I'm not a huge ante-post tipster; I have a dabble now and again, but for Cheltenham, I did put up a few to try and find value.
Cheltenham 2026 ante-post winner – Lossiemouth 7/2 – SP 7/5F
I put up Lossiemouth for the Champion Hurdle at the start of February in the no-runner, no-bet market. This market you hinder yourself in the price department, but always ensure you get your money if the horse goes to another race at the festival, or just turn up at all.
At the time of advising her for the Champion Hurdle, it was still up in the air whether she was going to run in that race or would go for the Mares'. Constitution Hill hadn't run on the flat, so his future was still questionable, but when he was confirmed not to be there, the price on Lossie dropped a little.
If you were brave enough to back her in the normal ante-post market when the article was posted, you would have gotten between 9/2 and 5/1.
She went to the Champion Hurdle on day one and put in a cracking performance, and made us all question, why has she not been in this race since she won the Triumph in 2023? She has so much ability, and is the best Mare is the jumps hurdling scene, it seems a waste not to see her against the best males.
This bet alone secured profit for us on the week from the antepost bets.
Cheltenham 2026 ante-post loser – King Of Answers 33/1 – SP Non-runner
I felt like this was a seriously bad decision, which saw us lose our bet on King Of Answers running.
Firstly, he could have easily been tipped as NRNB, but I was so confident he was going to run in the Ultima. Lucinda Russell has such a good record in this race, and he looked like a horse who would relish the task; I had no doubt in my mind he was going to run.
It turns out I was wrong, and they have a serious love for Myretown, who won it last year. I can understand that they wanted to separate the horses for different races, but this was a poor decision. Myretown has been awful all season and got nowhere in the Ultima. Whereas, if King Of Answers was running in it, I think he would have gone close.
Instead, King Of Answers ran in the 3m 6f race, where he finished second. If I'm honest, I think he should have won that race too. Derek Fox took a lifetime to let him go and chase the leader; by that point, there was one fence to jump. It was a really bad ride, and this horse has so much potential over the national trips next year, or even the Scottish National in April (maybe another ante-post tip).
Cheltenham 2026 ante-post loser – Ma Shantou 8/1 – SP 17/2
I was confident that Ma Shantou was going to give a solid run, but he was poor.
I don't think the race was run to suit. The time suggests it wasn't a total crawl, but watching it for the first 70%, it looked very slow, and I think Ma Shantou is a proper stayer. He started to struggle when the pace lifted, and the others with more gears pulled away.
This horse will get better in time and will win a big Grade 1 at some point, I'm certain of that. When he gets a strong gallop to aim at, he'll be seen to best effect. To get this, they might have to front-run on him, which isn't a bad idea based on how Cheltenham rode throughout the week.
Obviously, I'm gutted to not tip up winners, but I heard Graeme Rodway of the Racing Post had backed Ma Shantou at 50/1 for the Stayers'. That's some serious value, but it doesn't matter unless the horse produces the goods.
GambleAware