Ed Quigley’s Cheltenham Lucky 15

Ed Quigley, aka ‘Longshot_Ted’ gives talkSPORT BET his Lucky 15 for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival including one at a potentially big price in the Brown Advisory…

Final Demand – Turner’s Novices’ Hurdle

I think Final Demand will just have too much class for his rivals here and can give further Grade 1 glory to Willie Mullins. This imposing individual has looked awesome in dispatching his rivals in both starts over Hurdles, winning at Limerick on debut, hard held by 15 lengths. He then followed that up with an absolute annihilation of the opposition in the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy at the Dublin Racing Festival. He sauntered clear by 12 lengths to win with the minimum of fuss. This was a very taking performance, and provided he handles Cheltenham, I think he will have too much for his rivals including The New Lion. I also think that Final Demand is deceptively quick, and won’t lack the boot required for this assignment. Paul Townend is likely to be on board, and this combination look to have major claims.

Be Aware – Coral Cup

This horse has been on the top of my shortlist for this assignment for quite some time, and I am finding it hard to look past the profile of Be Aware in this one. Dan Skelton has a sensational record in Cheltenham Festival Handicaps, and has won this race for the last two years. Be Aware has untapped potential arriving into this encounter, and can flourish stepping up in trip. His form in defeat this season looks red hot, and he was a staying-on second behind Burdett Road in the Greatwood Hurdle which is quality form. Burdett Road is rated 150 now, and Be Aware is off 137, so there is every chance that the 6-year-old is well handicapped coming into this race. He will need to settle over this longer distance, but I would be very disappointed if he couldn’t get involved in the shake-up here and is probably my strongest fancy of the week – amongst the Handicaps anyway.

Gorgeous Tom – Brown Advisory

I think we could be set for a shock here. Ballyburn just hasn’t quite convinced me so far over fences, and for all that he is the ‘best horse‘ in the field based on his hurdling exploits, I am yet to get that ‘wow’ factor from him over the larger obstacles. With the weather forecast generally set fair for the next week or so, underfoot conditions should be absolutely spot on for the Henry De Bromhead trained Gorgeous Tom. A winner of two of his four Chase starts, he was last seen when finishing fourth in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse last December where the bare result doesn’t tell the full story. He looked outpaced when the pace lifted, but he fairly rattled home inside the closing stages, beaten only a length at the line – in another few yards he would have snatched victory. Henry De Bromhead deliberately kept him off winter ground at a time when his horses weren’t firing and so coming here fresh won’t do him any disadvantage at all. Spring ground is key to him, but the most salient point is the step up to 3m for this. It looks a case of the further he goes the better, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a bit of a minor upset on the cards here as I can see this talented individual powering up the hill.

Marine Nationale – Champion Chase

Will Jonbon get the job done? Look, the form book suggests he should do, but he isn’t bomb-proof at Cheltenham and even his old jockey, the retired Aidan Coleman has gone on record to say that the horse ‘isn’t the same at Prestbury Park’. Yes he has some good performances here, but he has lost on three occasions and is yet to break his Festival duck, so it just comes down to a question of price. Hand on heart I would love to see Jonbon win, but I just have a feeling something silly could happen again here in a race which has provided a whole bunch of crazy results in recent years. I just get the feeling that Marine Nationale is coming to the boil at the right time, and Barry Connell’s stable star could easily get back to winning ways. He has been somewhat of a slow-burner over fences, but he has plenty of class, as he showed when he won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2023. These silks in the winner’s enclosure would make it a very poignant winner, and with the prospect of drying ground in his favour, I can see Marine Nationale running a huge race.