Cheltenham Thoughts

    Not a whole lot to add since my last Festival update apart from starting with the each way doubles.
Nichols Canyon strikes me as an each way lock and he'll be in a few of the multis I'll be placing during the week. He's drifted in the market even with Faugheen and Arctic Fire's absense and maybe the talk of Annie Power going there has had the effect of diluting confidence. I personally think he's a more likely winner of the race than the mare and ultimately layers and most punters just seem to favour the Ricci colours - that's fine by me, it leads to better odds on some other Mullins creatures.

    Buveur D'Air has always struck as almost as big a danger to Altior in the Supreme as Min. The form of his win at Newbury continues to be boosted (I thought Big Chief Benny ran a stormer against some decent opponents at Ascot last Saturday, better than his finishing position suggests given he got tired on the ground over just short of two and a half miles.) I've had BDA in mind as one of my each way double horses (I will choose six or seven this year) and have stepped in now because I don't think 8/1 will last much longer.

    I'll post more about the other horses in my doubles list in another update at the weekend or early next week.

EDIT: 27/2, 2/3, 5/3, 8/3

Supreme Novices'
Altior £20w @ 7/1 and £25w @ 4/1 mbs

Arkle:
Sizing John £10ew @ 10/1, £20w @ 54/10,
£10w @ 4/1 NRNB (all w/o Douvan)

Ultima Handicap Chase:
Fingal Bay £10ew @ 20/1

Champion Hurdle:

Peace and Co £25w @ 122/10
Nichols Canyon £10ew @ 13/2 and £35w @ 5/1 both NRNB

NH Chase:
Vicente £10w @ 20/1 NRNB

Neptune:
Shantou Village £10w @ 16/1

RSA:
Native River £5w @ 28/1

Champion Chase:
Felix Yonger £20ew @ 33/1 NRNB
Sire De Grugy £10ew @ 8/1 (w/o Un De Sceaux)
Sire De Grugy £10ew @ 7/1 (w/o Un De Sceaux) NRNB

JLT Novices' Chase:
Sizing John £25w @ 136/10
Bristol De Mai £40w @ 74/10

World Hurdle:

Whisper £15w @ 13/1
Windsor Park £20w @ 14/1 NRNB
Cole Harden £15w @ 4/1 (w/o Thistlecrack)

Ryanair:
Apache Stronghold NR £18
Champagne West £5w @ 54/1
Valseur Lido £25w @ 13/1 NRNB
Vibrato Valtat £15w @ 16/1 and £10ew @ 12/1 both NRNB

Brown Advisory Plate:
John's Spirit £10w @ 195/10
Fingal Bay £10w @ 25/1

Triumph Hurdle:
Gibralfaro £10w @ 175/10

County Hurdle:
Desoto County £10w @ 16/1
Starchitect £10 @ 16/1 NRNB

Albert Bartlett:
Shantou Village £25w @ 116/10

Gold Cup:

Don Poli £30w @ 94/10 and £40w @ 13/2 NRNB
Vautour £10w @ 12/1 and £10w @ 8/1 NRNB

Holywell £5w @ 43/1

Any Race:
Shantou Village £10w @ 10/1

Doubles (£5ew)

(Supreme/CH) Buveur D'Air/Nichols Canyon @ 8/1 & 5/1

(Arkle(w/o Douvan)/Ryanair) Sizing John/Road to Riches @ 7/2 NRNB

(CH/County) Nichols Canyon/Starchitect @ 9/2 and 16/1 NRNB

(Ryanair/County) Road to Riches/Desoto County @ 6/1 & 14/1

(WH(w/o Thistlecrack)/County Cole Harden/Desoto County @ 4/1 and 10/1