Cheltenham Festival 2021 tips and best bets for Day Three

PAISLEY PARK is tipped to regain his Stayers' Hurdle crown in the feature race of day three at the Cheltenham Festival.

The 2019 hero is back to his Grade 1 best this season and he can lift the Paddy Power-sponsored prize for jockey Aidan Coleman, trainer Emma Lavelle and owner Andrew Gemmell.

Coleman was thrilled yesterday when Put The Kettle On battled back to take the main race, the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase.

She overtook the favourite Chacun Pour Soi up the run-in, to become the first mare to scoop the two-mile championship contest.

If market leader Envoi Allen wins the first race on Thursday, one punter will receive a payout of £500,000 from just a £5 bet.

Here are Newsboy's best bets for day three :

1.20

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 ENVOI ALLEN

2 A PLUS TARD

3 CHATHAM STREET LAD

ENVOI ALLEN already has two Cheltenham Festival triumphs on his CV – and a third is within the unbeaten seven-year-old’s grasp.

Having captured the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 2019 and the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle 12 months later, the Cheveley Park Stud’s £400,000 purchase went chasing for Gordon Elliott this season.

Starting off over the larger obstacles with a 1-14 success at Down Royal in October, Jack Kennedy’s mount stepped up to Grade 1 company for the Drinmore Novice Chase at Fairyhouse at the end of the following month.

Making the running and fencing with panache, Envoi Allen lengthened when given the office between the final two obstacles to justify 2-11 favouritism by eight and a half lengths from Assemble.

Last time out, Envoi Allen made light of an 11lb concession to four opponents for Punchestown’s Grade 3 Killiney Novice Chase in mid-January.

There is no reason whatsoever to suppose he has gone backwards for a switch to Henry de Bromhead following the ban imposed on Elliott by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board – and Envoi Allen should win for the 12th time under Rules.

Chantry House sprang back to form at Wetherby last month and is capable of getting on the podium, along with Chatham Street Lad who turned the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup over course and distance in December into a one-horse race.

1.55

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 MRS MILNER

2 IMPERIAL ALCAZAR

3 BRINKLEY

MRS MILNER, who ran a cracker when sent over to Cheltenham last November, makes plenty of appeal.

The Paul Nolan-trained mare made her first appearance at the home of jump racing in a three-mile handicap hurdle and finished a neck second to On The Blind Side.

That looks a particularly good effort when one considers the way that race was run – Mrs Milner came from the back in a race not run at a searching gallop – and that the winner made further progress during the winter.

The daughter of Flemensfirth was by no means discredited when fourth to Dandy Mag with The Bosses Oscar ahead in second, at Leopardstown in December.

My selection took the first fall of her life when coming down at the halfway point of a two-and-a-quarter-mile contest for mares at the Dublin Racing Festival.

But, provided she’s no worse for that experience, Mrs Milner, who has been aimed that this race by the canny Nolan since mid-winter, can go well at rewarding odds.

Imperial Alcazar has been prominent in the ante-post lists since landing a qualifier at Warwick in January and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t go well, while Mr Harp, who chased him home, and the hat-trick-seeking Brinkley are others to go on the short list.

2.30

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 IMPERIAL AURA

2 MELON

3 KALSHNIKOV

IMPERIAL AURA got no further than the second fence in his Ryanair Chase prep race – but that isn’t a deal-breaker.

There is already one Cheltenham Festival victory on the Kim Bailey trainee’s curriculum vitae – he beat Galvin by three and a quarter lengths in the final running of the Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chaser here 12 months ago.

And the eight-year-old has continued his progress this season, starting with a two-and-a-quarter-length margin over Windsor Avenue in the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase at Carlisle in November.

Then, lining up against three opponents for the Grade 2 1965 Chase at Ascot 20 days later, Imperial Aura posted another personal best.

In the vanguard throughout under David Bass, the son of Kalanisi stretched into a three-length lead on the home turn, and had a further two to spare over last season’s Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase winner Itchy Feet at the line.

Imperial Aura used Kempton Park’s Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase in January as his springboard to today but, reportedly distracted by a shadow, hit the second obstacle and discharged his jockey.

That was an uncharacteristic error from an assured jumper, and the Andoversford gelding is fancied to be the local boy made good for the second year in a row.

Willie Mullins throws three darts at the board – Allaho, Melon and last year’s winner, Min – and the trio are hard to split.

Mister Fisher, Fakir D’Oudairies and 2020 runner-up Saint Calvados all have claims, while Kalashnikov is probably best at this trip and makes the most appeal of those at bigger odds.

3.05

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 PAISLEY PARK

2 SIRE DU BERLAIS

3 IF THE CAP FITS

PAISLEY PARK saw his career come off the rails when defending his Stayers’ Hurdle crown 12 months ago – but he’s back on track now.

