Friday rounds off the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. Once we know the destination of the Gold Cup, there are still opportunities for punters to end the week on a high. Here is a recommended play in both the Liberthine Mares’ Chase and the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.

4.50 – Liberthine Mares’ Chase

The last Willie Mullins ‘banker’ of the week is Dinoblue. She has been cutting it with the best two milers this winter, she has even beaten the Champion Chase winner Captain Guinness, and she has course form having been second in last year’s Grand Annual Chase.

The clue to her weak point is in there some where. Dinoblue’s form is all around two miles, whereas this race is over an extended two and a half miles. Whether she will last the trip, or even settle well enough to allow her to do so, is not certain.

That was a problem for Ballyburn and Fact To File, too, and they made light of stepping up in distance even on this week’s rain-softened ground. The difference here is that they had tons in hand on ability. Dinoblue has a worthy rival.

Allegorie De Vassy ran in this race last year and finished second to xxx. That horse followed up with a thumping victory at Punchestown, she was in the form of her life.

This season has been a bit of a slow burner for Allegorie De Vassy, while in 2022-23 she made hay early in the campaign. What is important, though, is that on her most recent start she showed a much lesser tendency to jump to her right, which at this time last year was cited as a major negative. If Allegorie De Vassy is able to straighten herself out, she can improve further and force Dinoblue to run to her very best on this venture into the unknown stamina-wise.

Selection: Allergorie De Vassy

5.30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

The Mullins domination is not finished, even with the last race being a big-field handicap. Quai De Bourbon represents the stable and is a short-priced favourite for the final race of the Cheltenham Festival, which Mullins has won before with future stars like Sir Des Champs and Killultagh Vic.

But this has also been an excellent Cheltenham Festival for Henry de Bromhead, who has not been perturbed by having lost the Cross-Country Chase which contained one of his likelier chances on the week with Minella Indo. He also has a strong claim in the Martin Pipe, with the JP McManus-owned Waterford Whispers.

This horse has had the minimum number of runs to qualify for this race, as horses must run four times for a Premium handicap over hurdles in Britain. He had his first run last season but has compressed three runs this season into a fairly short timeframe, in which he hinted that he is on a steep upward curve.

He won at Galway and followed up at Fairyhouse, at the latter handsomely beating Answer To Kayf who is also among the market principals in this race. He then ran in a handicap at Leopardstown, where he was set a bit to do but stayed on well to take second. That was in December and he has likely improved in the meantime, being bred and shaping like one who develops slowly. Given his connections, there is a strong likelihood that Cheltenham has been the aim the whole time and he can give McManus a second consecutive winner in the Cheltenham Festival closer.

Selection: Waterford Whispers