Cheltenham Tips: 2/1 Nap heads Owen’s Saturday selections

We go racing at Cheltenham again on Saturday, with another seven races scheduled between 13:10-16:40 on ground forecast to be 'good'.

I've got three Cheltenham tips for you to mull over - including a second-season novice chaser who ought to be extremely hard to beat in the afternoon's penultimate contest.

13:10 - Lord Of Thunder @ 7/1

I'm slightly concerned about the ground, and making your debut over fences at Cheltenham is no easy feat, but Joe Tizzard's LORD OF THUNDER is a horse who could leave his mark of 129 a long way behind this term and I can't let him go unbacked in this novices' handicap over 2m4f.

The six-year-old son of Getaway fetched £165k after finishing runner-up to Jonjo O'Neill's Mt Fugi Park in an Irish PTP early last year, 55 days before making his rules debut in a bumper at Stratford. He finished third in Warwickshire behind a couple of useful types.

He went novice hurdling last term, thrown straight into the G2 Persian War Novices' Hurdle at Chepstow. That proved ambitious as he was pulled-up before the last, and after his subsequent second at Wincanton I'm sure connections were scratching their heads about this expensive purchase.

However, the week before Christmas he absolutely bolted up back at Wincanton, beating a well-supported Paul Nicholls runner by just shy of 10L - and then in the new year he ran at the course for the third time in a row, barely needing to be pushed out to beat a decent field by seven and a half widening lengths.

That was an extremely taking performance. It wasn't the strongest contest, but the third-placed Heros De Romay did earn an opening mark of 123 and the selection couldn't have beat him and the others any easier.

I'm excited to see what he can now achieve over the bigger obstacles. This is easily his toughest assignment since the Persian War, but there's nothing to be all that fearful of in the field and his yard's in excellent form, so he's worth chancing at 7/1.

This is an Extra Place Race, with 4 available instead of 3 at 1/5 the odds for all each-way bets.

14:55 - Supreme Gift @ 9/1

It'll be interesting to see if the first Pertemps Qualifier of the season goes any differently after the introduction of new rules for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.

Providing they're within the weights at the declaration stage, winners of such races are now guaranteed a run in the Pertemps Final, which hopefully encourages more attempts to actually win these contests.

The booking of top jockey Harry Cobden suggests to me that Henry Daly's SUPREME GIFT will be trying to do exactly that.

Another son of Getaway, this seven-year-old began last term over fences but switched course in February with the aim of running in the Coral Cup in March. Soft ground ruled him out of that, but he absolutely hacked up at Ascot off a mark of 129 next time out before a highly-respectable effort off six pounds higher over Saturday's course and distance in April.

The selection was just three lengths off the reopposing Zain Nights that day, conceding a whopping 16lbs. He's 10lbs better off here, yet is twice the price. Why?

Given all the above, and with conditions very much in his favour, he rates excellent value - each-way if you fancy with favourable terms - at 9/1.

This is an Extra Place Race, with 4 available instead of 3 at 1/5 the odds for all each-way bets.

16:05 - Theatre Man @ 2/1

The penultimate race at HQ on Saturday - a novices' chase over an extended three miles - can go to THEATRE MAN for Richard Bandey.

He was more than useful in this sphere last season, going off 10/3f in the Plate Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival following three excellent efforts in defeat behind the likes of Inch House, Brave Kingdom and especially Ginny's Destiny, the eventual Ryanair runner-up.

I suspect his final run of the season, back over hurdles in a Grade 3 handicap at Aintree's Grand National meeting, was purely to maintain his novice status, which he can exploit here.

On ratings, little danger is posed by the three at the bottom of the betting - namely Bowtogreatness, Moon D'Orange and Transmission - while both Yeats Star and Hyland have to concede five pounds to the selection. The former in particular may struggle to do that, for I think he won an extremely weak contest at Listowel last month.

Hyland is without question the main threat, but he was a little disappointing on his final run last season and will have to be 100% to give weight to the favourite.

Theatre Man is Nap material in my book.

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