Cheltenham Festival Day 3 tips: Lucky 15 and accumulator

Telegraph

12-03-2025

Day three of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival features two Grade 1 races – the Ryanair Chase at 3.20pm and the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle at 4pm. Protektorat and Teahupoo are the respective defending champions, but will either be one of your Lucky 15, accumulator or bet365 Super Boost? Read on to see how your selections compare with ours.
If you already have a bookmaker account and are looking for a new operator to use for this week's racing, check out our list of Cheltenham free bets that can be used on day three of the Festival.
Tips for Cheltenham day 3
1.20
Galileo Dame @ 9/2 with Betfair 9/2 with Betfair
2.00
Nurburgring @ 5/1 with Betfair
2.40
D Art D Art @ 11/1 with Betfair
Catch Him Derry @ 14/1 with Betfair
3.20
Fact To File @ 11/10 with Betfair
4.00
Nemean Lion @ 25/1 with Betfair
4.40
Personal Ambition @ 20/1 with Betfair La Malmason @ 20/1 with Betfair
5.20
Sa Majeste @ 8/1 with Betfair
Odds provided by Betfair and correct at the time of writing. Each-way selections are highlighted in the analysis below.
Cheltenham Day 3 Acca tips
Galileo Dame, Nemean Lion and Sa Majeste each-way @ 1,287/1 with Betfair
Cheltenham Day 3 Lucky 15 tips
D Art D Art, Nemean Lion, La Malmason and Sa Majeste each-way @ 58,968/1 with Betfair
If you are looking for a bookmaker to use for day three of the Cheltenham Festival check out our list of betting offers from the UK's best betting sites
1.20, Cheltenham – Ryanair Mares' Novices Hurdle (Grade 2, 2m 1f)
Joseph O'Brien-trained GALILEO DAME is the opening tip of day three and she holds very strong claims carrying 10lb less than all of her opponents because of her four-year-old's allowance.
So many of these horses are pretty unexposed and inexperienced. But despite her age this cannot be said of Galileo Dame, who was a classy 96-rated middle-distance horse on the Flat who ran in last year's Irish Oaks.
Her two seconds over hurdles read well as they were not restricted to her own sex, so today's task should be manageable.
Selection: Galileo Dame @ 9/2 with Betfair
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2.00, Cheltenham – Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (Grade 2, 2m 4½f)
NURBURGRING can go well stepped up in trip for today's two-and-a-half-mile contest.
He enjoyed a good juvenile season last year when finishing fourth here in the Triumph before winning the Galway Hurdle in the summer. His first couple of runs over fences looked very educational and he would have benefited a lot from them.
The return to good ground, reapplication of a hood and being awarded a handy mark based on his hurdles and Flat form are all positives and calculated into his price.
2.40, Cheltenham – Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Class 1, 3m)
D ART D ART looks tailor-made for this trip after flashing home late to qualify last time out. Staying-on finishes are a trademark of this horse and should help him charge up the Cheltenham form.
He looks full of potential and is unlucky not to have more wins to his name – but having been put away since December, today has clearly been the long-term target, so expect him to run his race.
The next selection is CATCH HIM DERRY who has notched up three wins in the past 12 months and looked very measured last time out when doing so in the qualifying for today. He needed a significant jump in the weights to make it into this field and did so successfully as he is running off 1lb above bottom weight.
The Skeltons know exactly how to prepare a horse for a big handicap win and his progressive season might not be over.
3.20, Cheltenham – Ryanair Chase (Grade 1, 2m 4½f)
There is plenty of pace in today's renewal, with Jungle Boogie and Il Est Francais likely to bound along in front and set a frantic gallop.
The former is a bit of an unknown quantity, having only run seven races under Rules at the age of 11. The latter, while capable, has blown out on more than one occasion in his career so has it all to prove.
This will tee up the race perfectly for the class horse in the field, FACT TO FILE, who will let them lead him into it and will soar on by going up the Cheltenham straight. The Willie Mullins-trained horse won the John Durkin in impressive fashion earlier in the season ahead of the two-time Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs and last year took home the Brown Advisory with ease.
