Horse to follow at the upcoming Cheltenham festival

Posted on by American Racehorse

Anticipation continues to build, ahead of the Cheltenham festival. This is again set to be one of the biggest horse racing events of the year with Cheltenham betting offers now also being released and proving popular amongst punters. This includes a whole host of firms offering signing up bonuses and promotions, with lots of new accounts set to be opened ahead of the event.

Virtually all horses will have made their final starts ahead of the event and it again looks like there are lots of strong favourites heading into the event. So, with this being the case, here we cover a horse to follow at the upcoming Cheltenham festival.

Monkfish is set to go off as one of the shortest priced horses of the week in the Brown Advisory Novices Chase and for good reason. The seven year old is trained by Willie Mullins and brings in a record of six wins and two seconds from his eight starts under rules. This has also included him winning his last six starts in succession and he appears to be improving with every run. Monkfish landed the Albert Bartlett Novices hurdle at the festival back in 2020, when he battled up the hill, to hold of the challenges of Latest Exhibition, Fury Road and Thyme Hill.

Following a break, Monkfish has returned this season over fences and improved no end, with his jumping proving to be his key asset. He started off in a Beginners Chase at Fairyhouse, when being set off at short odds. Monkfish jumped left at times but went easy throughout and cleared away at a canter to win by four lengths. A very impressive start over fences. Next up was a Grade one Novice chase at Leopardstown, with Monkfish again renewing his rivalry with Latest Exhibition. The pair pulled around 60 lengths away from the rest of the field and battled throughout the race, before Monkfish pulled away in the final furlong to win by three lengths.

The pair then again took each other on in the Flogas Novices Chase at Leopardstown and this was the performance that has got people really talking about Monkfish. He jumped well and travelled ominously well, before clearing away from the last to win eased down by 11 lengths. A stunning performance and this is why he is now expected to extend his winning run at Cheltenham and is clearly a horse to follow.