Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Tips – Thursday 18th March 2021

Day 3 of the 2021 Cheltenham Festival features the Stayer’s Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase. The first race on day 3 is at 1.30pm on Thursday 18th March and you can see all our Cheltenham day 3 tips below.

Cheltenham Day 3 Tips

Time	Race	Current Odds
1.20pm	Marsh Novices' Hurdle	10/11
1.55pm	Pertemps Network Final	10/1
2.30pm	Ryanair Chase	12/1
3.05pm	Stayers Hurdle	4/1
3.40pm	Brown Advisory Plate	25/1
4.15pm	Mares' Novices Hurdle	33/1
4.50pm	Kim Muir Handicap	20/1

2021 Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Preview

Things get underway with the Novices’ Chase and then the Pertemps final on day 3 of the 2021 Cheltenham Festival. From there, things get really exciting with the Ryanair Chase and then the Championship race on day 3, the Stayers’ Hurdle.

Following the previous day’s results, it will be either punters or bookies ahead and with Paisley Park running on Thursday, it could be make or break for both sides of the betting fence. If the bookies are ahead you can expect to see some juicy prices for the staying superstar at 3.30pm, but if the favourites have been winning in the first two days of racing, the bookies might look to keep Paisley Park onside and offer less generous odds.

The atmosphere is always electric on St Patrick’s Day at the Cheltenham Festival, with the Guinness tent filled to the brim with Irish punters who make the pilgrimage to Cheltenham every year. You can be sure the bookies will be running for cover if a few of the Irish trained horses win on day 3.

Cheltenham Day 3 Races

The Marsh Novices’ Chase kicks-off St Patrick’s Day at the Cheltenham Festival 2021 and it is always a big day for the Irish punters.

The second race on the card is the Pertemps Final and this is always a very tough betting heat for punters. Our expert Cheltenham day 3 tips will give you some guidance in what to bet on in this race but with the favourite normally around 7 or 8/1, it is never easy to pick the winner.

Next up is one of the best races of the week, the Ryanair Chase. This race has been won by some wonderful horses in recent seasons including Cue Card, the late Vautour and Alberta’s Run. The likes of Frodon, Min and Melon could all line-up in the 2021 renewal so be sure to keep an eye out for our Ryanair Chase tips when they become available.

Next up it’s the big Championship race of the day, the Stayer’s Hurdle. Big Bucks dominated this race for years and now Paisley Park is back to regain his crown. He won the race two years ago but was disappointing in 2020.

Following the Stayer’s Hurdle, the Brown Advisory Plate comes and it’s another tough betting test for Cheltenham punters. This is another wide-open handicap and after the Ryanair and the Stayer’s, this is normally a quieter betting race unless there is a big gamble taking place.

The penultimate race on day 3 of the Cheltenham Festival is the Mares’ Novices Hurdle. This is another quiet race and one that some horse racing pundits have called for to be scrapped after just three years. It is hard to predict which horses will line-up for this race so it isn’t a big ante-post betting market but once the declarations are in, expect to see some gambles on horses trained by the likes of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot.

The final race and the last of our Cheltenham day 3 tips will come from the Kim Muir, another tough handicap race that will see punters trying to work out a big field and find the winner. Only amateur rides are allowed to participate in this race and we often get some fallers in what is always a messy 3m 2f trip. One betting tip for punters here is to look out for the amateur riders who have the most experience, especially around Cheltenham racecourse. This will prove invaluable for the inevitable grandstand finish up the Cheltenham hill.

1.30pm – Marsh Novices’ Chase

The Grade One Marsh Novices’ Chase was only added to the Cheltenham Festival programme as recently as 2011 but, in ten runnings, has been won by Irish-trained horses on eight occasions.

Run over the intermediate distance of 2 miles, 3 furlongs and 168 yards on the New Course, the Marsh Novices’ Chase is seen, by many observers, as an ideal stepping stone for Envoi Allen, who was, according to trainer Gordon Elliott, ‘bought to be a Gold Cup horse’.

MARSH NOVICES’ CHASE PREVIEW

2.10pm – Pertemps Network Final

2.50pm – Ryanair Chase

The Ryanair Chase comes on Day 3 of the Cheltenham Festival and it is a Grade 1 contest over 2m4f ran on the New Course.

We have seen some great winners in recent times including the fan favourite Un De Sceaux jumping like a stag on his way to victory in 2017 to the emotional scenes in 2019 when Frodon went on to win under Bryony Frost.

This year’s contest is wide open and looks set to be one of the best races of the whole week.

RYANAIR CHASE PREVIEW

3.30pm – Stayers Hurdle

Of the four main ‘Championship’ races run at the Cheltenham Festival, the Stayers’ Hurdle appears, at least on paper, to be the one that will take least winning.

A total of 51 horses stood their ground at the latest declaration stage but, even so, it is hard to see far beyond the first three or four in the ante-post betting market.

STAYERS HURDLE PREVIEW

4.10pm – Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate

4.50pm – Mares’ Novices Hurdle

5.30pm – Kim Muir Handicap

Cheltenham Day 3 Tips from Pundits and Newspapers

As we get nearer to the start of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, horse racing pundits such as Matt Chapman, Hugh Taylor and Dave Nevison will start giving out their Cheltenham day 3 top tips. We will add them into this page for you and on the morning of the Thursday at Cheltenham, we will also add all of the Cheltenham newspaper NAPS to this page for you to consider betting on.

Newspaper tips are always a big part of people’s research for looking at what to bet on at Cheltenham and the experts usually get things pretty close.

Pricewise is always a good starting point for ante-post Cheltenham Festival tips though and you will need to get into the Racing Post to see what he is tipping up for day 3.

The bookies also have selections and you will be able to get the Paddy Power Cheltenham tips for day 3 from some of their experts including former jockey Ruby Walsh and ITV racing pundit Matt Chapman.

Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Free Bets

If you have already spent your money on day 1 and day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival, now might be a good time to start using some bookies free bets for Cheltenham.

As well as all the most popular bookies, you should look at some smaller bookies to bet on your Cheltenham fancies.

Read review