Wednesday horse racing tips: Best bets on day two at Cheltenham Festival 2025 from Tom Lunn

Wednesday racing tips

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL
1.20: The New Lion 7/4
2.00: Dancing City 4/1
2.40: Jimmy Du Seuil 14/1 each-way
3.20: Vanillier 7/1 each-way
4.00: Jonbon 10/11
4.40: General Medrano 20/1 each-way & Martator 40/1
5.20: Gameofinches 4/1

The New Lion – 1.5pts

It’s rare to be impressed so much by a hurdler who is then as high as 3/1 in the ante-post and not even favourite for the Turner’s Novices’ Hurdle.

The six-year-old has emerged as a great horse from the Skelton yard and the team have been very impressive this year and could have another great Cheltenham Festival.

The New Lion has been strong in the market throughout the lead up to the festival becoming a strong joint favourite in some markets with the Willie Mullins-trained Final Demand.

The New Lion is rated 7lb below that horse but it seems to me that the ratings so far are not quite indicative of both horse’s best just yet.

Dancing City – 1.5pts

Mullins has got both Ballyburn and Dancing City in this race who are the two strong frontrunners in the market.

There are a couple things to consider between the two as it does seem a choice between them both at this stage.

One, is how good Ballyburn is, he’s won two of his three chase starts -only being beaten by the incredible Sir Gino at Kempton over 2m.

The step up to 2m5f looks to have suited him well and going up again to 3m for the Brown Advisory looks a sure thing.

But Dancing City has already proven, time and time again that he’s got the stamina.

Winning both of his chase starts over this kind of distance and even beat The Jukebox Man over hurdles at Aintree.

I feel like the money will go on Ballyburn to be a big favourite for the punters and Dancing City, will be the surprise winner who will just handle the conditions and distance that little bit better.

Ballyburn may want the ground to be softer but both have acted well on good to yielding, including against each other on the flat in April 2023 so it could be a great battle once more.

Jimmy Du Seuil 1pt

Jimmy Du Seuil was second to Ballyburn in last year’s festival in the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle and he then went on to place a respectable 4th behind Brighterdaysahead at Aintree.

He struggled last time out to Ballyburn at Punchestown in May, but after some time off he could be a huge danger to his rivals after decent placings and with progression really on the cards as he’s from the Willie Mullins yard.

This horse has done very well coming back from a long time off to go well fresh and that could be the angle they’re going for with this Cheltenham Festival bid.

Vanillier – 1pt

The Cross Country is always an incredible race and this year, now that it’s a Handicap, meaning it’s not all focused on the top-rated stayers being able to hose up.

We’d seen it before with the likes of Delta Work and Tiger Roll dominating the last few years, with this race the only one to be cancelled last year due to the weather.

This year, Stumptown is the leading fancy just narrowly ahead of Galvin who also has plenty of experience here, placing second behind Delta Work in this race in 2023.

Mister Coffey should have some serious consideration after he placed second behind Stumptown in the X Country in December here and instead of being given 9lb from that horse is now given 14lb!

Vanillier is a lovable grey gelding trained by Gavin Cromwell who also may be a great bet.

He placed ninth in the same race as those above but in the first time combination of a tongue tie and blinkers won by a mile at Punchestown and could be on a big return of form off a handy mark.

Jonbon – 3pts

12 wins from 14 chase starts suggests this horse is still very underrated.

It could be to do with the manner in which he’s won not always winning fans over.

Or perhaps his loss to El Fabiolo in the Arkle at Cheltenham Festival in 2023 is what sticks in punters’ minds.

But Jonbon has proved time and time again that even if his jumping isn’t always perfect he still somehow manages to win constantly.

A win over El Fabiolo in the Celebration Chase last April really confirmed his ability having suffered a shock loss in January at Cheltenham to Elixir De Nutz.

He’s won five in a row now and this season he’s been jumping better than ever.

Jonbon isn’t even making mistakes that would usually plague these big races which is partly why he went on to cosily beat Energumene in the Clarence House Chase, winning just like his late stablemate Shishkin did ahead of the same horse three years prior.

There’s of course got to be caution when betting on the Champion Chase as this is the race where favourites go to lose.

Shishkin (5/6), Chacun Pour Soi (8/13), Defi Du Seuil (2/5) and Douvan (2/9) have all failed to deliver at heavy odds-on prices since 2017 alone which could be a concern for many given the race record, despite how solid Jonbon looks.

General Medrano – 1pt & Martator – 0.5pt

The Grand Annual is often one for each-way bets as there’s just been one favourite to win this race in the last ten renewals.

I’m quite surprised Martator is as big as 40/1 for this race.

He’s struggled in his last two races including latest at Sandown, but that at least could have been due to the heavy ground.

He was also poor in January at Ascot but was slightly hampered when 4/1 joint favourite, potentially causing him to lose all momentum and confidence.

But this horse is now only 7lb higher than when winning by 11 lengths in November, and could bounce back on favourable ground and back down slightly in the weights.

General Medrano is another that appeals as an each-way play as I’ve been impressed with him for a while, placing well on return this season in November.

Then went on to storm home ahead of Beau Balko at Newbury and despite a 10lb rise went very well again at Doncaster.

A break since then should give him a chance to be fresh and ready for this task, which could be his third handicap victory this season alone.

Gameofinches – 1pt

Onto the last of the Wednesday races we have the Champion Bumper.

The Irish have won 25 of the 32 runnings of this race which gives them all the advantage coming into this one.

Jasmin De Vaux was a big winner of this last year at 9/2 for Willie Mullins, who’s won five of the last seven renewals.

Each with glittering records and this year, it’s Copacabana and Gameofinches who could add to the yard’s impressive record in this race, though there’s a few more he sends out who could win after unbeaten career starts.

Bambino Fever and Kalypso’chance were impressive, especially time-wise in graded and listed company, but Gameofinches was mightily at ease when winning on his second start for Mullins, who could have him in even better condition today.

Tom Lunn’s Horse Racing P/L

March 2025: +14.84pts
From May ’24: +199.22pts
From July ’23: +338.69pts

All odds correct at time of writing

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