UK Horse Racing Tips

Buck’s on the trail to historic Cheltenham repeat

(Cheltenham Festival tips)

As the countdown well and truly gathers momentum to the eagerly anticipated Cheltenham Festival there appears to be growing confidence behind the chance of top-class staying hurdler Big Buck’s regaining his World Hurdle crown after making a highly satisfactory return to action at the Prestbury track in January, writes Elliot Slater.

Paul Nicholls’ all-time great staying hurdler had a stranglehold on the three-mile title, winning the crown for four years in succession between 2009-12 before being ruled out of a fifth title last season due to an injury that kept him off the track for nearly 14 months. At the age of 11 it was asking a lot for the great horse to return to action at his very best, and in the circumstances he ran a great race to finish a close third behind shock 66/1 scorer Knockara Beau, another course specialist, albeit at a lower level.

There are always masses of Cheltenham Festival tips flying around in the build-up to the greatest show on turf, but one thing to always bear in mind is that the unique course seems to bring out the best in specific horses, and none more so that Big Buck’s. It’s not that he isn’t high-class everywhere else that he competes, it’s just that the way races are run at Cheltenham and the steep uphill finish, seems to play to the strengths of the winner of 23 of his 39 career starts and over £1.3 million in prize money.

They say that at the top level in sport “they never come back”, but Big Buck’s will be fitter on March 13 than he was in January, and as far as Cheltenham Festival tips go, the current ante-post offer of 9/4 looks extremely tempting for a horse whose been there and done it many times before, and still seems to have that all-important will to win.

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