Cheltenham Festival - Day 1
- Jordan
- Mar 10
- 8 min read
In flat racing, March means looking ahead to Doncaster. But for the Irish and those in tweed jackets, wellies, and flat caps, it means only one thing: Cheltenham. While I'll almost certainly never going to have a runner at the Festival, I’ve watched it religiously since I was sixteen, and twenty years on, its allure, and the desire to find winners, hasn’t faded.
13:20 – Cheltenham (Hurdle - Good To Soft) 2m 87y
Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4yo+) £84,405 - Runners: 12
A pretty uninspiring renewal of this race given that half the field are trained by Willie Mullins. Hopefully the favourite will give us all a performance to remember though.
Kopek Des Borders heads the market having run out a ready winner at the DRF. He was a little keen that day but ultimately had too much class for his rivals and the RaceIQ numbers were largely positive. He also ran a positive speed figure (more than Proform Par) and looks to be a worthy favourite. If there is a chink in his armour it’s probably his maturity/mentality and the presence of the first-time hood probably confirms that it’s a slight concern for his connections too. However, Willie Mullins’ record with short, priced favourites in the novice hurdles division at the festival is immense and I expect him to get punters off to a good start tomorrow.
Selection: KOPEK DES BORDERS (11/10) - WIN
NB: WORK AHEAD (6/1) – EW
11/03/25, 14:00 – Cheltenham (Chase - Good To Soft) 1m 7f 199y
My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5yo+) £112,540 - Runners: 5
A field small and one which is probably lacking quality too.
Majborough heads the market and has been impressive this season. As the lack of runners suggests, this is a weak division now and his cruise speed and exit speed should be too much for his rivals to handle. Once again, Proform has him miles clear of his rivals on their ratings and if he stays on his feet, it should just be a question of how far he wins by.
Only By Night is an interesting runner for Cromwell mainly because they’ve elected to skip the easier option in the Mares. It may just be that he feels Limerick Lace has a better chance, but I was impressed by OBN at Exeter, and she may give l’Eau Du Sud and Jango Baie and run for second place.
Selection: MAJBOROUGH (8/15) - WIN
NB: ONLY BY NIGHT (12/1) - EW
11/03/25, 14:40 – Cheltenham (Chase - Good To Soft) 3m 1f
Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (5yo+,155) £84,405 - Runners: 24
This always a fun race to watch and unlike some of the handicaps this week, punters usually have a fair chance of finding the winner. The first thing to note is that the runners who had their prep run in Ireland have an atrocious record and haven’t won since 2006. With that in mind, I fully expect to see a British trained winner again this year.
Henry’s Friend is a horse who looks to have come to the boil at the right time. His win at Newbury was impressive, he stays all day, jumps well and looks to have scope from a mark of 145. While Ben Pauling is yet to win this race, his record in Handicap Chases at the festival has improved rapidly in the last couple of years and this eight-year-old should have a solid top three chance.
The Short Go doesn’t fit the key trends for this race as he is trained in Ireland and had his prep run there. However, he’s an interesting contender given that he went off as favourite for the Troytown and was yet to be asked a question when unseating at the 12th. He’s deliberately been kept off track since then in order to preserve his mark, so he’s almost certainly got something in hand and showed a liking for the track when finishing 2nd behind Senior Chief at the October meeting. Henry has a poor record in handicap chases at the festival, but market support would make him of interest.
Famous Bridge is a horse I backed in this race last year and he ran a blinder to finish 4th at a big price. He’s a few pounds higher this year but the better ground will suit him, and I’d argue that this is a weaker renewal. I’m not sure that he’ll have enough in hand to win but at 20/1+, a place would be perfectly satisfactory.
King Turgeon had looked extremely progressive before failing to fire at Musselburgh. While that wasn’t an ideal preparation, this course really plays to his strengths and David certainly knows what it takes to train a horse for this particular race, having won it three times with horses who were all returning from a 31-45 day break.
Whistle Stop Tour is trained by Lucinda Russell and therefore deserves respect as she has a fantastic record in this race. While Lucinda has two runners, I think this one looks to be the better of the two and Derek presumably agrees. The horse is relatively unexposed (especially at this kind of trip) compared to most and a prominent race position won’t do him any harm either.
Selection: HENRY’S FRIEND (12/1) - EW
NB: WHISTLE STOP TOUR (12/1) + FAMOUS BRIDGE (20/1) - EW
11/03/25, 15:20 – Cheltenham (Hurdle - Good To Soft) 2m 3f 200y
Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle (Registered As The David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle) (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4yo+) £69,887 - Runners: 11
A race that has its critics and its not hard to see why. I think most racing purists would’ve been disappointed to see Lossiemouth declare for this race rather than the Champion Hurdle but it’s easy to be critical when you’re not paying the bills and don’t have a horse in a division with the likes of Constitution Hill and Brighterdaysahead!
Lossiemouth clearly sets the standard here. She’s miles clear at the ratings and wouldn’t have been out of place in the Champion Hurdle. I do however have my reservations about backing her at prohibitive odds given the preparation she’s had and the fact that she was campaigned and trained all season with the CH in mind. The question for punters though is, is there really anything in here with the class to beat her?
