Time to sign off; I’ll leave you with Sean Ingle’s view from Cheltenham on day one. Thanks for joining me, and see you again tomorrow.
All Tuesday's winners
1.20 Kopek Des Bordes (P Townend, W Mullins) 4-6F
2.00 Jango Baie (N de Boinville, N Henderson) 5-1
2.40 Myretown (PW Wadge, L Russell) 13-2F
3.20 Lossiemouth (P Townend, W Mullins) 4-6F
4.00 Golden Ace (Lorcan Williams, J Scott) 25-1
4.40 Puturhandstogether (MP Walsh, JP O’Brien) 17-2
5.20 National Hunt Chase (Ben Jones, R Curtis) 7-2 JtF
“Amazing, I felt like I was watching in slow motion … he really deserves it,” says Pembrokeshire trainer Rebecca Curtis, who secures a win for Wales after England, Scotland and Ireland all enjoyed success earlier.
Haiti Couleurs wins the National Hunt Handicap Chase
Cheltenham 5.20
1 Haiti Couleurs (Ben Jones) 7-2 Jt Fav
2 Rock My Way (Brendan Powell) 16-1
3 Will Do (J W Kennedy) 12-1
4 Resplendent Grey (S Bowen) 10-1
18 ran
Also: 7-2 Jt Fav Transmission
National Hunt Handicap Chase Haiti Couleurs still leading, Rock My Way and Now is the Hour coming through – but falling at the second last, and bringing down Duffle Coat as Haiti Couleurs streaks away to win. Rock My Way is second, but Hasthing was another late faller. Full result to come …
Updated
National Hunt Handicap Chase A slight gap opening between the front three – Haiti Couleurs, Jupiter Allen and Rock My Way – with Transmission in midfield and Kyntara falling back …
National Hunt Handicap Chase The pack still tightly bunched with Klarc Kent, Duffle Coat and Kyntara among those well placed behind the leading duo – and Captain Cody has fallen.
National Hunt Handicap Chase The multi-coloured silks of Haiti Couleurs lead the wayfrom Jupiter Allen, with Rock My Way in third. Outside Caesar Rock stumbles on the seventh …
National Hunt Handicap Chase: They’re off in the day’s final race …
5.20 National Hunt Handicap Chase odds
Odds via Oddschecker:
Haiti Couleurs 4/1
Transmission 4/1
Now Is The Hour 15/2
Resplendent Grey 17/2
Gericault Roque 10/1
Will Do 14/1
Hasthing 14/1
Captain Cody 16/1
Kyntara 18/1
Rock My Way 20/1
Bar 22/1 – 18 Runners
Market mover via Oddspedia:
Sony Bill (25/1 into 8/1)
Quantock Hills ( 25/1 into 14/1)
Get ready for day two, with Greg Wood’s racing tips:
Puturhandstogether wins Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle
1 Puturhandstogether (M P Walsh) 17-2
2 Robbies Rock (C Stone-Walsh) 50-1
3 Liam Swagger (Sam Twiston-Davies) 12-1
4 Hot Fuss (David Bass) 17-2
22 ran
Also: 11-4 Fav Stencil
Updated
Mark Walsh canters away on Puturhandstogether to win the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle by a distance … there was a big pack still in the chase for places, but Robbies Rock gets second at 50-1, ahead of Liam Swagger and Hot Fuss in a musical top four.
Updated
4.40 Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle Kool One has fallen, while Puturhandstogether is moving through the field and closing on Hot Fuss …
Updated
4.40 Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle They’re off in the penultimate race of the day, with Hot Fuss, Stencil and Solar Drive making the early running …
That race was also a big win for the bookies – one expert on ITV reckons more than £10m was bet on the three favourites, with none even earning a place.
It’s now been confirmed by the BHA that State Man, Constitution Hill and both jockeys are all okay. Willie Mullins is putting a brave face on things, congratulating Golden Ace and her team. The trainer opted to switch Lossiemouth to the Mares’ Hurdle, only for State Man to fall and another mare to win in the feature race.
