The countdown begins!

Having ushered in the New Year, the focus of all jump racing enthusiasts turns swiftly to Cheltenham in March and the 2009 National Hunt Festival.

Over the coming weeks, our Festival blog will keep you up to date with all the latest news and gossip, and where better to start than with a review of the key trial races held over the busy Christmas period and our idea of the three best ante post bets following those trials.

There is no doubt that the likes of Binocular, Punchestowns, Master Minded, Diamond Harry and, of course, Kauto Star registered hugely impressive performances in December and the first three are now deservingly short priced favourites for their respective Festival targets.

Whilst, none of them are worth backing ante post now, their presence does mean that there is plenty of each way value elsewhere and for the first edition to our 2009 ante post portfolio we are very keen on the Irish trained two miler, Big Zeb.

Master Minded appears to be in a league of his own over two miles and his reappearance in the Tingle Creek at Sandown recently merely underlined his supremacy. Some pundits have questioned the value of that form, especially in the light of the disappointing subsequent performances of Takeroc and Twist Magic. However, nobody was in a better position to judge the merit of Master Minded’s effort than his jockey that day, Tony McCoy, and he was gushing in his praise of the horse in the aftermath of their victory.

So why are we recommending as our first ante post bet of 2009 a horse who’ll have to beat the best horse in training if he’s to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase?

Well, as old adage goes, you should never be afraid of one horse and because Master Minded is as short as he is, all his rivals can be backed at decent each way prices. In addition, getting a horse to the Festival in one piece is no easy task and anything could happen to Paul Nicholls’ star between now and March.

Big Zeb made his seasonal reappearance at Leopardstown’s excellent Christmas meeting, where he beat a decent field including the likes of Watson Lake, Mansony and Thyne Again. That form still leaves him someway short of championship level, but what impressed that day was the way he travelled throughout the race and a high cruising speed is a must for any aspiring Champion Chaser. In addition, he looks sure to improve when encountering better ground.

There is undoubtedly room at the top of the two mile division for a new face or two and with doubts surrounding a number of the others towards the head of the market for the Queen Mother (Tidal Bay and Voy Por Ustedes, for example, are likely to have alternative Festival targets), Big Zeb looks cracking each way value at the 20-1 currently available with Bet Direct and Stan James.

His excellent young trainer, Coln Murphy, has already tasted Cheltenham Festival success with Brave Inca and if Big Zeb’s jumping holds up on the big day it is hard to see him being out of the first three.