July Flowers is arguably the only unknown quantity in this race, having only had the one run in Ireland since moving over from France. It was a decent performance, as she cleared right away from Kala Conti who herself is an above average mare but I’m not sure it screamed Cheltenham Festival winning in waiting. She was returning from a sizable break though, having her first start for a new yard and taking a drop in trip on faster ground than she would’ve encountered anywhere in France. If she can improve on that run, by a few pounds and Lossiemouth does regress due to the lingering effects of her fall at the DRF, then who knows, maybe she can come away with a win.
Selection: LOSSIEMOUTH (4/6) - WIN
NB: JULY FLOWER (11/1) – EW
11/03/25, 16:00 – Cheltenham (Hurdle - Good To Soft) 2m 87y
Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (Grade 1) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4yo+) £253,215 - Runners: 7
The greatly anticipated matchup between Constitution Hill and Brighterdaysahead. On paper it could be a race for the ages, but it could also be a very one-sided affair.
Constitution Hill is a horse who should be revered and admired by the racing world, yet most seem to expend a huge amount of energy, questioning his ability, his trainer and just about everything else about him. I have no time, or interest in those discussions. Of course, Brighterdaysahead was impressive at Leopardstown, and the numbers were too but a race is a sum of its parts and with State Man running miles below form, she beat absolutely nothing. I also can’t escape the fact that she was beaten by Golden Ace last season when thought to be one of the bets of the festival. Ultimately, I’ll take proven class and ability over hope any day of the week, in any race, and tomorrow will be no different. Win or lose, Constitution Hill is a remarkable animal though and one I hope will finally get the respect he deserves from everyone including the social media ‘experts’ who are more interested in likes, than the sport itself.
Selection: CONSTITUTION HILL (8/13) – WIN
11/03/25, 16:40 – Cheltenham (Hurdle - Good To Soft) 2m 87y
Hallgarten And Novum Wines Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Registered As The Fred Winter) (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4yo,140) £45,016 - Runners: 24
This is always an extremely difficult puzzle to try and solve and this year’s renewal looks no different. JP currently has the top three in the betting, and an Irish trained winner looks to be a racing certainty.
Stencil currently heads the market having caught the eye of many when finishing second behind East India Dock at this track. His opening mark of 135 is probably about right, and the switch to faster ground is an unknown but his connections have had plenty of positive things to say about him and on balance, he's probably the right favourite without being one I'd want to be piling in to.
Beyond Your Dreams finally broke his maiden tag at Fairyhouse the last day when getting the better of Slurricane in a tight finish. While you always must respect anything Joseph runs in this race, I personally believe that JP’s other two runners, and particularly this horse’s stablemate, hold stronger chances.
Puturhandstogether is a horse who I’ve watched on a few occasions this season and each time he’s looked like an animal who would benefit from a big field and higher-class opposition. He races enthusiastically but seems to overthink his hurdling when the pace is sedate so being dropped in, off a true gallop could bring about instant improvement. The flipside however is that any errors he does make will likely be more costly, but he clearly has a sizable engine, and I expect the track, and the conditions, to play to his strengths too.
Total Look caught the attention of the stewards on his last run at Punchestown and the subsequent report made for interesting reading. While on collateral form, he has work to do if he’s to beat Stencil, I certainly don’t think that we’ve seen the best of him yet and the first time cheekpieces only adds to the intrigue.
Selection: PUTURHANDSTOGETHER (15/2) - EW
NB: TOTAL LOOK (8/1) - EW
11/03/25, 17:20 – Cheltenham (Chase - Good To Soft) 3m 5f 201y
Princess Royal National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices' Handicap Chase (GBB) (Class 2) (5yo+,145) £52,030 - Runners: 20
A change to this race this year as its now a handicap, which in my book makes some sense. It will inevitably make it a little harder to find the winner though.
Now Is The Hour has long been a horse who looked like he’d benefit from a further step up in trip and now, he finally gets it. His mark of 139 looks workable and Gavin’s record in these kind of races at the track is outstanding (6 from 19 at the course in races over a distance of 3 miles plus). I think this has been the target all season and for that reason, he’s hard to oppose.
Gericault Roque is arguably a little unlucky not to already have a festival win to his name as he went down fighting back in 2022 when missing out in a close finish to Corach Rambler in the Ultima. He’s now 7lb below that mark and while this kind of trip probably tests his stamina, he should get away with it on goodish ground and he showed enough in his comeback run at Windsor to suggest that he retains plenty of ability.
Resplendent Grey is a horse who lives up to his name. He’s also an animal who has his own way of getting from A to B and probably has no idea how good he is. While he doesn’t always look the easiest of rides, I think this race is tailor-made for him and if Sean can switch him off and get him pinging his fences, I doubt anything will be staying on up the hill stronger than him. On his run behind Hyland, he's arguably the horse they all have to beat.
Selection: RESPLENDENT GREY (9/1) - EW
NB: NOW IS THE HOUR (6/1) - EW
DAILY ACCA
1:20 - Kopek Des Bordes (10/17 - Top 2 Finish)
2:00 - Majborough (8/15 - Win)
4:00 - Constitution Hill (8/13 - Win)
5:20 - Resplendent Grey (23/20 - Top 6 Finish)
4 Fold Pays 7.45/1 (Bet365)