Whistle jacket
Cheltenham 2026 Day 1
The great Cheltenham Festival is finally here.
Or should we call it the great Willie Mullins parade? The Irish trainer is generally on top here and starts off tonight in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle Gr 1m with 3 runners however the favourite is not one of his – it is the Nicky Henderson trained Old Park Star who is 3/3 over hurdles and has Nico de Boinville on board and they are 5/2.
We are going a bit wider here with Sober Glory 11/1 for Hobbs & White with Ben Jones riding who has only been beaten once and conditions should suit. After that we will give two of the Mullins runners – Mighty Park 11/2 and Leader d'Allier 10/1 then Old Park Star if you want a fourth pick. Field of 12.
The Arkle Trophy Novices' Chase has only 6 runners and here we will go straight to the Mullins horse Kargese with Danny Mullins riding and 6/1 the quote. He was second in a tough Irish Arkle and there was plenty to like about that run. Stablemate Kopek des Bordes is favourite on 6/4 and Lulamba Henderson – de Boinville is also in form and on 13/8.
There's a couple of handicap races but we won't look at them and just go for the main event, the Champion Hurdle Gr 1 with 9 runners and we love Lossiemouth (Mullins of course) although 2/1 is a bit skinny on its own but could combine with The New Lion on 9/4 for the Skeltons and the other Mullins Poniros adds value on 14/1.
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