We have hurtled through the National Hunt season at a breakneck pace, and it seems wild to think we are just five weeks away from the Greatest Show on Turf at Prestbury Park. That also means we head towards the release of the Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide for 2023, published in only two weeks’ time!

The extremely informative book, written by Paul Ferguson and a host of expert guest authors, is the complete guide to The Festival, with every fact, stat and trend covered to help you make the most informed bets throughout the best week of the year. We have decided to release two blog articles in anticipation of this year’s guide, with this week focusing on the guest authors and next week focusing on the lead author himself, Paul Ferguson. The guide has a fantastic line-up, with five returning authors who brought some gems to last year’s edition and can hopefully help you pick your way through the field again in 2023.

Making a return to this edition is Rory Delargy and his successful “Banker or Bust” section, a detailed analysis of the big Festival favourites. As with every Festival there is a host of well-fancied market leaders, from returning champions to hyped-up young stars, but Rory is on hand to help you separate the Banker from the Bust and the winners from the losers. Last year proved a great success, with the feature picking out winners such as Facile Vega (15/8) and A Plus Tard (3/1), as well as Bob Olinger and Honeysuckle. It wasn’t just the “Bankers” that proved valuable though, Rory helped punters avoid short favourite, and “Bust”, Concertista (2/1F) who finished unplaced in the Mares’ Chase; hopefully helping readers avoid giving back their profits right at the end of the Festival!

The Cheltenham Festival is the biggest week in the calendar year for racing, with talk and discussion for the following year beginning even before the current one has finished. Graham Cunningham is back this year with “The Big Talking Points” feature, breaking down the key debates and burning questions leading into the Festival. Graham nailed one of the biggest question marks hanging over the festival in 2022; could Energumene get his revenge on Shiskin following their Clarence House clash? His answer was yes, going on to quote “the horse (Energumene) who travelled and jumped like the superior athlete for all bar the dying seconds of the Clarence House is a much bigger price than the favourite. And that doesn’t seem quite right”. It wasn’t just the Champion Chase that Graham got right though, he couldn’t have predicted the big race of the week any better either as he had this to say about the Gold Cup; “there is a strong body of evidence to suggest he (A Plus Tard) is the fastest horse in the 2022 Gold Cup field. And conserving that speed for one telling run up the hill will make him a very dangerous horse indeed.” As we witnessed in the Gold Cup, that is exactly what happened as Rachel Blackmore accelerated up the hill aboard A Plus Tard, leaving the rest of the field in their wake. Graham hit the mark superbly last year and will be an excellent addition to the guide once again.

In recent years, the Irish have dominated the Cheltenham Festival and so it is vital that we once again feature “The Irish View”, brought to you by Donn McClean. Donn is another valued guest author who experienced great success in his analysis of last year’s Festival and will be hoping for more of the same in 2023. He correctly viewed Flooring Porter as the “standard-setter” in the Stayers’ Hurdle who “won last year’s race with a little bit in hand” as he defended his crown whilst making sure he stayed on the right side of Allaho and Facile Vega rather than take them on. Perhaps his most impressive takeout from last year’s guide though was the highlighting of Brazil; “fifth-placed Brazil was impressive in winning at Naas in mid-February – and he is one who is worth keeping in mind wherever he goes.” Whilst many throughout the industry couldn’t stop talking about Gaelic Warrior for the Boodles in the lead-up to the Festival, Donn would point out the eventual winner of that race at odds of 10/1.

That is not all though, we also have expert breeding insight from Jess Stafford who brings a different type of intriguing and useful analysis with her “Breeding Angles” feature. An extremely interesting section in which Jess delves into the breeding and pedigree side of the Cheltenham Festival which is often unexplored. Last but not least, experienced tipster Sam Turner will be returning with his “Daily Tips” as he points out his best bets on each day of the Cheltenham Festival.

As you can see, we have an excellent selection of guest authors this year with each offering a different dimension of knowledge and analysis to make for an ultimate guide to the Cheltenham Festival in 2023. Don’t miss out – the guide is available to pre-order here!