Nicky Henderson says the fall is “cruel” after Constitution Hill missed last year – “a lot of heartache to get back here, but we’ve got to pick it up and carry on.” Henderson adds that Constitution Hill’s next target will be the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.
Updated
After that drama, still two more races to go, and it’s only day one …
Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle
Odds via Oddschecker:
Stencil 10/3
Puturhandstogether 8/1
Beyond Your Dreams 8/1
Sony Bill 9/1
Hot Fuss 10/1
Total Look 11/1
Liam Swagger 12/1
Murcia 16/1
Quantock Hills 16/1
Holy See 25/1
Bar 25/1
Market movers via Oddspedia:
Transmission (5/1 into 3/1)
Resplendent Glory (12/1 into 15/2)
Updated
Jeremy Scott is a very popular winner in the Cheltenham circle. “As Del Boy says, ‘who dares wins’, Rodney,” he says of the late decision to throw Golden Ace into the Champion Hurdle. “I’m not sure this isn’t a dream! As long as the other two horses are OK … I mean, it’s just magic. We’re so lucky to have her, she’s given me some of the most memorable days of my life.”
The winning owner, Ian Gosden, bought Golden Ace for £12,000. “We were looking at different options, and I thought she wasn’t anything special, but there didn’t seem much wrong with her either.” And after switching from the Mares’ Hurdle, she’s a Champion Hurdle winner and Jeremy Scott’s first Grade One success since 2021.
Updated
Wow. That was a chaotic race, and Lorcan Williams is the unexpected winner on Golden Ace. He says he hopes Constitution Hill, State Man and both jockeys are fine – and they do seem to be, thankfully. “When Constitution Hill went down, I thought ‘bloody hell, we might stay on for second.’ Then, it’s unlucky for Willie Mullins, but it just opened up for us to win.” The best day of his life? “By far.”
Updated
Golden Ace wins Champion Hurdle as Constitution Hill and State Man fall
Cheltenham 4.00
1 Golden Ace (Lorcan Williams) 25-1
2 Burdett Road (Sam Twiston-Davies) 66-1
3 Winter Fog (B Hayes) 150-1
7 ran
Also: 1-2 Fav Constitution Hill, 5-2 Brighterdaysahead 4th
Updated
4.00 Champion Hurdle We can’t rule out State Man, though, and he pulls clear at the last … but with the race at his mercy, he falls at the last! Brighterdaysahead has to move aside, and suddenly Golden Ace is away and clear. It’s a shock victory for the 25-1 shot!
Updated
Constitution Hill falls in the Champion Hurdle: The favourite never really settled and now he has fallen! Both rider and horse appear to be up and OK, but it now looks like Brighterdaysahead’s race to lose …
Updated
4.00 Champion Hurdle: Behind Constitution Hill in third sit State Man and Golden Ace with Winter Fog near the back and not really delivering on pace-making duties …
They’re off in the Champion Hurdle! King of Kingsfield, expected to be a pacemaker, is appropriately in front of stablemate Brighterdaysahead. Constitution Hill a touch keen in third, and Burdett Road veers off-course over an early fence …
So, the day’s feature race is almost upon us. Will Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten Constitution Hill regain his 2023 Champion Hurdle crown after missing last year? Could State Man retain the title for Willie Mullins? Or will Brighterdaysahead bring it home for Gordon Elliott? We’re about to find out …
4.00 Champion Hurdle – odds update
Odds via Oddschecker:
Constitution Hill 8/11
Brighterdaysahead 15/8
State Man 11/1
Golden Ace 40/1
Burdett Road 70/1
King Of Kingsfield 250/1
Winter Fog 250/1
Market mover via Oddspedia:
State Man (12/1 into 8/1)
Updated
On ITV, Ed Chamberlin mentions that the attendance today is just over 55,000 – down 5,000 on last year. As Greg Wood reports, Cheltenham is taking the hit this year in an effort to bounce back in 2026.
