The biggest losers from the Cheltenham Festival weights - including a Pertemps entry handed a 10lb higher mark

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

The weights for the Cheltenham Festival handicaps were revealed on Tuesday, including revised marks for the Irish entries. These are the horses with the biggest differences between their Irish and British ratings.

Roc Dino

Handicap difference 7lb – 124 (Ireland), 131 (Britain)

Race Coral Cup, March 11, William Hill County Hurdle, March 13, Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle, March 13

Odds 20-1 (Coral Cup), 16-1 (County Hurdle), 10-1 (Martin Pipe)

The Willie Mullins-trained Roc Dino is on the radar of many punters for the festival handicap hurdles and is rated in the low 130s for the festival.

Roc Dino has satisfied the requirement of a minimum of five runs over hurdles across his time in France and Ireland and most recently finished a three-length second to Supreme candidate El Cairos in a maiden hurdle at Thurles last month.

Which race will he run in, though? A rating of 131 has been high enough to run in what was the Coral Cup in three of the past five years but he sits 61st in the list for the 24-runner race, and the same stat applies for the County Hurdle, in which he is 47th.

He is 43rd in the order of entry for the Martin Pipe, with his revised rating high enough to make the cut in the last three runnings.

Roc Dino (left): chased home Supreme hope El Cairos (right) last timeCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

There were three other Martin Pipe entries with a 7lb difference between their Irish and British ratings. Grimaud (129 to 136), a recent ten-length winner of a handicap hurdle at Gowran, should have no problem making the cut, requiring just three horses to come out.

Frankie John (128 to 135) has two Grade 1 novice hurdle options but sits 30th in the list for the 24-runner handicap, while Saint Le Fort (125 to 132) in 40th is another who may well sneak in on the back of a Listed handicap hurdle success over 3m at the DRF last time.

Kilmeaden

Handicap difference 7lb – 126 (Ireland), 133 (Britain)

Race McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, March 10

Odds 40-1

Donnacha O’Brien’s first jumps winner was given a rating of 133, 7lb above his Irish mark, for the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

Kilmeaden provided the Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer with a first jumps success at Punchestown last month and was given a mark of 126 in Ireland after finishing fourth behind fellow Fred Winter entry Highland Crystal in a rated hurdle at Naas this month.

Donnacha O'Brien: could bid for a first festival winner with Fred Winter entry KilmeadenCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

All five runners in the Naas contest are entered in the Fred Winter, with Highland Crystal, runner-up Saratoga and Kilmeaden guaranteed a run. Five of the last eight Fred Winter winners ran in that race.

Duke Silver

Handicap difference 7lb – 126 (Ireland), 133 (Britain)

Race Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, March 12

Odds 25-1

Duke Silver won a Pertemps Final qualifier at Leopardstown over Christmas and Joseph O’Brien's six-year-old was last seen finishing seventh in a Listed handicap hurdle at this month's Dublin Racing Festival. 

Racing Post Ratings suggest he will need to find more improvement to defy a mark in the 130s.

Yeah Man

Handicap difference 10lb – 123 (Ireland), 133 (Britain)

Race Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, March 12

Odds 16-1

The Gavin Cromwell-trained Yeah Man was the only Irish entry across the handicaps to see a double-digit difference between his Irish and British ratings.

Yeah Man qualified for the Pertemps when chasing home Duke Silver at Leopardstown in December and was rated 123 over hurdles in Ireland after that effort.

Yeah Man: switches between hurdling and chasingCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Despite a hefty defeat in Grade 3 company over hurdles at Gowran this month, the British handicapper has handed him a mark of 133, which is still 10lb below his chase mark in Ireland.

Yeah Man, a Grand National entry, makes the cut for the Pertemps Final off his revised mark, whereas he would have been 7lb shy of the current bottom weight on his Irish rating.

Read this next . . .

County Hurdle contender Murcia raised 3lb by British handicapper as Cheltenham Festival handicap weights are revealed 

Don't miss your invaluable companion to the Cheltenham Festival, out on Friday. Order here. The digital newspaper will also be available to Racing Post+ Ultimate subscribers here