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Gavin Lynch's Cheltenham tips: "he should run a blinder"

Last Updated: Wed 17 Jun 2026

Top pundit Gavin Lynch shares his three best bets for the first day of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival! Gavin's tips are first emailed to subscribers at 5.00pm the day before. Watch every race live, exclusively on Racing TV.

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4.00 Cheltenham: Brighterdaysahead (E/W)

Will she or won't produce her best at Cheltenham? That is the question. I believe that Brighterdaysahead has produced the best two-mile hurdling displays both this season and last.

Her performance at Leopardstown in December 2024 was remarkable. She destroyed a decent field that day which included State Man. The ground was good to yielding, but if you look at the time, it was possibly good ground; 3 mins 45 seconds for two miles at that track was stunning and shows that this top-class mare can produce her best on a decent surface.

On her first run back this season, she was held up behind Lossiemouth and she ran a cracker just behind a fitter mare. In the Irish Champion Hurdle at the DRF, Jack reverted back to normal by sitting closer to the pace. He kicked on at the second last and won decisively.

She is coming into this race in great form. Her Cheltenham record is the question, as we mentioned earlier. They simply went too slow in the Mares Novices' Hurdle two years ago and Golden Ace had a better finishing kick.

Last year, this Gordon Elliott-trained mare hurt her knee in running and ran poorly as a result. She can maintain a strong gallop for a long time and hopefully Jack can edge past Tutti Quanti at some stage before the home turn and set sail for home from there. She is priced up as if she won't produce her best here, but I am hopeful that she will on the big day.

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4.40 Cheltenham: Madara

To be honest with you, I have backed Madara and McLaurey for this over the past few weeks. McLaurey looks well-handicapped off 133 and has caught the eye on three of his four chase starts this season. I would be more than happy if either win, but for today I think that Madara may have the slightly better chance, mainly because the ground will be decent.

I backed him in the December Gold Cup some 15 months ago and he ran a cracker off 140 wearing cheekpieces to finish second, beaten a length. He has previously run a lovely race behind Il Ridoto when "never nearer" at the finish. He had a year off and reappeared at Christmas over a shorter trip when finishing fifth at Wetherby.

Last time, he caught the eye when finishing second at Kempton. He was never really put into the race and stayed on nicely to fill the runner-up spot. I think he is capable of much more than we viewed that day.

It might surprise you that he is only a seven-year-old and today is his Gold Cup. With the cheekpieces back on, I can see him running a huge race for the Skelton team who are so good at targeting a race from some distance out.

5.20 Cheltenham: Backmersackme

This seven-year-old gelding is trained by the in-form Emmet Mullins and has a favourite's chance in this. His run behind Three Card Brag at Cheltenham in late October over 3m 1f, where he stayed on up the hill to take second place, was exactly the type you would look for in a horse going for this famous staying novice chase.

He disappointed at Christmas, but then redeemed himself at the DRF over an inadequate trip. He jumped well and stayed on strongly to win a high class handicap off 125 over 2m 5f. The Irish handicapper gave him 8lb for that and the English handicapper has only added 2lb more to that which seems more than fair.

He could have been running against Argento Boy, Joystick, The Wallpark, Showurappreciation, Blaze The Way and Bossofthebrownies, but none of those six horses line up here and I think it is a winnable race. I have fancied Backmersackme for quite a while for this race and with a lot of his main dangers not here, I think he should run a blinder.

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