AS many punters found out at Prestbury Park last week, the Cheltenham Festival always comes with the potential to be unpredictable. And however tough it is to find winners on the day itself, nominating fancies a whole year away from the biggest four days in National Hunt racing is probably asking for trouble.

Nevertheless, here are three runners who could turn out to be contenders at double-figure prices. A glance at the current ante-post listings for the 2026 Festival sees plenty of runners already chalked up at skimpy enough odds, given all that has to go right (and can go wrong!) between now and then.

If you’re someone who wants their cash tied up for 12 months on Lossiemouth at 2/1 for the Mares’ Hurdle, Sir Gino at 11/4 for the Champion Chase or Fact To File and Constitution Hill at 3/1 for the Ryanair and Champion Hurdle respectively, your enthusiasm for ante-post pursuits is much stronger than mine!

Kawaboomga

My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase, 20/1

Despite having missed the meeting due to a setback, Kawaboomga’s reputation was only enhanced at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.

Held in top regard since arriving from France to Willie Mullins last year, the five-year-old finished second on his Irish debut at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival behind none other than Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hero Kopek Des Bordes.

Granted, that rival left the door open for others to get close to him by jumping poorly on that occasion, but it was still a fine effort on the back of a 292-day absence from Kawaboomga.

J.P. McManus’ exciting youngster then won what looked a high-class maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse. Who did he beat in the process? Close-up Supreme second William Munny. That form looks very strong, even with the distant third Koktail Divin winning a Leopardstown maiden hurdle by six lengths since.

This French recruit was third favourite for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at 11/2 when ruled out of this year’s Festival, and his owner still managed to win that day-two contest with The New Lion, who is being talked about as a possible Champion Hurdle candidate.

Kawaboomga could easily morph into a novice chasing prospect for next season, and with no two-and-a-half-mile Grade 1 novice chase at the meeting, the Arkle would look much more his bag than the Brown Advisory. He might be slightly forgotten about at 20/1 given the fact he wasn’t seen at Cheltenham, but it’s worth bearing in mind just how well he mixed it with some of the best novices around before his setback.

The Big Westerner

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, 16/1

Experience can count for plenty in the Albert Bartlett, so it goes down as a smashing effort from The Big Westerner to finish second on just her third start under rules - especially considering she was locking horns with the previous year’s Champion Bumper winner, who was making his seventh start on the track.

Things didn’t unfold ideally for the Henry de Bromhead-trained six-year-old either. She got stopped in her tracks by Wingmen at the second last, at a time when the winner was getting a smooth passage through, but she showed plenty of quality to remain right in contention considering.

All told, this honest type - out to become the first mare to win the Albert Bartlett - posted a clear career best in being beaten just two and a half lengths, with four and a half lengths back to the highly-regarded third Derryhassen Paddy.

The Mariga family’s point-to-point recruit has chaser written all over her and albeit the Mares’ Chase would be of obvious interest, sticking to three miles in the Brown Advisory surely isn’t a longshot either, given her proven stamina. Jasmin De Vaux is priced between 9/1 and 12/1 for the same event, but he’ll have to show a lot better technique over fences than he has over hurdles. The 16/1 each-way about The Big Westerner looks more appealing.

Ballyburn

Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, 12/1

One of the most surprising SPs of the week was just how short Ballyburn was sent off in the Brown Advisory. Even if you thought he was the likeliest winner, it was hard to think of rowing in behind him at odds of 4/7.

Ultimately, his jumping was bitterly disappointing and he didn’t react positively to being dropped in behind the field over fences. His error at the seventh left him in all sorts of trouble and finishing where he did, beaten eight and a half lengths in fifth, wasn’t a disgrace considering.

In fact, it’s interesting to note the figures for him on the RaceiQ Lengths Gained Jumping metric, which measures the number of lengths gained (or lost) at each obstacle in a race - measured against the median of the field. Ballyburn was deemed to have lost 15.61 lengths, in comparison to the winner, Lecky Watson, who gained 2.88 lengths.

We’ve seen high-class sorts revert back to hurdles after unsuccessful chasing attempts, most notably Big Buck’s, and Ballyburn could look a good fit for the Stayers’ Hurdle, given chasing has not gone to plan for him thus far. Willie Mullins is lacking a candidate for that division and the reigning champion, Bob Olinger, will be an 11-year-old come the 2026 Festival.

We know Ballyburn has a massive engine. Even the form of his 13-length Turners win over Jimmy Du Seuil was shown in a strong light when that stablemate won the Coral Cup last week. Reverting to hurdles might allow him to show his full ability.