Below you’ll find our betting tips for the Marsh Novices’ Chase which takes place at 13:30 on Thursday 16th March at the Cheltenham Festival.

Our tips are provided by our expert horse racing analyst Will Smith who has featured on Racing TV and William Hill Racing.

Be sure to take a look at Will’s other Cheltenham betting tips for other races at the festival.

Itchy Feet – 8/1 (Bet365)

5 weeks to go until the big show gets underway at Prestbury Park, and many punters will be getting itchy feet and wishing these 42 days to fly by. In a bid to calm the mind, avail yourselves of the 8/1 about Olly Murphy’s Itchy Feet for the race known as the Golden Miller – the Marsh Novices’ Chase – the curtain raiser as racing switches to the stiffer New Course on day three of the Cheltenham Festival.

It is only a matter of time before the former assistant to the genius that is Gordon Elliott, gets his Cheltenham Festival tally up and running. He claimed his first Grade 1 victory when Itchy Feet won the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday in impressive fashion, and the much sought after festival winner surely won’t be long in coming.

The performance was visually impressive, and the way he sprinted up the hill at the Esher venue in the closing stages was notable. Sometimes when that is the case, it can mask some lesser elements of substance to the performance. But in this case, it highlighted the fact that Itchy Feet ran the final section of the race, from the Pond Fence, just under 2 seconds quicker than Dolos, the 157-rated winner of the 2m handicap chase earlier on the card.

Not only that, but he ran the final circuit of the race in a quicker time than those quality 2m handicap chasers also. Style and substance mixed together in equal measure. The market for the Marsh Novices’ Chase is very much up in the air at the moment, and while Faugheen is the current favourite, and would be a huge danger, you feel it was all about getting him to peak for his tear-jerking effort at the Dublin racing Festival last weekend.

Whereas, in the case of Itchy Feet, it would be a shock if he were to not improve again for his Cheltenham Festival assignment, for a trainer who will be itching to have a memorable four days in March.

A brilliant third in last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle, Itchy Feet has the look of a real chaser, and is a great bet at 8/1 generally.