English/Ire
King’s best bets - 10th March 2026
Sam King is back with four selections on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.
It's finally here. The 2026 Cheltenham Festival gets underway this afternoon and what a week of action we have instore.
Whilst we need to remember that this week is a marathon and not a sprint, there are certainly a few tasty wagers to be had on the opening day.
Everyone will be looking to kick off the week with a winner and I'm no different to everybody else. Willie Mullins hasn't been shy of talking up the imposing Mighty Park as he steps straight into Grade 1 company on the back of facile maiden hurdle success but he's weak in the early markets and I'm going to side with Nicky Henderson to get team GB off a flyer.
The Lambourn-based maestro has saddled the likes of Altior to beat Min in this contest, while former Champion Hurdle hero Constitution Hill strutted his stuff here in 2022 and Shishkin landed the prize two years prior.
Henderson certainly knows what it takes to win a Supreme and his latest challenger, Old Park Star, looks to tick plenty of boxes. He seems to have the perfect blend of speed and stamina and with Henderson also having Act Of Innoncence, who carries the same colours of Gordon and Su Hall, going in the two-and-a-half-mile novice the following day, it's surely an indication that he believes this horse has the toe to deal with a contest like this.
A striking son of Well Chosen, Old Park Star lines up here as the only course winner in the field having plundered a novices' hurdle by twelve lengths earlier in the campaign. That success came on the New Course but the switch to the old course should only be in his favour, while the courses decision to move the final flight of hurdles, meaning races will have the longest run-in since 2009, will surely bring out his staying power over this trip.
He followed up that Cheltenham success with a facile win in Grade 2 company at Haydock and whilst Joseph O'Brien's Grade 1 hero Talk The Talk and the speedy El Cairos need to be respected, they might just lack that x-factor that Old Park Star potentially possesses.
Old Park Star – 1pt Win
Odds – 5/2
The best bet in the handicaps must be Jagwar, who has been screaming out for three miles plus, which he finally gets in the Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase (3.20).
JP McManus will be looking for a present on his 75th birthday and I'm confident that Jagwar, who also gets the services of Mark Walsh, can deliver for the boys in gold and green.
A commanding winner of the Plate here twelve months ago, he's been unlucky not to score in two subsequent outings back here, finishing an eye-catching third in the December Gold Cup before going down by a head to one getting plenty of weight in January.
He's been kept back for the Festival ever since and whilst a mark of 152 will clearly demand more, Oli Greenall and Josh Guerriero's seven-year-old smacks of a Graded horse in a handicap now stepping up in trip.
Jagwar – 1pt Win
Odds – 4/1
The McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (2.40), more commonly known as the Fred Winter, often throws up a smart performer and as usual, there are a whole host of horses that deserve plenty of respect.
Manlaga and Mustang du Breuil both need to be considered for the Henderson team but I'm hoping that Dan Skelton's recruit The Mighty Celt has been flying under the radar.
He was third behind the reopposing Manlaga on his stable debut in the Victor Ludorum at Haydock on his stable debut, but having been settled well off the pace, he never really had any chance to get into contention up the straight. However, despite not being asked for maximum effort, you could only be pleased with the way that he kept on to finish third from that uncompromising position.
A former Grade 2 runner-up in France when trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, he's clearly got a decent-sized engine on him, and I wouldn't be surprised if this move to better ground suited given that there's hope from a pedigree side of things.
There are few better in the saddle than Harry Skelton when it comes to delivering one with a late-run in big-field handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival and at general odds of 20/1, he's surely slightly overpriced from an each-way angle.
The Mighty Celt – 0.5pt Each-way
Odds – 20/1
Later on in the Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase (4.40), Down Memory Lane catches the eye once again for team JP McManus.
History dictates you must run to an RPR of 150 plus to win this, which is exactly what Down Memory Lane did when scoring at Navan last time out and you couldn't not be
impressed with the way that he picked up through the field under an uber-confident Jack Kennedy ride.
Formerly sent off just 2/1 to beat L'Eau du Sud in the Grade 1 Betfair Henry VIII Novices' Chase, Gordon Elliott's eight-year-old remains very lightly raced in big-field handicap chases and whilst he's clearly a touch on the fragile side, it's entirely possible that his best days over fences still lie ahead of him.
The British handicapper opted for an 8lb rise for his cosy Navan success and with the prospect of better not expected to pose any issues, he's surely a massive player if turning up in similar form as his latest performance.
Down Memory Lane – 1pt Win
Odds – 10/1
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