Horse Racing: Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Picks (Mar 13)

St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated at the Cheltenham Festival on day three of the meeting. The penultimate day of the Festival sees the G1 Ryanair Chase and G1 Stayers’ Hurdle contested. You can find our picks for day three of the Festival here.

Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Picks

Stayers’ Hurdle (R5- 11:00 AM ET)

Latest Odds taken from Bet365. Correct as one 10:26 AM 03/03/25

The feature on Day Three at the Festival is the Stayers’ Hurdle. The Grade One was first contested in 1912, and it is run over a distance of two miles and seven on the New Course. One of the best backed horses of the week represents Gordon Elliott.

Teahupoo was a dominant winner of the race last year, beating Flooring Porter by a three length margin. Home By The Lee was back in third in 2024, and it is incredibly hard to see that form reversed. The Elliott runner comes out on top based on official ratings, and will be hard to beat.

At the prices, I would give Gowel Road an each-way chance for the Nigel Twiston-Davies yard. The nine-year-old loves it around Cheltenham, finishing in the first two on all four starts at the track this season. Battled to claim victory in the G2 Cleeve Hurdle on his latest start, and will be a top three contender at the very least.

Ryanair Chase (R4- 10:20 AM ET)

Latest Odds taken from Bet365. Correct as one 10:55 AM 03/03/25

The G1 Ryanair Chase gets a bad rep, but it is personally one of my favorite races of the week. Fact To File will be a hot favorites after deflecting to the race after sidestepping a fourth showdown with Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup.

Both he and Spillane’s Tower boast progressive profiles for the Willie Mullins yard, while Protektorat deserves huge respect after an excellent win in the race last year.

However, Djelo has been my idea for the Ryanair winner for a long time. The Venetia Williams-trained runner didn’t perform at Windsor when finishing a long way behind Protektorat, but that is a very unique track that doesn’t favor every horse.

The seven-year-old shows his class over two miles and four when winning the G2 Peterborough Chase in December, finishing six lengths clear of Protektorat. Has since recovered from his Windsor run by landing the G2 Denman Chase over an extended two miles and seven at Newbury. Ticks plenty of boxes, and already has Cheltenham experience to his name.

Cheltenham Festival Day 3 Picks