{"id":46096,"date":"2025-03-13T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T08:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheltenhambettingsites.co.uk\/?p=46096"},"modified":"2025-03-13T09:20:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T09:20:58","slug":"ryanair-chase-2025-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheltenhambettingsites.co.uk\/blog\/ryanair-chase-2025-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryanair Chase 2025 Preview – Last Year’s Festival Winners Fact To File & Protektorat in Stellar Field"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Two Cheltenham Festival winners from last year run in the Ryanair Chase of 2025 with the pair among four horses with joint-top rating of 166. Far from being an easy alternative to the Gold Cup, this could actually turn out to be the steeplechase of the meeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n More than half of the nine runners have a BHA mark of at least 163. A very good horse should emerge as the winner, then, Given the frontrunning tactics employed by French raider Il Est Francais down in trip after his King George second, the winner will also have to stay well.<\/p>\n Noel George & Amanda Zetterholm want to try and go one better after getting collared at Kempton on Boxing Day by Banbridge. Il Est Francais certainly has a similar style of racing to past Cheltenham winners<\/a> of the Ryanair like Un De Sceaux, Frodon and Allaho.<\/p>\n The concern with this Cross-Channel runner is his stamina. Il Est Francais didn’t stay an “easy” three milers in the King George, but now has the undulations of Prestbury Park to contend with rather than a flat track.<\/p>\n Willie Mullins comes into the Ryanair Chase in 2025 with a record five victories and all since 2016. Nobody knows what it takes to saddle a winner of this better than him, then, and he has yet another of the Cheltenham favourites<\/a> in Fact To File, successful during last year’s Festival back for more over a different trip.<\/p>\n