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OF ALL the four days of the Cheltenham Festival, this has always been my favourite punting and viewing afternoon with a double feature of the Festival Trophy and the Stayers’ Hurdle. Add in some cracking handicaps and one of the biggest betting/big gamble races in the Kim Muir as the finale and you have a brilliant few hours of entertainment.

FACT TO FILE (4.00) has declined to run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup despite having bolted up in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown. The decision appears to reflect a belief among connections that they may already have tomorrow’s big race covered, rather than concerns about him handling the final climb or the extra quarter mile plus of the famous contest.

The gelding was near foot perfect in the race last year and if putting up a similar round of jumping, you could easily see a duplication of last year’s forecast with Heart Wood probably set for second place ahead of Banbridge and Impaire Et Passe. The last named along with Jonbon is a welcome addition to this contest, which looked at one stage to be a walkover. 

Winner of the 2023 Novices’ Hurdle when he saw off Gaelic Warrior, he has been kept away from Cheltenham ever since with his best performance having come in the Grade One Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree. Four from six over fences, he remains open to improvement which is something the other seven runners do not.

The Stayers’ Hurdle is quite obviously a much more open affair and the outcome could be twisted to a certain extent by the amount of rain that falls on the course through this afternoon, with the forecast now expecting the majority of the rain to hit after racing.

If the ground turns dramatically then former champion Teahupoo and Home By the Lee will benefit all to the detriment of the rest of the field and in particular the unexposed pair Kabral Du Mathan and Honesty Policy, both of which definitely wouldn’t want genuinely soft ground. If we do get such a surface I could easily see the first of those not running and waiting for Aintree which was the original plan.

MA SHANTOU (3.20) is indifferent to the ground, has a love affair with the track and readily saw off Impose Toi in the Cleeve Hurdle and remains the percentage call although I will wait until this afternoon for my final wager, if indeed I have one at all.

The Golden Miller Novices’ Chase looks a cracking renewal with Meetmebythesea a big gamble in the past two weeks with the view by his supporters that he will relish the extra half mile, but again with the proviso that he wouldn’t want too much rain. I can’t trust Regent’s Stroll if it becomes a relative test of stamina, so WINGMEN (2.00) gets the each-way vote. He has raced against some of the better novice chasers this term, won’t mind what the ground does and will see out the trip in a fast run race better than most.

Elsewhere, WODHOOH (2.40) should land the Mares’ Hurdle, while the Handicap Hurdle Final at 4.40 is wide open and I have backed two against the field in the form of MINELLA SIXO and massive outsider IKE SPORT. The latter is a huge player if it doesn’t rain too early on before the off time.

Finally, in the Kim Muir have a second look at the claims of MONBEG GENIUS (5.20). The 10-year-old has come down nicely in the weights, now some 6lbs lower than his fair run in the Grand National Trial Handicap Chase at Haydock Park.