“First time in my life I’ve ever been early,” says Willie Mullins after Lossiemouth wins the 3.20, rather than the 4pm Champion Hurdle. “Maybe I’m disappointed she’s not in the Champion Hurdle, but we have State Man there, and we’re here to get winners – we’ve done the right thing for [owner] Rich Ricci.”
Mares' Hurdle result: Lossiemouth cruises to victory
Cheltenham 3.20
1 Lossiemouth (P Townend) 4-6 Fav
2 Jade De Grugy (D E Mullins) 5-1
3 Take No Chances (Harry Skelton) 22-1
10 ran
Also: 33-1 Jetara 4th
Non Runner: 1
Updated
3.20 Mares’ Hurdle Approaching the last, Lossiemouth sidles up to Jade De Grugy, slips past, hops over the final fence and cruises clear. A very comfortable win for the now three-time festival winner, with Jade De Grugy second and Take No Chances in third for the Skeltons.
Updated
3.20 Mares’ Hurdle Still moving at a gentle pace, but Lossiemouth is closing on stablemate Jade De Grugy and July Flower is moving up on the outside …
3.20 Mares’ Hurdle Jade De Grugy leads Lossiemouth, with Jetara still third ahead of Joyeuse as they pass the halfway mark, with five to go …
They’re off in the Mares’ Hurdle: Lossiemouth is the big favourite after Willie Mullins opted to run her in this race, rather than the Champion Hurdle. Another Mullins horse, Jade De Grugy, is the early leader with Jetara also well-placed.
3.20 Mares’ Hurdle latest odds
Odds via Oddschecker:
Lossiemouth 4/5
Jade De Grugy 6/1
July Flower 17/2
Joyeuse 12/1
Take No Chances 25/1
Dysart Enos 33/1
Jetara 40/1
Gala Marceau 50/1
Queen’s Gamble 66/1
Market mover via Oddspedia:
Take No Chances (33/1 into 20/1)
5.20 NATIONAL HUNT CHALLENGE CUP NOVICE HANDICAP CHASE, 3M 5F 201YD
Day one concludes with the revamped National Hunt Chase, run as a handicap from this year and professional jockeys replacing amateurs for the first time. The effect on the field size has been dramatic and immediate – 18 runners due to go to post versus an average of 10 over the last five years – and the betting is wide-open, with Haiti Couleurs, a winner at the December meeting here, vying for favouritism with Transmission, the mount of Patrick Mullins – a four-time winner of the race in the past attempting to maintain the amateur tradition, the runner-up in the same race. Others to attract money so far today include Resplendent Grey (Olly Murphy/Sean Bowen) and Will Do (Gordon Elliott/Jack Kennedy), but I’ll be looking to Gavin Cromwell’s Now Is The Hour for a getting-out bet, given the trainer’s exceptional record at this meeting.
SELECTION: NOW IS THE HOUR.
Updated
Patrick Wadge on his first-ever Cheltenham winner. “His jumping hasn’t always been the best, don’t know what happened there but I just let him do his thing … it’s a dream come true!”
It’s a win for trainer Lucinda Russell and Scotland, and Wadge ended up on Myretown after Derek Fox opted to ride Whistle Stop Tour. “I wasn’t sure whether to run him,” Russell reveals.
Ultima Handicap Chase: Myretown streaks to dominant win
Cheltenham 2.40
1 Myretown (P W Wadge) 13-2 Fav
2 The Changing Man (Brendan Powell) 7-1
3 Malina Girl (K M Donoghue) 14-1
4 Happygolucky (J J Burke) 28-1
Updated
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase Henry’s Friend and Malina Girl are threatening, but Myretown still leads with The Changing Man following … but nobody is catching Patrick Wadge on Myretown!
