Paddy Brennan's Cheltenham Festival Day 1 Tips
Six-time Festival winning jockey Paddy Brennan has joined the Free Bets team for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival to provide his free Cheltenham tips and expert analysis.
We have also got some of the best and latest Cheltenham betting offers on the market ahead of the Festival.
Paddy Brennan's Cheltenham Festival Tips
Check out Paddy's tips for Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival.
1:20pm Cheltenham - Irancy (Each-Way) & Tripoli Flyer (Each-Way)
This year's Supreme Novices revolves around the favourite, Kopek Des Bordes, and it is a case of him not boiling over before the race.
That is the one worry with this horse is the preliminaries, that he doesn't get too worked up.
It's his race to lose, but if he does get too worked up before he leaves the parade ring, I'd see that as a massive negative.
He's wearing a hood for the first time - if that goes wrong beforehand, then it's a big worry.
Two horses I do like are the JP McManus-owned IRANCY (Each-Way) and, obviously, TRIPOLI FLYER (Each-Way).
Willie Mullins has a very strong hand, but there have been whispers for Irancy, and it would be no shock to see him in the mix as they head into the straight.
As for Tripoli Flyer, he's 25/1, and for me, he has an excellent each-way chance.
He'll love the ground, although he will need to jump better, I believe he can.
Recommendations: Irancy (Each-Way) - 16/1 with bet365 (3 places) & Tripoli Flyer (Each-Way) - 25/1 with bet365 (3 places)
2:00pm Cheltenham - L’Eau de Sud
L'EAU DE SUD is a solid bet in the Arkle.
He loves the track, he'll love the ground, and I don't think we've seen the very best of him yet - I hope to see that on Tuesday.
The best he's run is when he won the Arkle Trial around here in November, even though he's since won a Grade 1 at Sandown and a Grade 2 at Warwick.
He's been freshened up, and conditions will suit - we'll see him at his very best, and he's in great form.
When you listen from home in Ireland, they're all saying Majborough is the banker, you know, he's the Irish banker, and he's going to be very hard to beat, but L'Eau de Sud can land this for Team Skelton.
Recommendation: L’Eau de Sud - 9/2 with Coral
2:40pm Cheltenham - Crebilly (Each-Way)
As always, the Ultima is a very open race, and I like three in the race - Broadway Boy for Nigel Twiston-Davies, CREBLLY for Jonjo and JP, and Sequestered, the horse of Paul Gilligan.
It's a competitive handicap with excellent each-way value, and these three stand out for me at decent prices.
My number one pick would be Crebilly, though - this will have been the plan for the season, and I expect him to go very well on Tuesday.
Recommendation: Crebilly (Each-Way) - 9/1 with bet365 (6 places)
3:20pm Cheltenham - Dysart Enos (Each-Way)
I think Lossiemouth is a league above this field - she'll need to run almost a stone below her rating not to win this, but we've seen it before - not all these short-priced favourites are going to win.
You look at horses like Joyeuse - Ithey wouldn't have comecome into the race if they thought Lossiemouth was going to run. So suddenly, horses like that are nearly two stone wrong in the weights.
Lossiemouth will be hard to beat for me, but DYSART ENOS (Each-Way) could outrun her odds at the bigger prices.
She's a bit of a forgotten horse this year – she's only had two runs, and similar to Be Aware, she ran behind Burdett Road in the Greatwood Hurdle before disappointing next time out.
She'll head into Cheltenham fresh and well - this has been the plan for the season, and if you arrive here with a plan, you can run very well.
Recommendation: Dysart Enos (Each-Way) - 33/1 with bet365 (3 places)
4:00pm Cheltenham - Brighterdaysahead (Nap)
BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD (Nap) has got a massive chance.
Obviously, it's Constitution Hill - he's a machine, probably one we've never seen the likes of, but I've seen weaknesses in him all year.
I haven't been proven right yet, but if Brightersdaysahead runs to her Leopardstown form and gets the 7lb allowance, she could serve it up to him.
It'll be a straightforward race for everyone because King Of Kingsfield will go off fast.
Brighterdaysahead will follow him, and Nico will follow her, and it's just when Brighterdaysahead takes it up - Will Nico be beside her or behind her?
But it's from the second last to the line where if push comes to shove, I think Brighterdaysahead will come out on top.
As for State Man, he's a solid horse, and he handles the occasion. If one or if one of the top two bombs out, he'll be picking up the pieces, but he's an each-way chance at best.
Recommendation: Brighterdaysahead (Nap) - 9/4 with bet365
4:40pm Cheltenham - Stencil & Hot Fuss (Each-Way)
The Fred Winter and JP McManus has the first three in the betting - STENCIL, Beyond Your Dreams, and Puturhandstogether.
It really is a lottery this race, but out of all the JP runners, I'd say Stencil is the one that has been layed out for this race.
Another one I like at a nice price is HOT FUSS (Each-Way) for Tom Dascombe - he's got solid form the first time blinkers are one, and he could run well.
He was behind East India Dock at Wincanton in October and had a nice spin on the flat a couple of weeks ago, so he should be good to go.
He'll have to improve, but in a wide-open race, he could run well.
Recommendations: Stencil - 11/2 with Unibet & Hot Fuss (Each-Way) - 10/1 with bet365 (5 places)
5:20pm Cheltenham - Transmission & Hasthing (Each-Way)
This is another tricky-looking race, and the two I fancied were TRANSMISSION for Neil Mulholland with Patrick Mullins booked and HASTHING (Each-Way), another for Jonjo O'Neill.
I expect Patrick to drop Transmission in, and he's probably the more likely of the two to grab the win.
Recommendations: Transmission - 5/1 with bet365 & Hasthing (Each-Way) - 14/1 with Coral (5 places)
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