2022 Paddy Power Plate Tips - 16/1 and 20/1 shots to back on St Patrick's Day

I’ve taken a look through the Paddy Power Plate betting and listed several key ten-year trends, before picking out my best Cheltenham Festival tips.

As with a few of the handicaps I’ve already covered, I’m looking at the runners towards the head of the betting for the Plate, and none really stand out. Celebre D’Allen is three-from-three in England, but this represents a steep step up in class for Philip Hobbs’ ten-year-old. While he’s clearly got plenty of class, it would be a big ask for novice Imperial Alcazar to win a handicap as competitive as this with 11-9 on his back.

The Glancing Queen is yet to experience the rigours of a large-field handicap. Birchdale is running off a 15-pound higher mark than when he won at the Dublin Racing Festival. Busselton hasn’t been treated particularly kindly by the British handicapper. Neither has defending champion The Shunter, who will run off a 15-pound higher mark than what he won off 12 months ago.

Having failed to win in six starts over fences last season, second-season novice VIENNA COURT has gone from strength to strength in 2021/22. Following a good third behind The Glancing Queen on her reappearance, Nigel Twiston-Davies’ mare made a mockery of a handicap mark of 123 when winning a handicap here at Cheltenham in December by 11 lengths.

Vienna Court then stepped up to Grade Three class and took on the geldings in the New Years’ Day Handicap Chase. Once again, Sam Twiston-Davies’ mount travelled comfortably off the pace, surged into contention on the downhill run to the final flight and held off Simply The Betts to claim her second course-and-distance win of the season.

Twiston-Davies then threw his mare into the Listed Lady Protectress Chase at Huntingdon at the end of January. Vienna Court travelled like the most likely winner throughout, but hit the front a little too early and was outstayed by Pink Legend. The handicapper has dropped Vienna Court’s mark by two pounds following that run, meaning she’ll enter a wide-open renewal of the Plate carrying just 10-12. I wouldn’t be surprised if she managed to mount another winning challenge on day three of the Cheltenham Festival.

When I previewed a few of the handicaps back in January, I put up PALMERS HILL as my early fancy for the Plate. I’m going to keep faith with Jonjo O’Neill’s lightly-raced nine-year-old, despite that poor effort at Ascot last time out.

After just one previous run over fences to his name back in 2019, Palmers Hill opened his account over the larger obstacles on his reappearance, running down Topofthecotswolds to win a competitive heat at Wetherby. Jonjo Jnr was then forced to work hard after Palmers Hill made telling mistakes down the back straight at Ascot. Yet, O’Neill’s mount came back on the bridle rounding the bend and kicked clear of Diego Du Charmil to claim an impressive nine-length victory.

Palmers Hill, again, didn’t produce his most fluent round of jumping on his last trip to Ascot. This time, O’Neill’s charge couldn’t find a second wind and was pulled up before the second last. A significant downpour on the day of the race wouldn’t have helped Palmers Hill, who has done his best work on better ground.

The handicapper is confident that run was just a blip too, as he’s refused to lower his mark from 142, which still looks lenient when you consider Palmers Hill ran up to an RPR of 150 when winning the Howden Handicap in December. O'Neill's nine-year-old has won here at Prestbury Park during his time over hurdles and didn't run badly in the Coral Cup at last year's Cheltenham Festival.