Andrew Mount’s angles column concludes in 2025 with a first-look at the action at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. A star-studded card is expected and Andrew looks to provide some vital form stats for you to keep an eye one.
With no GG Weekend Watch podcast/YouTube show this week I’ve used today’s article to look ahead to the main action at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day (Thursday, January 1st, 2026).
1.25 Cheltenham – Betfair Handicap Chase (3m1.5f)
Overview
This race has thrown up a few shock results across the past ten renewals and simply backing all 93 runners would have returned a profit of £32.38 to a £1 level stake at SP (+£79.54 at Betfair SP after 2% commission)…
…I’m not suggesting this as a betting strategy but just wanted to highlight that it may pay to look beyond the obvious.
Days since last run
Those who had raced within the past 29 days had a poor record…
SP rank last time out
Those who started as favourite or second favourite in their prep race fared poorly…
Finishing position last time out
Those who finished first or second last time out failed to muster a win from 24 runners…
Race class last time out
Seven of the ten winners were dropping down in grade from Class 1 level…
System
Finished third or worse last time out when third or lower in the betting, rested for at least 30 days…
…his angle has found the last nine winners and on five occasions there were only two qualifiers to choose from.
2.00 Cheltenham – Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase (2m4.5f)
SP rank last time out
Those who started as favourite for their prep race were 0-16 in the past ten renewals…
Running style
This course and distance usually favours front-runners but seven of the past ten winners came from off the pace…
Previous chase wins
Four of the ten winners had failed to score over fences in Britain/Ireland previously or had won just once. Backing all 19 qualifiers returned a profit…
Irish raider MOON D’ORANGE, who has some useful form here, is a qualifier on this angle and could go well at a price.
2.35 Cheltenham – Dornan Engineering Relkeel Hurdle (2m4.5f)
Market position last time out
Those who started as favourite for their prep race were 0-11…
Race classification last time out
Those dropping down from Grade 1 to Grade 2 level had a good record…
3.10 Cheltenham – Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Hurdle (3m)
Age
Nine of the ten winners were aged eight or younger and backing all 69 qualifiers returned a profit of £10.50…
…those aged nine or older were just one from 41 for a loss of £35.00…
Market position last time out
Those who started as favourite (1-22) or second favourite (0-15) in their prep race had a poor combined record…
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