Rory reckons Let It Rain could be an each-way shout at a big price.
*Odds quoted on the widget are Future Racing / Antepost prices, which means that if your selection does not run in the race for whatever reason, you will lose your stake under traditional Antepost rules.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at the time of publishing, but subject to change
Paddy’s From The Horse’s Mouth podcast’s ‘Cheltenham Countdown’ is back with a bang for 2026 as our host with the most, Tom Nugent, gets the thoughts of the Cheltenham Festival’s GOAT rider turned TV tactician, Ruby Walsh, and well-known journalist and broadcaster, Rory Delargy, for their best Cheltenham betting tips.
In the third episode of this year’s series ahead of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, the gang has looked at one of the mares’ races with the Mares’ Hurdle on March 12th their main focus.
You can check out all of their thoughts on Paddy’s Horse Racing YouTube channel right now! Here’s what Rory fancies in the Mares Hurdle.
Rory Delargy
The question you have to ask for Brighterdaysahead is whether you think she’ll be a better mare over 2m4f. She might be! She doesn’t want to be held up and if they made any mistake behind Lossiemouth at Christmas was that they put her just behind Willie Mullins’ runner. Whoever quickens first from the last will most likely win and that’s what happened.
I thought Brighterdaysahead out-jumped Lossiemouth that day and as we’ve seen, she just wants to go hard. She can maintain that gallop too whereas others fall off.
She came close to her best form and she was good over 2m4f at Aintree when she was a novice. She wants to be played to put her rivals under pressure to maximise her strong points. This race would probably do that better than the Champion Hurdle.
Lossiemouth is more likely to run in the Champion Hurdle but a lot depends on how she goes at the Dublin Racing Festival. If the race at the DRF is a tactical one, that’ll suit Lossiemouth over Brighterdaysahead.
There is a slight question over Brighterdaysahead at Cheltenham but I don’t have many doubts. Gordon Elliott and Jack Kennedy think she’s as good as ever too – I trust their judgement on that!
Wodhooh is the favourite now as she’s much more likely to turn up than Lossiemouth and Brighterdaysahead. I can see one of the latter two running though.
Let It Rain could be an absolute flyer at a huge price. She’s totally unexposed and could be top class.
The Skelton runner is rated 124 so she’s miles off the best of these based on the ratings. She had a year off the track before her seasonal debut at Ascot in December when finishing third behind Dance And Glance. That run should have brought her on.
Let It Rain should run in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury next month and she’ll be a strong favourite for that. She could bolt up in that to have a chance of running in graded company.
However, the most likely outcome is she wins at Newbury then runs in the County Hurdle as she hasn’t run beyond two miles.
Even if she’s a stone ahead of her mark, she has a lot of work to do to hit the frame. She’s the one at a big price that’s really interesting, although it could be unlikely we see her in this race. We need to wait and see what the Skelton’s plan for her is.
*Odds quoted on the widget are Future Racing / Antepost prices, which means that if your selection does not run in the race for whatever reason, you will lose your stake under traditional Antepost rules.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at the time of publishing, but subject to change
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