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WITH an expected 300,000 pints of Guinness expected to be sunk during the four days of the Cheltenham Festival, the place will be rocking especially after last year’s ghost town of an event.

I fancy a pint a day will do for me, but if I can outline just the one bet this afternoon then it simply has to be the Willie Mullins-trained GAELIC WARRIOR (4.50, Nap) in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’s Handicap Hurdle.

Yet to race in Britain or Ireland, he was a very smart hurdler in France splitting two of their very best juveniles there. A handicap mark of 129 could see him thrown in here and I expect he will be racing in graded company after this.

Honeysuckle will quite obviously take a deal of beating as she bids to defend her Champion Hurdle crown at 3.30. Not everyone was convinced by her success in the Irish version at Leopardstown, but she has yet to be beaten. She is the most likely winner, but if you can still get the 16/1 available about EPATANTE when you read this (12/1 would be my lowest acceptable price), then she would be the each-way play against her fellow mare. She hosed up in the Christmas Hurdle and the more the ground dries out the better for her.

The opening Supreme Novices Hurdle at 1.30 looks a cracking renewal despite just the nine set to go to post and we should get a good pace on here with several of these set to be unleashed at the head of affairs. 

Mighty Potter would definitely benefit from a fast pace, while the Mullins pair, Dysart Dynamo and Kilcruit have plenty of untapped potential. Constitution Hill has looked a monster on two starts at Sandown, but to my eyes has beaten very little and the ground will be much quicker here.

That leaves my selection, JONBON, who has at least proved himself a man when coming under pressure when winning at Haydock whereas most of his rivals have yet to visit the trenches. His high cruising speed allied to his turn of foot makes him the play here.

The first handicap of the meeting, the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase (2.50), should see top weight Frodon go well, but third in the Martin Pipe last year, FLOUEUR can reverse recent form with stable mate Death Duty, while I expect a shock in the Arkle Chase (2.10) with the each-way nomination being COEUR SUBLIME who had a nice confidence booster at Gowran Park and can go one better than his second in the 2019 Triumph Hurdle.