While he dropped out tamely of the Irish Gold Cup, today's conditions will be much more suitable for another JP McManus Cheltenham Festival success.
4.00, Cheltenham – Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle (Grade 1, 3m)
Last year today's favourite Teahupoo won this competition at short odds. But in the years before, this contest was taken by long-odds outsiders – and today that may also be the case, with Teahupoo not being seen since finishing second to Tuesday's Mares' Hurdle winner Lossiemouth 102 days ago.
NEMEAN LION stands out as a horse with untapped staying potential and can make it four wins in a row today upped to three miles for the first time.
The Kerry Lee-trained horse was in fact entered into the three-mile Rendlesham at Haydock in February, but they decided that the ground was unsuitable and he was duly pulled out. What was eyecatching that day was the huge amount of market support behind Nemean Lion as his price shortened from 13/2 to 5/2.
While he will need more today, this is an underrated horse at a very healthy price.
4.40, Cheltenham –TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase (Class 1, 2m 4½f)
The first pointer for PERSONAL AMBITION was that jockey Ben Jones, who has already tasted victory this week, chose this mount ahead of Shakem Up'arry, who he steered to victory in this race last year off just two pounds lower than his mark today.
If that is not confidence enough the horse also has sound form claims, having finished 13 lengths ahead of the current Kim Muir favourite, Johhnywho, in a Grade 2 novices' chase in December. He also showed a lot of class in his hurdling days, beating Tuesday's Arkle winner Jango Baie at Kelso a year ago. All of that suggests his mark of 137 is manageable.
The second selection is LA MALMASON, who is trained by the Cheltenham handicap specialist Gavin Cromwell. She won over course and distance in December 2023 in a mares handicap chase, which is a big positive, and she can overcome her lofty mark against geldings today.
She beat the geldings at Fairyhouse in December, and the runner she beat in second went on to win comfortably next time out. That was then followed by a gallant second herself over the festive period, proving she is more than capable at this level. Being by Walk In The Park, today's better ground could eke out the necessary improvement to win again.
5.20, Cheltenham – Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys' Handicap Chase (Class 2, 3m 2f)
Willie Mullins holds many records at Cheltenham, but one he will not be proud of is that heading into this Festival he had not won a handicap chase.
The master trainer campaigns his horses to reach a level above this, and in doing so often blows their handicap marks. But SA MAJESTE still looks very well treated despite two wins and a second from his four chase runs. A mark of 142 is definitely still in his reach.
He was sent off 5/1 favourite when disappointing in last year's Coral Cup, but Patrick Mullins can right that wrong today as he faces off against fellow amateur jockeys.
What is the Cheltenham Day 3 bet365 Super Boost?
bet365 Super Boosts are being announced at 10am every day during the Cheltenham Festival. bet365 will be considerably boosting the price of one selection each day – this will typically be a popular odds-on shot boosted to evens, but you may even get prices like 6/4 or 2/1.
Last year three out of the four bet365 Super Boosts were successful.
Cheltenham tips: Frequently asked questions
What is an accumulator bet?
An accumulator or acca is a bet that consists of multiple bets (or legs) that multiply together for bigger odds if they all win.
What is a Lucky 15?
A Lucky 15 is a bet with four legs that consists of 15 separate bets: four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator.
What is an each-way bet?
An each-way bet is when you not only bet on your horse to win, but you also bet on them to finish in the top designated places in a race (this will vary from race to race and bookmaker to bookmaker).
The bet to finish in the places will be a fraction of the win odds (usually 1/5, but sometimes 1/4).
What does NAP mean?
Nap is short for Napoleon and denotes a tipster's best bet of the day.
What does SP mean?
SP stands for starting price – a horse's odds when a race begins.
What does BOG mean?
BOG stands for best odds guaranteed, an industry standard offer. Regarding bets placed after a certain time of day, if a horse's starting price is bigger than the odds you bet on, you will get the larger odds.
Click here for the best Cheltenham BOG operators