Festival Focus podcast big question | Are you for or against Teahupoo at evens?

Gordon Elliott's horse was a convincing winner of the race last season, justifying odds of 5/4, and his whole season has revolved around repeating the feat.

Given he goes so well fresh he has been seen just the once this campaign - when beaten by Lossiemouth in the Hatton's Grace at Fairyhouse on December 1 - and with the division struggling to throw up a creditable rival, he's going to go off a short-priced favourite once again.

But at even-money, are our panel buying into a repeat success?

David Massey

He's one of those I don't particularly want to back him at evens but neither do I want to want to get him laid at evens to be perfectly honest. I think fair play to them for doing what they've done. After Fairyhouse they have gone and said 'right that's it you won't see him again until March' which is quite the right thing to do with him. He's best fresh and everybody moans that we never see these horses blah blah blah but if you've got a horse and you've got one shot at Grade One glory with him, you want everything spot on.

There's too many as the season goes on saying 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that' and then they change their plans. And by the time they get to Cheltenham, the horse is goosed and it's not good enough. So I think fair play to them for putting him away after Fairyhouse.

If you're having an each-way bet in the race, you're best off waiting to see who's there on the day. And it's going to be a case of who fancies it for the places. A lot of these been around the block. I even took a look at Buddy One last night and I thought maybe he'll turn up, fourth in the race last year, back over hurdles.

Another one to consider each-way is Gowel Road for Nigel Twiston-Davies. He is absolutely rock solid and he will run his race. That race won't be good enough to win it, but it might well be good enough to get him into the three or the four. You'll get an extra place on the day probably because greedy bookmakers will want your money as they always do.

Martin Dixon

I'll be against him at the price. It was obviously a good performance last season, he won it comfortably in the end but I do have some reservations as to how strong the race was last year. It might not be significantly stronger race this time around but we've only seen him once this season. You could make excuses for him getting beaten in a messy race by Lossiemouth, and it was by no means a poor effort from him over two and a half miles, but I just think he's short enough really for a horse that I don't think is one of the superstars of the week.

For all that he won the race readily last season I don't think his level of form all around isn't so much higher than some of the others in the race and I do think it could be a different type of race this year. We've got 30 entries for it at the moment and plenty will be willing to have a crack at it. It could be a big field. It could be a much more strongly-run race than what we got last year when they actually went quite steady. And I think that did suit to Teahupoo because for a three miler he has got a bit of pace. He's very effective at two and a half, particularly on very soft ground.

He is a better horse, I think, when the ground's very soft. We don't know that we're going to get those conditions at this moment in time. So things could be quite different to what they were 12 months ago and that's what I'm trying to get at. It might be drier ground conditions. It might be a bigger field and a higher tempo race, which would be a very different test to what it was when he won it last year.

Matt Brocklebank

There are a fair few rogues in here, aren't there? Bob Olinger, Langer Dan, Asterion Forlonge, even horses like Ga Law. We're not quite sure where they're going to go, but some of those horses, you'd be rolling your eyes a bit wouldn't you, if Bob Olinger pops up or Langer Dan sprung back to form.

So perhaps he hasn't got quite as tough a task as it might look on paper, but Mystical Power, he could be a springer here. I've no idea whether the intention is to run, but I wouldn't be shocked if he were closer to 8/1 or 10/1 on the day if he runs. Some of his novice form has taken a bit of a knock and obviously he's showed very little so far over two miles, but he's bred to stay as far as you like.

It's one of them where sometimes on the Thursday, Willie Mullins is already six, seven winners deep and everything he runs gets absolutely hammered. I could see that horse attracting support. I'm not necessarily going to suggest he's a bet even at 25/1 now, but I do have to mention The Wallpark.

Click here to back The Wallpark for the Stayers' with Sky Bet (NRNB)

I think he's dead interesting here. Maybe they'll stick down the Pertemps route and obviously he's qualified for that, having won at Cheltenham earlier in the season. That was a race that worked out especially well. There were five subsequent winners to emerge from that, a couple of Grade Two winners included, Gowel Road and Beacon Edge, the other Elliott horse.

They then ran him at Ascot just to find out whether he was good enough, whether he was a Grade One horse or not. And whilst he didn't win he showed enough that day, he really did. He was caught out a little bit by Beaufort dictating and he was out the back early on, but I loved the way he finished that day at Ascot. It really did scream Stayers' Hurdle to me. It had all the hallmarks of a kind of strong finish at Cheltenham. We know he loves the course, and this horse is just a bit of a winning machine, isn't he?

I reckon he could give his stablemate a real shock, no matter what the ground to be honest, but especially if it's a relatively dry week. So The Wallpark, non-runner no-bet at 12/1, makes a good amount of each-way appeal to me.

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.