Cheltenham Tips: Paddy Power’s Epic Friday Cheat Sheet for day 4 of the 2025 Festival

I fancy EAST INDIA DOCK. I love the way he jumps, his attitude and the way he tries. He’s gutsy, he’s tough and he can get the better of Lulamba.

LULAMBA is smart and was an impressive winner at Ascot on hurdles debut. I can see him going down the Cheltenham Gold Cup route in years to come but for now he can start off his career in the big time by winning the Triumph Hurdle.

Palladium was a late non- runner and I was looking forward to riding him. I’ve seen LULAMBA school at Nicky Henderson’s when I was there and he’s the horse to beat. If I could pick a ride in this race I’d side with Lulamba. His performance at Ascot was almost freakish.

It looks like the English runners are stronger than the Irish ones this year and LULAMBA fits the bill as the likely winner. I prefer the profile of an ex-French jumps horse rather than an ex-Flat horse, East India Dock, who has been on the go all season.

East India Dock brings in the Flat experience, but LULAMBA might just be in a different league for Nicky Henderson. The French import looked top class on British debut at Ascot and can go on to much better things.

I expect the winner to come from one of the five-year-olds like Lark In The Mornin, Kargese, Ndaawi and Ethical Diamond. The price has gone on Kargese so maybe  NDAAWI (each-way) offers the value now.

ABSURDE was a good winner of this race last year and I fancy him to do the same again. Drying ground will not be a problem and connections have spoken about him as Melbourne Cup type, that’s the sort of class he has.

The handicapper hasn’t missed ETHICAL DIAMOND. I’m happy to be riding him as he likes dry ground, has plenty of speed and reminds me of last year’s winner Absurde who also returns to defend his crown.

ABSURDE will have been laid out for this after scoring last year and has the ability to repeat the dose off 8lb higher in the handicap. The better ground should suit him more this time.

I’m with DINOBLUE but I’m not massively confident! This could be another race where we get a bit of a surprise.

It’s hard to look past DINOBLUE for Willie Mullins, JP McManus and Mark Walsh.

DINOBLUE will go off favourite and she will be very hard to beat!

It’s unoriginal but DINOBLUE can make it third time lucky at the Cheltenham Festival. The 2m 4f trip will be less of an issue on better ground and she has the best form in the race.

I’ll stick with ALLEGORIE DE VASSY for Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci. Beaten by re-opposing Dinoblue at Naas last time, I’m hoping a stronger gallop will be right up her street.

JASMIN DE VAUX needs to improve but the track will help his jumping. ARGENTO BOY (each-way) wasn’t too far off the The Big Westerner in a maiden hurdle and has a squeak at the prices.

The French raider JET BLUE looks a solid each-way play to me in a wide-open contest. He was a good winner when proving he stayed 3m when winning the trial for this in December.

I’ll be riding MA SHANTOU and he’s got a little chance. I’ve won this race twice and Ma Shantou is hardy, he jumps and he’s slightly overpriced.

WINGMEN has shown his toughness in other races and the step up in trip can bring out the best in him.

JET BLUE (each-way) has a little to find on some of these but the French raider was really impressive at the track last time and I think he’ll be hard to keep out of the frame. Stamina is his strong suit.

GALOPIN DES CHAMPS should win as he should have far too many gears for the rest of these. A forecast of Galopin Des Champs to beat Inothewayurthinkin could be an extra value pick.

He’s going for a place in history and I believe that GALOPIN DES CHAMPS will win his third consecutive Gold Cup to join Best Mate, Arkle and Cottage Rake in the record books.

GALOPIN DES CHAMPS is different class and there isn’t anything else in here that can beat him in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. There isn’t even a tactical way that he gets beaten.

The two-time champ GALOPIN DES CHAMPS bids for immortality as he tries to win his third Gold Cup. We couldn’t be happier with him but it’s not a gimme.

Last year’s Gold Cup had strength in depth and GALOPIN DES CHAMPS still won well so in a lesser renewal he should be a good thing barring accidents.

The form of ANGELS DAWN at Cheltenham is outstanding. She won the Kim Muir a couple of years ago and she would have placed in last year’s race if she didn’t fall two out.

The drier the ground the better the chance of ALLMANKIND who used to be trained by Dan Skelton and was a very smart novice chaser.

ANGELS DAWN comes here on the back of two wins, has course form, is dropping in grade and should be very hard to beat.

ITS ON THE LINE was second in this last year to Sine Nomine and I’d be hopeful he can go one better this time around.

The question is how much better than a mark of 136 does KOPEK DE MEE need to be to win this race. He has a great mentality and he’ll be an easy ride. I’m not going to go against him.

EAST INDIA EXPRESS will love better ground and with Freddie Gordon riding for his own stable he can claim an extra 3lbs. That’s a big help as he’s already ridden him to win his last two races.

It won’t be easy but KOPEK DE MEE could be well handicapped and we hope he can close out the meeting on a successful note for us.

NO ORDINARY JOE (each-way) was second to Iroko in this in 2023 off a mark of 139 and he gets in this time off 138. He’s not an easy horse to predict but has claims for Nicky Henderson with Freddie Gingell on top.