Cheltenham Festival - The greatest show on turf
Paul Townend onboard Lossiemouth comes home to win ahead of Brighterdaysahead at Leopardstown at Cheltenham. The two mares could potentially clash at Cheltenham. Photos: INPHO
The dream of having a Cheltenham Festival winner will still be intact for connections far and wide as runners make their way down to the start of the traditional curtain raiser, the Grade 1 Supreme Novices Hurdle. But only a small few will have the privilege of calling themselves a Cheltenham Festival winner by the end of play on Friday.
When you glance at the current Champion Hurdle entries, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Mares Hurdle has been moved back to its Tuesday slot, with Lossiemouth, Brighterdaysahead, and the defending Champion Hurdler, Golden Ace, all among the entries. However, since the early season defection of State Man and the recent news of Constitution Hill being retired from the national hunt scene, the Champion Hurdle has been blown wide open.
As I write this, it is still up in the air whether Lossiemouth will take her chance in the Champion Hurdle or go for a third Mares Hurdle in a row, but should they roll the dice with the three-time Cheltenham Festival winner, she looks sure to be the one they all have to beat.
As for the remaining six races on day one, Nicky Henderson holds a strong chance of claiming his third Supreme Novices Hurdle in the past seven years with Old Park Star. But the Irish challenge won’t be far away with Talk The Talk, Might Park, and El Cairos, all looking to run down the Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old.
The Arkle Novices Chase rarely fails to deliver on drama, and last year's renewal was a clear example of “anything can happen”. This year's renewal, at least on paper, looks to be stronger than the Champion Chase.
The much hyped and talked-about Kopek Des Bordes will look to become only the third horse to ever win an Arkle Novices Chase on the back of just one chase start, but he will need to be something special to keep at bay the unbeaten Lulamba, Romeo Coolio, and his stablemate Kargese.
Known to his many fans as “Big Maj”, Majborough is on a retrieval mission after leaving his backers in devastation after failing to deliver in last season’s Arkle Novices’ Chase. However, this season, in one that looked to be ebbing away with his customary jumping issues coming to the fore, a change of tactics and the application of first-time cheekpieces unlocked the raw talent we all wanted to see at the DRF.
Now that his closed rival and defending champion, Marine Nationale, has been ruled out of the Champion Chase, Majborough has been handed a golden opportunity to record his second Cheltenham Festival win.
Just as the Champion Chase looks a procession for Majborough, the opposite applies for the opening race on the day, the Grade 1 Turners Novices’ Hurdle.
Currently 4/1 the field, it’s one of the most open Turners Novices’ Hurdles that we have seen in recent years. The Paul Nicholls-trained No Drama This End has done nothing wrong to date, and is a worthy favourite, but it is suspected that we will not see the best of the son of Walk In The Park until he jumps a fence next season. However, the Turners' winning or losing will come down to who takes their chance on Tuesday in the Supreme Novices Hurdle and who diverts to take on No Drama This End.
The saying “horses for courses” could not be more pertinent for Bob Olinger. The quirky, but hugely talented, eleven-year-old has yet to taste defeat in four runs at Cheltenham, which includes three wins at the Festival.
He may be getting on in years now, but the Henry de Bromhead-trained gelding has had one target, and one target only this season, and it is retaining his Stayers Hurdle crown. He must get the better of his old foe Teahupoo once again, and also contend with the young up-and-comers in Honesty Policy, Kabral Du Mathan, and fellow course specialist Ma Shantou.
Following the conclusion of the Stayers Hurdle, the Ryanair Chase takes centre stage with Fact To File looking to back up his impressive Irish Gold Cup win, and make it back-to-back Ryanair Chase wins. There has been talk that the Gold Cup may still be an option for Fact To File, and should connections decide to take their chance in the blue ribbon event, he will need to be supplemented at the five-day stage.
If the Irish Gold Cup winner does end up in the Gold Cup, then the hopes of JP McManus retaining the Ryanair Chase rest solely on the shoulders of fan favourite Jonbon. However, it is hard to see Jonbon breaking his Cheltenham Festival duck at the age of ten.
Eyes will be fixed on every available screen in the UK and Ireland at 4:00 on March 13th as one of the most open Gold Cups in recent memory stops nations.
Defending champion Inothewayurthinkin has been nothing short of a shadow of the horse that beat Galopin Des Champs in last year's running, and despite support coming for him in the market in recent days, it will take divine inspiration for him to rediscover his best form.
The King George VI Chase form looks set to come to the fore, with the three of the first four (half a length separating them) looking set to face off once again. The Harry Redknapp-owned The Jukebox Man came out on top in the King George, and the former Albert Bartlett runner-up has every chance of upholding that form here.
But even so, it is impossible to rule out the likes of last year's Arkle Novices’ Chase winner Jango Baie, the enigma that is Gaelic Warrior, and the two-time Gold Cup hero, Galopin Des Champs.
No matter who comes out on top in the 2026 Gold Cup, we look set to witness one of, if not the, race of the Festival.
