Cheltenham Placepot picks: Paul Kealy's perm for Saturday's guaranteed £250k pot

It's an early start for Placepot punters chasing the £250,000 guaranteed pot at Cheltenham with the Triumph trial opening the card at 11.40am.

Eight go to post, but it looks between four. Dixon Cove is 5lb better for a neck with Comfort Zone on Chepstow running, so gets the nod from that line of form, while Scriptwriter has already won a Grade 2 here and the form has worked out.

I can make a case for taking on the first three in the betting for the next (12.10) and like the chances of Malinello and Panic Attack at bigger prices, so I'll take a chance there.

In the cross country chase (12.40), I reckon Easysland's chance has been missed by the layers as he's been travelling a lot better in his races lately, has dropped to a lovely mark and has great form here.

Delta Work has some task on his hands at the weights, so I'll add Back On The Lash and Diesel D'Allier, who have both run well on this course.

We need only one of Energumene and Edwardstone in the Clarence House (1.20), and might as well go with the Champion Chase winner, but the fifth (1.50) will obviously need some coverage.

Fugitif is first on the list as he's improving fast, while Your Darling is better than he showed at Kempton last time and Coole Cody is nicely treated now on his best Cheltenham form.

Protektorat, third in last season's Gold Cup and improved judging by his runaway Betfair Chase win, can be relied on to hit the first two in the last (2.25).

Cheltenham Placepot perm

11.40
3 Scriptwriter
7 Dixon Cove

12.10
7 Malinello
8 Panic Attack

12.40
7 Diesel D'Allier
9 Back On The Lash
13 Easysland

1.20
4 Energumene

1.50
3 Coole Cody
7 Fugitif
13 Your Darling

2.25
3 Protektorat

2x2x3x1x3x1 = 36 lines

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