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase Myretown, Frero Banbou, The Changing Man, Katate Dori and Happygolucky all in the leading group with three to jump …
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase Katate Dori is also well placed now with nine fences to go – make that eight as one will be skipped. Whistle Stop Tour and Sequestered losing touch at the back.
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase Richmond Lake and The Changing Man join the leading duo as the pack bunches up somewhat with 12 fences to go …
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase They get away eventually but outsider Guard Your Dreams is unseated at the first fence. Myretown leads Frero Banbou, with Zanahiyr the second to fall.
Updated
The second attempt at a walking start is a much bigger mess than the first, so we’ll reconvene for a standing start.
False start in the Ultima Handicap Chase: The Changing Man and Myretown are set to go off as joint favourites, overtaking Katate Dori. There are 24 runners out there, though, and plenty of jostling as they make the turn. Plenty haven’t settled as they approach the tape, and the false start flag goes up.
Updated
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase odds update
Odds via Oddschecker:
The Changing Man 15/2
Katate Dori 8/1
Myretown 9/1
Crebilly 9/1
Broadway Boy 11/1
The Short Go 12/1
Whistle Stop Tour 12/1
Henry’s Friend 12/1
Sequestered 16/1
Malina Girl 16/1
20/1 bar
Market movers via Oddspedia:
Myretown (16/1 into 8/1)
Crebilly (12/1 into 8/1)
Majborough didn’t live up to his billing as favourite, struggling over the last few fences to open the door for his rivals – who were then all surprised by Jango Baie, who came back from a distant last to grab victory. It also means the end of a potential foursome of favourites winning the day’s big races – so the bookies will be relieved.
A fantastic battle for the line there, with four horses in contention. It’s a first win this year for Nicky Henderson and jockey Nico de Boinville, who will be going for the Champion Hurdle at 4pm.
It’s another emotional moment in the winners’ circle; owner Tony Barney says he bought Jango Baie on the day his son James died, and the horse has his son’s initials. “He’s looking down on me today,” he tells ITV.
Updated
Arkle Chase result: Jango Baie wins thriller
Cheltenham 2.00
1 Jango Baie (N de Boinville) 5-1
2 Only By Night (K M Donoghue) 25-1
3 Majborough (M P Walsh) 1-2 Fav
5 ran
Also: 5-1 L’eau Du Sud 4th
Updated
2.00 Arkle Chase Touch Me Not has lost touch, while L’Eau du Sud takes up the lead from Majborough at the last – the favourite stumbles over that fence, and it looks to be between L’Eau du Sud and Only By Night … but here comes Jango Baie flying down the home straight, to win from virtually nowhere!
2.00 Arkle Chase Off at a steady trip, with Majborough, in the McManus green and gold, ahead of Touch Me Not with the grey L’Eau du Sud in touch too.
A non-runner in the 3.20: Casa No Mento is out of the Mares Hurdle. Our next race, the Arkle, is up in five minutes’ time.
2.00 Arkle Chase – latest odds via Oddschecker
Majborough 8/15
L’Eau Du Sud 5/1
Jango Baie 7/1
Only By Night 16/1
Touch Me Not 18/1
Market movers from Oddspedia
Majborough (8/13 into 1/2)
Jango Baie (8/1 into 6/1)
Touch Me Not (25/1 into 18/1)
4.40 FRED WINTER JUVENILE HANDICAP HURDLE, 2M 87YD
Regardless of whether the “shorties” in the four Grade Ones have done the business or let their supporters down, the Fred Winter will offer an almost irresistible opportunity to either play up the winnings or repair at least a little of the damage. Twenty-two juveniles with relatively little form in the book and no end of scope for sudden improvement make for one of the most volatile and unpredictable races at the meeting and there have been just two winning favourites since its introduction in 2005.