Having lifted the Thursday feature from Sam Spinner in 2019, Emma Lavelle’s star – who in the meantime had stretched his unbeaten sequence to seven – went off the 4-6 hotpot to stage a repeat 12 months ago.

But Paisley Park suffered from atrial fibrillation in coming back a well-beaten seventh behind 50-1 winner Lisnagar Oscar.

Given 260 days to recuperate, Aidan Coleman’s mount returned in search of a repeat Long Distance Hurdle success at Newbury in November and emerged with plenty of credit with a length and a half second to Thyme Hill.

The winner had been in receipt of 3lb that day, but on level weights for the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December, Paisley Park exacted his revenge, overhauling his rival by a neck to regain the prize he had captured in 2018.

That Cheltenham’s Cleeve Hurdle in January succumbed to bad weather was a source of irritation, but Lavelle reports Paisley Park to be thriving, and he is expected to show his true colours.

Thyme Hill’s defection last Friday leaves Irish challengers Sire Du Berlais and Flooring Porter as the chief threats, according to the bookmakers.

Flooring Porter had his compatriot back in third – The Storyteller divided the pair in second – when setting a funeral cortège gallop en route to claiming the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown in December, but will find a soft lead harder to come by here.

Lisnagar Oscar could do with some rain, but a good run from If The Cap Fits isn’t out of the question.

3.40

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 MISTER WHITAKER

2 THE SHUNTER

3 OLD GRANGEWOOD

MISTER WHITAKER has a win and a third to show from two visits to the National Hunt Festival, and is feasibly handicapped.

Three seasons ago, Mick Channon’s nine-year-old scored on the Trials card in January 2018 before following up at the Festival a few weeks later, capturing the now-defunct Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase by a head.

My selection was pulled up in the Ultima Handicap Chase over three miles and a furlong 12 months later, but his appearance back at an extended two and a half in this race in 2020 yielded a third to Simply The Betts.

Mister Whitaker made his return for this term with a non-staying sixth behind Cyrname in Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase in October, but his sixth behind Two For Gold in a valuable handicap chase over today’s trip at Warwick last month showed he is coming to the boil.

Jonathan Burke’s mount is now just 1lb higher than when gaining his third success at the track, in April 2019, so everything is place for a decent show.

Dangers are everywhere, with The Shunter, Caribean Boy, Dead Right and Old Grangewood just four names worth throwing into the mix.

4.15

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 ROSEYS HOLLOW

2 THE GLANCING QUEEN

3 ROYAL KAHALA

ROSEYS HOLLOW is on a roll and gets the vote to break Willie Mullins’ monopoly on the mares’ novice hurdle.

Mullins has captured all five runnings since the race’s inauguration in 2016, but Jonathan Sweeney has a prime candidate to put a new name on the trophy.

Purchased by JP McManus after landing a Cork bumper in March 2019, Beat Hollow’s daughter ran third at Leopardstown on her hurdles debut a year later.

But this winter has seen Roseys Hollow make significant strides.

After a comeback fourth in a Naas maiden hurdle for mares 11 days before Christmas, my selection went one better at Fairyhouse 33 days later, beating Global Equity by four lengths.

And another leap forward came last time out in a Grade 3 novice contest for mares at Fairyhouse in February.

The Mark Walsh-partnered 17-2 shot made her ground to lead after the penultimate flight and ran on strongly to the line to beat Royal Kahala by two lengths.

The winner reopposes on 4lb better terms here, but Roseys Hollow hasn’t stopped improving and can stay ahead of her rival.

The Glancing Queen, Gauloise and, at bigger odds, Perfect Myth are others who can have a say in proceedings.

4.50

NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3

1 MOUNT IDA

2 DEISE ALBA

3 KILFILUM CROSS

MOUNT IDA should be capable of a personal best now that she races beyond three miles – and tackles handicaps – for the first time.

The point-to-point winner scored in a bumper over hurdles for Gordon Elliott before finishing a well-held 10th to Concertista at the National Hunt Festival last March.

But the daughter of Yeats has taken her form to a higher level over fences, following a chase debut fourth at Cork in November with a Grade 3 victory over two miles there two weeks later.

Mount Ida warmed up for today in a Grade 2 event over two and a half miles at Thurles at the end of January.

Willie Mullins’ Colreevy was the hot favourite that day and duly landed the odds, but Jack Kennedy’s mount did the best of her pursuers with a 12-length second.

The way my selection kept on in the closing stages suggested a stiffer test of stamina would suit.

Mount Ida gets the chance to prove that theory correct over three and a quarter miles, and the handicapper hasn’t been able to get carried away.

Deise Alba, Kilfilum Cross and Bob Mahler are all feared.

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