Cheltenham Festival 2022: 72-Lines for Wednesday Placepot Players
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is the headline contest on day two of the Cheltenham Festival. Proceedings begin with the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle. The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and Weatherby’s Champion Bumper are other Grade-1 contests that will be decided during a seven-race card.
For those seeking an interest in the ITV-televised action with the prospect of a handsome reward, a Placepot is never a bad bet. The bet requires punters to identify one horse placed in the first six races of the day.
Twice winner of the Grand National and with five Festival triumphs, Tiger Roll is sure to be popular with Placepot players on Wednesday. ©GettyImages
On this card last year, the Cheltenham Placepot paid £25.87. Four favorites were placed during the afternoon. The exceptions came in the day’s two handicaps: The Grand Annual Chase and the Coral Cup Hurdle.
This year there are short-priced favorites in four of the six contests that make up the Placepot races – the 1.30 pm to 4.50 pm inclusive. The two big-field handicaps are exceptions. As usual, they appear ultra-competitive.
It is therefore very possible Wednesday’s Placepot will ultimately have a similar complexion to its 2021 counterpart. However, it will almost certainly pay considerably more.
Gerhard and Bravemansgame Are Early Bankers
In the opening Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (1.30 pm) Willie Mullins’ Sir Gerhard holds the aces. Amongst a huge entry, the trainer has kept just three horses in this contest.
Trading as the odds-on favorite, Sir Gerhard has looked imperious in his two starts over hurdles. It is difficult to see him finishing out of the frame making him banker material.
Bravemansgame also acts as a banker in the second contest, the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (2.10 pm). Third in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Festival, the French-bred six-year-old is unbeaten in four starts over fences.
Paul Nicholls’ horse landed the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day and had a great final prep-run when scoring at Newbury in February.
The best horse in the race according to official ratings – and proven over Wednesday’s three-mile trip – it is pointless trying to find reasons for him not to be placed.
An Irish 11-Stone Cluster Bomb
The day’s third race, the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (2.50 pm), has a maximum field of 26 runners. It could be best described as a lottery. But Irish-trained horses have become very good at winning Cheltenham handicaps in recent years. They are probably the ones to concentrate on.
We are taking six horses in this contest. Not only are they all Irish-trained but also hovering around the 11-stone mark. Horses carrying this weight have produced the bulk of winners in this Coral sponsored race in recent years.
Our selections are: The Shunter, Ganapathi, Daly Tiger, Drop The Anchor, Fastorslow and Indigo Breeze.
Roll-up for a Banker and a Booster
In the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (3.30 pm) only a fall seems capable of keeping Shishkin out of the frame. He is unbeaten in all seven career starts over fences and has never made a serious jumping error. A winner at the two previous Festivals, Shishkin is our third Placepot banker.
The Glenfarclas Chase (4.10 pm) is where we are hoping to get a favorite beaten and bolster our potential Placepot return.
The race features two-time Grand National winner Tiger Roll. This remarkable little horse has won at the Cheltenham Festival five times and took this contest in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
But the best form is the most recent form and there can be no denying – even against opposition that was above his current paygrade – the 12-year-old has appeared as slow as a boat since his Glenfarclas Chase triumph in 2021.
That remarkable victory came at the expense of Easysland. He re-opposes on Wednesday, but with two pulled-up efforts since, he neither franks last year’s form nor makes any appeal.
Enda Bolger has won this race five times in the past, so his pairing of Prengarde and Shady Operator are the two horses we are placing in our Placepot perm.
Six off the Top
There is nothing worse than being live in the final leg of a Placepot only to fall at the proverbial final flight. With 20 runners and 13 fences to contend with, the Grand Annual Chase (4.50 pm) is another contest where a generous handful of selections are required.
Let’s hope one of our six selections can make the frame. They are Andy Dufresne and A Wave Of The Sea – both owned by JP McManus who has won this contest three times in the past decade – and, in keeping with recent statistics, four Irish-trained runners that sit towards the top-end of the weights: Exit Poll, Embittered, Buddy Rich and Dancing On My Own.
How to Place a Cheltenham Placepot
The best betting sites in the UK – the top bookmakers for British punters – facilitate Placepot wagers and place your bets directly into the Tote Pool.
At your chosen horse racing betting site, simply find the race-card for ‘Cheltenham’ where there will be a simple button directing you to ‘Tote Bets’. Another click on ‘Placepot’ will lead you to a simple slip where boxes can be ticked to add your selections to your perm.
Finally, when you have made all your selections, enter your stakes. The minimum bet unit is just 10 pence.
Recommended Placepot Perm:
| Race 1 Number: | 6 |
| Race 2 Number: | 3 |
| Race 3 Numbers: | 8-10-11-13-18-20 |
| Race 4 Number: | 7 |
| Race 6 Numbers: | 2-4-5-7-8-11 |
1 x 1 x 6 x 1 x 2 x 6 = 72 lines
