Cheltenham betting tips: Day 2 Placepot picks for £1m Tote Placepot Pool

The Placepot Pool is a guaranteed £1million minimum on each day of the Cheltenham Festival. 

The Placepot, which the Tote operates, is available to bet on from 4pm the day before the meeting. 

Most of The Independent’s recommended horse racing betting sites accept Placepot bets, which must be struck before the first race of the meeting has started.

The Placepot is one of the most popular bets at the Cheltenham Festival. It is a challenge and an entertaining way to keep an interest throughout each festival day. 

Finding a winning line can be frustratingly elusive but satisfyingly rewarding when the results go the right way.

The Independent’s Placepot Perm is a guide to which horses are expected to make the frame in the six Placepot legs. 

For the uninitiated, you may find our Placepot explainer article helpful for a full understanding of how it works. 

Wednesday’s Cheltenham Festival Tote Placepot Picks

Race one – Number 1 (1 selection)

Race two – Number 2 (1 selection)

Race three – Numbers 5, 14, 17, and 21 (4 selections)

Race four – Numbers 3 and 4 (2 selections)

Race five – Numbers 2 and 10 (2 selections)

Race Six – Numbers 4, 5, 6, and 16 (4 selections)

Total Placepot lines = 64 (25p per line = £16.00, 50p per line = £32.00, £1 per line = £64.00)

Tote New Customer Offer – Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets

For those wishing to bet on the Cheltenham Placepot directly with the Tote, there is a simple sign-up process for new customers, which includes £30 in free bets when making an initial wager of £10.

• Register and deposit on the Tote website or app
• Place a £10 win or £10 each-way wager
• Your account will be credited with £30 in free Cheltenham Festival bets

1.30 – Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)

Number 1

With some tough-looking races to fathom later in the day, the sensible option is to make Ballyburn (no.1) the first banker of the day. Connections opted for this race rather than Tuesday's Supreme Hurdle, so they are presumably confident he will oblige over this more testing trip.

Willie Mullins rarely gets it wrong. 

There is little fault to find with Ballyburn. Since being beaten into second by Firefox at Fairyhouse on his hurdling debut, this six-year-old has improved in leaps and bounds. He won with ridiculous ease on his next start over Leopardstown’s two-and-a-half-mile trip.

At the beginning of February, he dropped back to two miles at the same track and registered his second win over hurdles in the style of a champion. Barely breaking a sweat, he travelled strongly throughout and was never asked a serious question. There could be more to come yet.

It is almost impossible to see him not finishing in the top three here. Of course, many thousands of Placepot tickets will be riding on him, but he does look like a must-have for Placepot purposes.

2.10 – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)

Number 2

There are some very smart novice chasers in the six-runner Brown Advisory, but with more challenging races to come later in the day, it seems sensible to take a chance on another Placepot banker.

Fact To File (no.2) is a Willie Mullins superstar in the making, and he can surely beat at least four of his rivals home.

He finished a very creditable second in the Grade 1 Champion Bumper at the festival last year but has looked in a different class since progressing to the jumping scene.

When making his chasing debut last November, he looked in need of the run. He was beaten by American Mike, who reopposes here, on that occasion but has come on significantly since. An effortless win at Leopardstown at the end of the year marked him down as something special.

He then quickly disposed of stablemate Gaelic Warrior at the Dublin Festival. It was only a two-runner race, but Fact To File piled on the pressure after leading four flights out and was around 20 lengths clear before Gaelic Warrior unseated at the last.

He is venturing into the unknown distance-wise here, but this relentless galloper, whose jumping has been impeccable, should have no problem seeing out the trip.

2.50 – Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (Class 1)

Numbers 5, 14, 17, and 21

This is the first Placepot buster of the day. The ultra-competitive Coral Cup is a betting minefield, and surviving this leg of the Placepot will prove tricky. Safety in numbers is the best policy, and four runners in this race look like the best option.

Only 29 per cent of favourites have made the frame in this contest, with just one winning in the last 20 years. Many a placepot line has fallen at this hurdle. 

Sa Majeste will probably need to improve on what he has shown so far and is likely to be burdened with the favourite tag on horse racing betting apps, so he is left out in the third race of the Placepot.

The six-year-old Built By Ballymore (no.14) has improved dramatically compared to last season and looks like the type who could find even more. He can probably win this contest and must have a shot at making the first four without too much bother.

Younger horses and those towards the top of the handicap tend to do well in this race. Nicky Henderson’s First Street (no.5) falls into this category. He has shown a consistently high level of form this season and, although not winning, has not been out of the frame in four quality races. 

He is another with solid winning claims, so he is included in the Placepot, as is Henderson’s Lucky Place (no.17), who has been placed on all four runs over hurdles and improved with each.

Henderson has another likely contender in the fast-improving Doddiethegreat (no.21), who makes up the Placepot quartet in this race.

3.30 – Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)

Numbers 3 and 4

The race has been billed as a match between hot-pot favourite El Fabiolo (no.4) and second favourite Jonbon, who were first and second in that order in last year’s Arkle. 

The other big runner is Edwardstone (no.3) who comes into this race after an exceptional performance at Newbury a month ago.

Neither of the market leaders jumped particularly well on their latest starts, especially Jonbon, and can ill afford any sloppy jumping over Cheltenham’s unforgiving obstacles. 

El Fabiolo is unbeaten in six chasing starts, though, and he will be exceptionally hard to keep out of the frame if putting in a clear round, so he is a must for the Placepot. He could feasibly be the third banker of the day.

However, trying to get two in the frame may be a wiser idea, and Edwardstone, who is excellent at the obstacles, is given preference over Jonbon. Even if the latter does prove superior, Edwardstone should still finish in the places. He looks comfortably superior to the rest of the field.

4.10 – Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase 

Numbers 2 and 10

The 2024 Cross-Country Chase, which is run on a different course to the other races at Cheltenham, has unfortunately been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

However, the Tote have confirmed that although leg five becomes a walkover, Placepot punters still need to make a selection and everybody will automatically go through.

For the record, our picks were Koko Beach (no.2) and favourite, Minella Indo (no.10), who won the 2021 Gold Cup and was runner-up in 2022, as the second choice for this Placepot leg.

4.50 – Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup (Class 1)

Numbers 4, 5, 6, and 16

A big field handicap chase and as wide open as they come.

Six to eight-year-olds, horses carrying over 11 stone and runners in their first or second season chasing tend to do well in the race. 

Strictly on form, there is not an awful lot between them all, and the betting offered by gambling sites reflects that.

Madara (no.6) has run at the track three times, winning the last in good style. He has since won a valuable Leopardstown race and should go well again. Sa Fureur (no.5) has shown plenty of ability in his first season chasing and has claims to at least make the frame.

For Placepot purposes, the best of the others could be Solness (no.4) for Joseph O’Brien and the decent hurdler Hardy Dy Seuil (no.16), who is having just his second race over fences this season after showing plenty of promise in a decent chase at Sandown in February.