There is often a plunge horse on the day, however, and the punters seem undeterred by setbacks in previous years as all the money this time around is for Stencil, who arrives from the upwardly-mobile Chantilly stable of Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm. The fact that he carries the green-and-gold colours of JP McManus is no doubt another key factor in persuading punters to jump aboard the bandwagon, although McManus himself has said recently that he punts his horses far less frequently these days. Despite hailing from France, Stencil boasts some useful Cheltenham form – when second to the Triumph Hurdle favourite, East India Dock, at the Trials meeting here in January – but he was put in his place fairly readily there and makes little appeal at his current odds.
Puturhandstogether (Joseph O’Brien), another McManus runner and a hold-up horse who seems sure to get the red-hot pace he needs, is one live alternative, but it is interesting too that James Owen, the trainer of East India Dock, sends Liam Swagger into the fray against Stencil and the rest. He was useful on the Flat, has done little wrong in three starts over hurdles so far and Owen has declared him in cheekpieces for the first time over jumps today, which tended to sharpen him up nicely when used on the Flat.
SELECTION: LIAM SWAGGER.
It’s a poignant moment for Charlie McCarthy and his four sons, owners of Kopek Des Bordes. McCarthy underwent surgery for kidney cancer just a couple of weeks ago, and is now recovering.
Jockey Paul Townend is also emotional, saying that the late Michael O’Sullivan was on his mind as he crossed the finish line. William Munny, in the colours O’Sullivan wore on Marine Nationale, was a valiant second place.
Supreme Novices' Hurdle result: victory for Kopek Des Bordes
Cheltenham 1.20
1 Kopek Des Bordes (P Townend) 4-6 Fav
2 William Munny (S W Flanagan) 8-1
3 Romeo Coolio (J W Kennedy) 9-2
11 ran
Also: 33-1 Karniquet 4th
Non Runner: 9
Updated
1.20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Kopek Des Bordes leads over the last and despite a stumble on landing, recovers to pull away from William Munny as the crowd roars the favourite home.
1.20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Workahead loses ground with Romeo Coolio leading and Kopek Des Bordes poised. William Munny is still in the mix too as the last approaches …
1.20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Workahead leads Romeo Coolio with Kopek Des Bordes in third – and that trio has a bit of a gap over the rest with four hurdles to go.
1.20 Supreme Novices' Hurdle starts the action
The week’s first race gets away first time, after a sombre moment in memory of Michael O’Sullivan.
Updated
Twenty minutes until the first race of the festival, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Here are the latest odds, from Oddschecker.
13:20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
Kopek Des Bordes 10/11
Romeo Coolio 6/1
Workahead 8/1
William Munny 17/2
Irancy 16/1
Salvator Mundi 16/1
Karniquet 40/1
Karbau 40/1
Sky Lord 66/1
Funiculi Funicula 66/1
Tutti Quanti 150/1
Updated
4.00 UNIBET CHAMPION HURDLE, Grade One, 2m 87yds
And so we come to the main event of the day and, who knows, perhaps the entire week as well, as the brilliant, unbeaten Constitution Hill attempts to secure an 11th straight success that would put the final seal on racing immortality. He was sadly denied a chance to retain his champion status by an ill-timed respiratory infection last season, but State Man, the nine-length runner-up behind Constitution Hill in the 2023 Champion Hurdle, is back to defend the crown he won in his old rival’s absence last year and give Constitution Hill a chance to set the record straight.
State Man has not been firing on all cylinders so far this season, and his win in the Irish equivalent last time – which was effectively a walkover after Lossiemouth’s departure four out – was his first win in three starts in the current campaign. If it marks a return to something like his best form, however, he is not entirely out of the picture this afternoon, though Brighterdaysahead, who pulverised a below-par State Man in a Grade One at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, looks to be a much bigger threat to the favourite. Her performance at Leopardstown was visually extraordinary, and while it is certainly the case that a front-running stable companion put it on a plate for her after the two of them set off with a healthy lead, her winning time was also extremely fast.
