Cheltenham 2025 Day 4: Best outsider and value long-odds bets

Unfortunately, yesterday's best outsider Ryan's Rocket wasn't a runner in the Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase.

I wasn't too confident in him, but a fair few respected tipsters did like his chances, so it was a shame that he didn't get to run.

 William Hill County Handicap Hurdle

Rizzel's tips

Since 2015, you'd have been out of luck apart from one year if you didn't back Willie Mullins or Dan Skelton, as the pair of trainers have cleaned up in this race in recent years. The only other trainer who won this race in between the dominance was Peter Fahey in 2021 with Belfast Banter.

With what I've just said, it's hardly a surprise that both trainer's horses are towards the top of the market. There have been whispers of Valgrand being plotted up for this race for months now. I can see the angle for him winning this race, as he looked very good when winning at the track earlier in the season, but it's a shame he is trained by Dan Skelton as his price is a fraction of what it should be.

The other horse I liked was Kargese but similar comments can be applied to this mare, who looks like an obvious selection as she has Grade 1 form behind Sir Gino and Majborough. Her returning run this year was a good effort, and the other winner has since finished third in the Mares' Hurdles on Day 1 of the Festival, so her chances of winning are blatantly obvious. I could easily pick one of these horses, but I wouldn't be a tipster if I was to tip up the short-price favourite for a big handicap like this, instead I like to try and find a bigger-priced winner, and doing so means you've got to against all of the trends.

Right at the very bottom of the weights is a horse, which 99% of people will not even recognise, and that is Irish Panther for Eddie & Patrick Harty, who will not be known to the vast majority of the racing public. This horse could be exceptionally well handicapped, not only based on pieces of his hurdles form but his form as well.

This lad has finished closely behind Ballyburn and Fact To File in bumpers. Both have turned into top-quality horses. Since running over hurdles, he has been second to Farren Glory and Daddy Long Legs. Both of them have improved plenty since they met. He is 0/6 over hurdles, but has run well in some decent handicaps in recent months and gets in this race at the bottom of the weights, running off a mark of 128. Cian Cullinan takes off 7lbs, which means he is running off a weight of 9st 11lbs.

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