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Tote Ten to Follow 2021-22


Photo by Alan Crowhurst/PA Images via Getty Images


The Tote Ten To Follow competition is, without doubt, the best value bet of the 2021/2022 national hunt season.

For as little as £5 you can have an interest in all of the major jump races, starting with the Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, 13th November and ending with the greatest race of all, the Aintree Grand National on Saturday, 9th April.

How Does the Competition Work?

Without going into more expensive permutations, simply select 10 horses you expect to do well during the period of the competition and every time a horse on your £5 list wins, or is placed, you collect points. A look at the rules for scoring points will help but the most important factor is in trying to find the winners of the 21 bonus races, starting with the Betfair Chase and ending with the Aintree Grand National.

The Tote Ten To Follow competition has guaranteed prize money of £100,000 including many minor and monthly prizes.

How Can I Increase My Chances of Winning, or Doing Well?

In one simple word – Balance. The following tips will, hopefully, give you an important edge over many of the vast number of lists in the competition:

  1. Pick the ten most popular horses in the competition and you have little or no chance of pulling clear of the chasing pack. My advice is to select seven or eight of the obvious contenders and two or three horses that have the potential to do well but without having the ‘wow’ factor of a Shishkin, Honeysuckle or Appreciate It.
  2. Important to get off to a good start. Forget about horses that will not be seen on a racecourse during the last two months of the year as you get no points for a horse, however good, taking the easy route to the Cheltenham Festival.
  3. Concentrate on the early bonus races, in particular the Betfair Chase, Tingle Creek, King George, Saville Chase, Irish Champion Hurdle and Irish Gold Cup. These races are usually won by horses with major chances at the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals and are likely to end the season among the highest point scorers.
  4. Forget about Cheltenham and Aintree. While the competition will be decided at these two great festivals (12 of the 21 bonus races are up for grabs), there will be a transfer window at the beginning of March where you can include two substitutes for the latter part of the competition.
  5. Remember the monthly prizes. It could pay to include at least one list you expect to do well in a particular month. For example, get the winners of the four bonus races run in December (Tingle Creek, King George, Welsh Grand National and Saville Chase) and you are well on the way to winning the December monthly prize.

My 10 To Follow

A PLUS TARD – first run expected to be in Betfair Chase, with Saville Chase, Irish Gold Cup and Cheltenham Gold Cup all possible targets.

HONEYSUCKLE – the outstanding hurdler of the current era will, all being well, take the world of beating in both the Irish and Cheltenham Champion Hurdles.

SHISHKIN – the top British two-mile chaser faces some serious Irish opposition in Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi but should clean up in races like the Tingle Creek before heading to the festival and a more serious test.

CLAN DES OBEAUX– A third King George looks a serious possibility for Paul Nicholls’ charge who will be a good horse to have on your side after the Cheltenham Festival, which the gelding is likely to bypass.

ENVOI ALLEN – Despite ending the season on a low note with a fall at the Cheltenham Festival before pulling up lame at Punchestown, this previous winner of all 11 starts is still one of the most exciting prospects in training. In the same ownership as A Plus Tard and with both horses in the care of trainer Henry De Bromhead, the chances are they will be kept apart for most of the season.

NEXT DESTINATION – A decent novice hurdler when with Willie Mullins in Ireland, the nine-year-old has taken really well to fences, including when beating all bar Galvin in the National Hunt Chase at the festival. Starts the season on a fair mark of 153 and the Ladbrokes Trophy looks a good starting point for this exciting staying chaser.

BOB OLINGER – This impressive winner of the Ballymore Novices Hurdle at the festival is unlikely to be running in any bonus race until later in the season but looks sure to pick up plenty of Graded novice chases in Ireland before heading back to Cheltenham.

SECRET REPRIEVE – Impressive winner of last season’s Welsh Grand National, this improving staying chaser just failed to make the cut for the big one at Aintree. That could prove to be a blessing in disguise however as the seven-year-old must have a good chance of winning back-to-back Welsh Nationals off his current mark of 142 before heading to Aintree later in the season.

MY DROGO – Dan Skelton’s top novice hurdler of last season could well clean up in the novice chase department on this side of the Irish sea before tackling more serious opposition from Ireland later in the season. His first run in a bonus race is likely to come at the festival but should pick up plenty of points prior to that.

KILCRUIT – Willie Mullins holds a strong hand in the novice hurdle department with the 1-2 in the Cheltenham Bumper, Sir Gerhard and Kilcruit. The latter reversed that form at Punchestown and may just have the more scope of the pair.


* Betting odds correct at the time of writing. All odds are subject to change.