She was beaten when odds-on favourite for the Mares’ Novice Hurdle here last year, which is a slight concern, but her latest start – combined with a 7lb mares’ allowance – puts her very close to Constitution Hill’s level of form when he ran away with the Supreme Novice Hurdle by 22 lengths three years ago. At the prices, with Constitution Hill odds-on and Brighterdaysahead on offer at 2-1, I’m personally inclined to side with Gordon Elliott’s mare, but the bulk of the money will be going the other way and the reception for Constitution Hill if he comes home in front will be a match for anything we have seen here for many years.
SELECTION: BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD
3.20 CLOSE BROTHERS MARES’ HURDLE, Grade One 2m 3f 200yds
Back to the short-priced favourites after the brief interregnum of the Ultima, and the key piece of form here is Lossiemouth’s comfortable success in the same race 12 months ago. Hopes were fairly high a couple of weeks ago that she would drop back in trip for the Champion Hurdle itself but the decision to go for what is, on paper at least, a much easier assignment in this race is probably a sensible one given that she was no match for Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton earlier in the season. She suffered a spectacular fall on her latest start in the Irish Champion Hurdle but did not have a bother on her, as they say, at a media morning at Mullins’s yard a couple of days later and will presumably be at peak form for today’s return to festival action.
The betting suggests that Jade De Grugy, an impressive Grade one winner at Fairyhouse last season who has made just one start since, in a Grade Three at Punchestown last month, is the main danger to her stable companion, although Henry de Bromhead’s July Flower and Nicky Henderson’s Joyeuse – the easy winner of the highly competitive William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury last month – will also have supporters. Lossiemouth, though, is a clear pick on both her career and festival form and a repeat of last year’s performance in this race would probably be enough.
SELECTION: LOSSIEMOUTH
1.20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle: Oddspedia market movers
Kopek Des Bordes (1/1 into 4/5)
Romeo Coolio (8/1 into 11/2)
Karniquet (66/1 into 40/1)
Updated
In a powerful interview, Donald McRae talked to leading jockey Harry Skelton as he prepared for this year’s festival.
Preview: 2.40 ULTIMA HANDICAP CHASE, 3M 1F
After two Grade Ones with a short-priced market leader, the first festival handicap could hardly offer more of a contrast with 24 runners and several jostling for favouritism at around 8-1. The Ultima is almost unique at the festival in that it has remained impervious to the otherwise all-conquering Irish in recent years – there have, bizarrely, been more French-trained winners (three) since the turn of the century than the two from Ireland, way back in 2003 and 2006. British stables dominate the top of the betting, with Katate Dori, The Changing Man, Broadway Boy and Crebilly all priced up at between 8-1 and 10-1, while Lucinda Russell’s Myretown has been the one for money over the last couple of days to give the trainer a third win in four seasons. For all the British dominance in recent years, though, it is also the case that Irish representation in this race has been much lower than elsewhere at the meeting, and fancied runners from across the water have made the frame in each of the last two years. The Short Go, representing the ever-popular Henry de Bromhead/Rachael Blackmore combo, and Sequestered, from the Paul Gilligan stable, both have decent claims on their form this year and the latter in particular ticks plenty of boxes for this race as a fast-improving novice with big-field experience. On the basis that horses do not know which country they are stabled in, he’s my pick to give Ireland a long overdue Ultima success.
SELECTION: SEQUESTERED.
Tuesday’s Oddschecker market movers:
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
Romeo Coolio: 8/1 -> 5/1 – 13% of bets this morning
Ultima Handicap Chase
Katate Dori: 8/1 -> 6/1 – 10% of bets this morning
Myretown: 18/1 -> 10/1 – 8% of best this morning
Mares Hurdle
July Flower: 11/1 -> 8/1 – 7% of bets this morning
Fred Winter
Stencil: 9/2 -> 3/1 – 16% of bets this morning
Updated
Preview: Arkle Challenge Trophy Novice Chase, Grade One (2m), 2.00
Race two at the meeting and, in all likelihood, the second odds-on favourite as well. Majborough, last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner, has been all the rage for this since his fellow four-year-old, Sir Gino, was scratched in mid-February. Sir Gino’s absence robs the festival of what had promised to be one of the great head-to-heads, as he was ruled out shortly after Majborough’s nine-length defeat of the re-opposing Touch Me Not in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown in February. That win was not entirely blemish-free, but Majborough looked more confident at his fences as the race went on, he still had plenty left in the tank at the line and it was, after all, just his second start over the bigger obstacles.
