Cheltenham Horse Racing Tips for Saturday

Cheltenham's November meeting peaks on Saturday with its feature race, a Premier handicap, which has produced Cheltenham Gold Cup winners in the past.

Plenty of good handicaps and indicative novices complete the seven-race card and Racing Post tipster Keith Melrose is on hand to run you through his best selections.

Cheltenham Horse Racing Betting Tips and Odds

13:45 Cheltenham - L'Eau Du Sud @ 10/11
14:20 Cheltenham - Ginny's Destiny @ 5/2
15:30 Cheltenham - Wonderful Eagle @ 9/1

13:45 Cheltenham - L'Eau Du Sud @ 10/11

Until the announcement was made that Sir Gino would go chasing this season, I would have nominated L'Eau Du Sud as the best British hope for the Arkle. It is appropriate that he turns up in this nominated trial for the race, which his trainer Dan Skelton has won on both previous occasions that he has tried.

L'Eau Du Sud was the Skelton County Hurdle favourite last season and he was denied in that race only by Absurde, a horse classy enough to win the Ebor and finish fifth in the Melbourne Cup on the Flat. 

L'Eau Du Sud ran in a handicap on his chasing debut at Stratford. Much has been made of his sole mistake, spectacular though it admittedly was, but his overall technique was superb and he made a field of exposed handicappers look extremely ordinary. 

He faces a field in this race which is relatively heavy on numbers, but short on quality. Lookaway is the main danger and he won a match race on his chasing debut. If L'Eau Du Sud has Arkle ambitions, then he ought to be winning this.

14:20 Cheltenham - Ginny's Destiny @ 5/2

The parallels with Stage Star are obvious. Ginny's Destiny built up a strong record around 2m4f at Cheltenham as a novice last season and, while he could not emulate his stablemate in winning the Turners, his form in finishing second was just as strong an effort.

He turns up in this race on his reappearance, just as Stage Star did, off a mark of 155. Stage Star won handsomely and Ginny's Destiny can do the same in a weaker renewal.

This strapping sort virtually skips over the fences, which allied with positive riding makes him especially tricky to peg back over this 2m4f course, which so often produces specialists. There are plenty of those in this race, but Ginny's Destiny has the edge in holding loads of course form, without being exposed.

15:30 Cheltenham - Wonderful Eagle @ 9/1

The Philip Hobbs yard, which now includes Johnson White on a joint licence, had been something of a sleeping giant in National Hunt terms. There have been signs this autumn that the yard has been ready to retake its place at the top table and the former useful German Flat performer Wonderful Eagle can keep playing his part in that.

This horse won a couple of times when starting out for the yard last season, but that was at a low level and he struggled a little up in grade. He took off in the summer, winning on the Flat at Goodwood and over hurdles at Newton Abbot before finishing a good third at Ascot back on the level. 

If you can be of interest on the Flat off 86, you are a seriously appealing sort off 117 back over hurdles. Wonderful Eagle is just the right type to keep improving and emulate Jatiluwih, who won this race for Hobbs back in 2019.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.