktail Divin – 1pt Win
Odds – 7/1
Willie Mullins won the BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle (2.40) last year with a classy six-year-old and he may well do so again with both Storm Heart and Kopeck De Mee going to post.
Of the pair, my preference is with the latter. He bombed out having been backed as though defeat was out of the equation in the Martin Pipe last year but proved that money wasn't poorly placed when going down narrowly at Aintree and he clearly didn't take to chasing last time, so it's easy to draw a line through that effort.
The form of his Aintree win has taken plenty of boosts with the likes of Nicky Henderson's Grade 1 winner Impose Toi in behind and although he's 9lb higher than when running here last year, he's still thoroughly unexposed and could easily have scope for further progress off a mark of 145.
Kopeck De Mee - 0.5pt Win
Odds – 9/1
My final wager comes in the Debenhams Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase (4.40) and I'm hoping that the return to better ground will do the trick for Relieved Of Duties.
Gordon Elliott's charge looked potentially useful on his first two outings over fences and it's possible that he's been getting bogged down in heavy ground in recent starts. He jumped well when beating Full Of Life, who is bound for the opening Grade 1 Albert Bartlett tomorrow, on his chasing debut at Fairyhouse in October, while the form of his Grade 2 second over course and distance reads nicely in the context of this event.
He now enters handicap company off a mark of 136 and now back on better ground, Gordon Elliott's charge looks dangerous to discount.
Relieved Of Duties – 1pt Win
Odds – 10/1
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