He is far from a stone-cold cert, however, and Dan Skelton, the current clear leader in the race for the National Hunt trainers’ title, will have high hopes of staging a minor upset with L’Eau Du Sud, a classy handicap hurdler last year who has taken his form to fresh heights over fences. He showed a classy turn of foot between three and two out to put the Kingmaker Novice Chase to bed at Warwick last month, and also has a course-and-distance chase win in November to prove he can handle Cheltenham.
Jango Baie is also a course winner, although his success at the December meeting came over two-and-a-half miles, and he was touched off in the Scilly Isles Novice Chase over the same trip at Sandown last month. An interesting runner at a double-figure price, meanwhile, is Gavin Cromwell’s Only By Night, who – like Majborough and L’Eeu Du Sud – remains unbeaten over fences. All three of his wins have come in small-field affairs, the most recent being a five-runner Listed event at Exeter, and his trainer has an exceptional record with his runners at Cheltenham in general and the festival in particular.
SELECTION: L’EAU DU SUD.
KEY FORM:
Irish Arkle Novice Chase, Leopardstown, 1 Feb 25 (Majborough, Touch Me Not).
Kingmaker Novice Chase, Warwick, 8 Feb 25 (L’Eau Du Sud).
Henry VIII Novice Chase, Sandown, 7 Dec 24 (L’Eau Du Sud, Touch Me Not).
Agatha Christie Mares’ Novice Chase, Exeter, 9 Feb 25 (Only By Night).
Updated
Trainer Nicky Henderson has revealed on X that Palladium, a 14-1 contender for Friday’s Triumph Hurdle, is out of the race.
“It appears that Palladium had got cast overnight and is quite sore this morning and we really can’t see how he can be fit to run in the JCB Triumph Hurdle,” wrote Henderson. “This is dreadful news and an unfair shock for the Bamford family as we seriously thought we had an outstanding chance on Friday.”
“We are confident he will soon be able to resume training but he will require a few easy days. He would be back in time for Aintree but I think in all probability he will now return to his flat career. He is a very good looking and talented young horse with a great temperament and he has a really bright future under both codes.”
Preview: Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Chase (1.20)
The Festival gets up and running with what has become something of a traditional entrée: a Willie Mullins-trained “hotpot” in Kopek Des Bordes, whose success or otherwise will set the mood from a betting perspective for the remainder of the day. Much has been said already about the bookies “fearing” a short-priced four-timer – Kopek Des Bordes (Champion Hurdle) on the opening afternoon, but it is worth remembering that the betting industry loves nothing more than a multitude of punters with big balances in their account when there are still two dozen races left at the meeting.
There is also nothing quite like the blood-curdling wall of noise that greets a winning favourite in the opener – it is one of the definitive festival experiences - and Kopek Des Bordes is a worthy contender to follow the likes of Vautour, Douvan and Appreciate It, the most recent of Mullins’ six winners of this race. He replaced his stable companion, Salvator Mundi, at the top of the betting when he sauntered home in the equivalent race at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, and his time figure there fully backs up the visual impression of his 13-length success.
Salvator Mundi is also in the field today, and has not been seen on course since winning a Grade Two at Punchestown in January, but the biggest danger to the market leader could well be Gordon Elliott’s Romeo Coolio, the nine-length winner of the Grade One Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.
Two more contenders worthy of a mention are Workahead and William Munny, who finished first and second in a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting. William Munny showed improved form to win next time up and would be a hugely emotional winner as he runs for the same connections as Marine Nationale, the winner of this race two years ago with the late Michael O’Sullivan in the saddle.
