After a thrilling first day of the Cheltenham Festival, almost 70,000 will descend once again on the racecourse for another day of festivities, with the featured race on Ladies’ Day being the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
While the weather was a concern going into this week, with overnight temperatures dropping to 3C, there are no worries that any of the remaining days of the festival could be called off.
Last year’s champion Energumene, ridden by Paul Townsend and trained by Willi Mullins, is the favourite, followed by Edwardstone (6/4) and Editeur Du Gite (6/1).
There was an injury concern for Alan King’s Edwardstone, who was successful in the Arkle in 2022, when picking up a bruised foot in a Cheltenham race in January. King reiterated that there should be no worries for the nine-year-old.
Editeur Du Gite was the winner in that aforementioned Clarence House Chase, with Energumene taking up the final place on the podium in third, so expect rivalries to be renewed on Wednesday afternoon.
Bookies say back outsiders
With Energumene and Edwardstone both having short odds, bet365 use that previous Clarence House race as a reference where Gary Moore’s horse was 11/2 that time.
In terms of the other races taking place, Ladbrokes go 5/1 each way on the first event of the day in the Novices Hurdle, while Gerri Colombe will look to keep his unbeaten record in the Novices Chase, with bet365 backing them at 7/4.
Captain Conby (12/1) is the comfortable favourite in the Coral Cup, and Franco De Port (8/1) looks like a tip in the Cross Country, the race taking place after the featured one at 15:30, as does Fun Fun Fun – who William Hill also see as a good bet at 17/2 in the final race of the day – the Champion Bumper.
Make sure you check out our LIVE BLOG for more from today’s races.
