Iroko: The Case for an Ultimate Triumph at Cheltenham 2025

Cheltenham Corner returns with my 7th ante-post Cheltenham Festival betting tip, this time focusing on the Ultima handicap on the opening day.

Iroko is the selection. The horse is currently 16/1 in the betting (although you can get shorter odds for non runner no bet markets).

Why do I fancy it to win this years Ultima? Firstly the horse is a proven Cheltenham winner, and a Cheltenham Festival winner at that, with a win in the 2023 Martin Pipe. Track form is a must in this race.

He appears, to me at least, to be targeted at the race. His handicap rating is fair, and well positioned to get into the final field.

Whilst he has form over fences, winning on debut, he has been relatively lightly raced since and is unexposed. We know he hasn’t quite got the class for graded races, so this top handicap is like Iroko’s Gold Cup.

You can ignore his performance last time as he fell at the very first fence. The time before that he really should have won, finishing second to Trelawne. His performance at Aintree Grand National meeting last year impressed me. He finished full of running behind Inothewayurthinkin who was an absolute certainty that day. Iroko definitely has the class to win a race like the Ultima.

Trainer Oliver Greenall is planning to run him this weekend at Festival Trials day, and has indicated his wish to run at the Festival. A good run this weekend will see some focus on the horse in the ante-post markets – we could see him backed into favourite – so now is a good time to take the 16/1 on offer.

Selection: Iroko, Ultima Handicap, 16/1

Good luck! My bet is on.

***** The trainer has said the horse is likely to skip the race annoyingly, despite being backed into 6/1 fav since this article was written***

–

[etf id=947]