Cheltenham Festival 2026: Best Bets for Day 1

With Champion Day a week away, BettingLounge's racing expert Ben goes through some of his favourite bets for the day, and puts them in one place for you. So, let's just dive into his NAP, his NB and a Longshot!

You can also check out all of his interests for the day, written before final declarations, so prices may have changed.

🥇 Best Bet

My best bet comes in the first race of the day, and I've gone for Old Park Star. The Nicky Henderson horse looks like one of the next big things in racing, and I think this race is actually perfectly suited to him, so much so that I think he may even get shorter in price before the festival kicks off in a week.

Henderson has had several of these types previously, and it seems that this 6-year-old could well be the next in line. He arrives in this race with a Timeform rating of 153p, which is higher than Constitution Hill (148p) and Shiskin (150p) - Henderson's most recent two winners of this race.

He can certainly make the most of the Old Course at Cheltenham, thanks to his speed, and it would be fantastic to get the festival off to a good start with a winner in the first.

🥈 Next Best

I was back and forth on my Next Best bet of the day, but I have gone for Golden Ace. It is difficult to truly assess the Champion Hurdle picture, but I still think that this mare is getting massively overlooked by the market, as proven by the fact that she is still available at 7/1.

Without Constitution Hill, State Man and Sir Gino, this looks to be a really unflashy race compared to recent years, and for the reigning champ to be this price feels strange. She may not be the most attractive name in the race. However, she gets the job done and gets it done well, too.

In the Fighting Fifth, she was travelling strongly before The New Lion fell, and I think she could even have gone on to win that race, regardless of whether the Skeltons' horse fell. Additionally, she was never really asked for an effort when second behind Sir Gino at Christmas.

For what it's worth, I've backed this as an E/W bet personally, just because I cannot see a world where she does not come top three at the very least, which would provide a small profit. Though I would not put you off a straight win bet. She has more of a chance than the market is giving her; that much is certain!

👀 Longshot

Finally, my larger price for the first day is Myretown, in the Ultima. He comes into this race defending his crown from last year, and I see very few reasons why he cannot do it again. Even if the card looks stacked here.

The trends point towards him favourably, and with Lucinda Russell's record in the race, I can only look at his chances on paper more favourably.

Looking at his last run, he was cruising at Haydock before gradually dropping back in the field. In that race, he was near top weight at 11-11, whilst he will run at Cheltenham off the same mark, but almost a stone lighter at 10-13 - a thank you to the handicapper there!

He has certainly been a bit underwhelming this season, but he's well handicapped, and at 10/1 I'm more than happy to take an EW punt on him!