The Irish jockey died in February from injuries sustained in a fall, and today’s race will be run this year as the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novice Hurdle in his memory.
Selection: Kopek Des Bordes.
Key form (video in links):
Brave Inca Novice Hurdle, Leopardstown, 2 Feb 25 (Kopek Des Bordes)
Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Punchestown, 12 Jan 25 (Salvator Mundi)
Future Champions Novice Hurdle, Leopardstown, 27 Dec 24 (Romeo Coolio).
Thorntons Recycling Maiden Hurdle, Leopardstown 29 Dec 24 (Workahead, William Munny).
Updated
Today’s four Grade One races all feature big favourites, and the big question is whether the leading quartet can all deliver. Here’s Leon Blackman from Oddschecker with more:
The four odds-on favourites winning on Tuesday would be a catastrophic result for bookmakers. From our estimations, all four of Kopek Des Bordes, Majborough, Lossiemouth and Constitution Hill winning could cost the bookmakers north of £75m. The four-fold currently pays around 15/2 and will no doubt be a staple in many punters’ bet slips for the opening day of the festival.”
Tuesday's race card
1.20 Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
2.00 Arkle Chase
2.40 Ultima Handicap Chase
3.20 Mares Hurdle
4.00 Champion Hurdle
4.40 Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle
5.20 National Hunt Chase
Grade one races in bold
Updated
Preamble
Good morning from Cheltenham racecourse, where all feels as it should do on the first day of the festival meeting despite the track’s admission over the weekend that the crowds are not (yet) flooding back to the meeting as many would have hoped. This is the first year of a new-look festival, with more handicaps to boost competitiveness and field sizes, and also several new measures to improve the “customer experience”, and it will presumably not be until this time next year that we get much of an idea of how it all worked out.
One of the key indicators of customer experience, of course, is whether they emerge from the most concentrated four days of betting all year with their noses in front, and Tuesday’s opening card will be a potentially crucial first engagement between punters and bookies as all four of the Grade One events have a short-priced favourite.
Bookies’ PRs have been falling over themselves for the last few days, trying to come up with increasingly eye-catching estimates of how much the industry will lose if all four favourites oblige. As ever, their numbers should not be taken at face value as a. no-one will be checking the books and b. they get paid for mentions, not historical accuracy, but it would certainly put the punting fraternity on good terms with themselves if the four-timer– which currently pays around 7-1 – were to come up on day one.
That, of course, also suggests that it is around 1-7 that at least one of the supposed good things will be beaten, but if Constitution Hill can justify his odds-on price in the Champion Hurdle at 4.00, then any pain felt as the result of a defeat of a favourite or two earlier in the day will be largely erased. He is already rightly hailed as one of the greatest hurdlers of all time, but a second Champion Hurdle, after he was forced to surrender his crown without a battle 12 months ago, would be one of those festival moments that no-one who is there to see it will ever forget.
It’s possible to think that Constitution Hill is the likeliest winner this afternoon while also believing that Brighterdaysahead, his main market rival, should be a fair bit closer to Nicky Henderson’s gelding in the betting. A magnificent race is in prospect, in the midst of a card that has something for everyone with three ultra-competitive handicaps also in the mix.
There was, a little surprisingly, around 3.5mm of rain at the track overnight but Jon Pullin, the clerk of the course, reports that the turf has “taken it really well”. As a result, the meeting will open – as it generally does – on good-to-soft, and while daytime temperatures are unlikely to get back to the double-figures we all enjoyed last week, there is little or no rain in the forecast.
Some thoughts and picks for the first day card are here, the wonderful Don McRae’s recent interview with Harry Skelton, the clear leader in the race for the new £500,000 David Power Jockeys’ Cup is here, and we’re set fair for another thrilling week of action in the Cotswolds. As always, you can follow all the action and reaction as it happens here on the blog, with race previews, links to video form, news, live commentary and more. The famous Cheltenham roar is now just a few hours away!
