For a veteran beaten in his last two starts, it’s hard to fault the recent performances of the 8-year-old Fact to File, who will start favored in Thursday’s Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham festival in western England.
Fact to File was second in the Grade 1 Savills Chase at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Dec. 28, and third there in the Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup on Feb. 1. In those races, at 3 1/16 miles, Fact to File finished behind Galopin Des Champs, who will be an odds-on favorite to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for a third consecutive year on Friday.
Fact to File has an easier assignment in the $485,250 Ryanair Chase at 2 9/16 miles, the top race on a seven-race program that begins at 9:20 a.m. Eastern. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, Fact to File has proven form at Cheltenham, having won the Grade 1 Novices’ Chase at 3 1/16 miles at the 2024 festival. In his first start of the current jump-racing season, Fact to File won the Grade 1 Punchestown Chase at 2 7/16 miles, at the time his third consecutive win at the highest level.
In the Ryanair Chase, Fact to File has 10 rivals, notably Protektorat, who won the 2024 running and was the 23-length winner of the Fleur de Lys Chase at 2 ¾ miles at Windsor Racecourse on Jan. 19. Protektorat, trained by Dan Skelton, is co-owned by Alex Ferguson, the former manager of the Manchester United soccer club.
The biggest threat to Fact to File is the highly regarded French shipper Il Est Francais, who was second in the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Dec. 26.
The shortest-priced favorite on Thursday may be Teahupoo in the Grade 1 Stayers’ Hurdle at three miles, a race the 8-year-old gelding won in 2024. Trained in Ireland by Gordon Elliott, Teahupoo has raced only one during the current season, finishing second to the mare Lossiemouth in the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in Ireland in December.
Lossiemouth won Tuesday’s Grade 1 Mares’ Hurdle by 7 1/2 lengths.
In early betting on Tuesday, Teahupoo was 3-2. The $420,500 Stayers’ Hurdle lacked a clear second choice, with Home By The Lee (6-1), Lucky Place (7-1) and The Wallpark (15-2) all drawing some support.
Home By The Lee and Lucky Place have won their last two starts. Home By The Lee, trained in Ireland by Joseph O’Brien, was fifth in the 2023 Stayers’ Hurdle and third last year.
The Wallpark has not raced since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot in December. The Wallpark won a three-mile handicap hurdle at Cheltenham last October against a much easier field than the Stayers’ Hurdle.
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