Friday 23 October 2026 racing: the card at Cheltenham, Sligo and three more

The card for Friday 23 October 2026 runs to five meetings and 39 races: Sligo and Dundalk in Ireland, and Cheltenham, Doncaster and Wolverhampton in Britain. The first race is at Sligo at 12:50 and the last is at Wolverhampton at 20:30. The longest card of the day is at Wolverhampton, with a mixture of Flat and jumps racing across Britain and Ireland. The feature is the McCoy Contractors Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, due off at 16:10, and it has the next section to itself. Every runner, with the model's estimated chance beside the market's price, is on the racecards page, and the model's view of the whole day is on the day's predictions; the card was written before the first race, so nothing on it is a result.

The feature: the McCoy Contractors Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham

The model rates Datstheholyallofit its most likely winner, while the market has Mr Hollywood shortest. The card above sets the model's estimated chance for each runner beside the chance implied by the market, and the gap between the two columns is the only thing the Lab claims to measure; it says which horse the model rates highest and nothing about what to do with that. The race is run over 2m3f200y, on ground declared as Good (Good to Soft in places), with seven priced runners. The course itself is covered in the Cheltenham guide.

Where the model disagrees with the market

The widest gap between the model's estimate and the market's price on this card is in the AW Trials Day - Lingfield 2nd January 2027 Handicap (Div 1) at Wolverhampton (16:25), where the model gives Battle Standard a smaller chance than the price implies. The race was chosen by the size of that gap and by nothing else.

A gap is a difference of opinion, and a difference of opinion is all it is: the wide ones tend to fall on runners the model has the least evidence about, as often as on a horse the market has overlooked. The left column is the model's estimated chance, the right is the chance the price implies, and the track record shows how often the model's side of the argument has been right once every pick is settled at starting price.

What the card costs

Every price on the card carries the bookmaker's margin: add up the chances the prices imply and the total comes to more than a whole field, and the excess is what the book keeps whichever horse wins. The table below is the latest published margin for each book the Lab tracks. It is compiled from the previous evening's prices, so it describes the card as it was sold then rather than the morning's board, and the order of the table is a measurement, never a recommendation.

The margin is the reason the Lab's tested strategies lose over time even when a pick is sound; what betting costs has the working, and the Tipster League shows what it does to the AI tipsters over a season.

Elsewhere in the Lab: What the AI Tipsters Got Right and Wrong: 5 October to 11 October 2026.

Common questions

Which meetings race on Friday 23 October 2026?

Sligo and Dundalk in Ireland, and Cheltenham, Doncaster and Wolverhampton in Britain. Every card is on the racecards page with the model's estimated chance beside each runner, and the first race is at Sligo at 12:50.

When are the model's estimates published?

Each morning before the first race, from the declared runners, and they are not changed after the off. A card labels itself a pre-race estimate once its race has run.

What does the model's chance mean?

The model's own estimate of how likely each runner is to win, set beside the chance the market price implies. It is an opinion with a published record, not a tip, and the track record is where that record lives.

Why is a horse missing from a card?

Either it was withdrawn after the estimates were made, or the race was one the model did not price. The horse tracker follows any runner on the card to its next entry.

How are the AI tipsters doing?

The Tipster League settles every AI pick at starting price and publishes the running total, losses included.

A word on all of this

None of the above is a tip, and no system the Lab has tested has made money over the whole record. Bet only what you can afford to lose. If gambling has stopped being fun, BeGambleAware has free, confidential help.