Wednesday was a mixed day with 2 out of 4 favourites winning. Bob Olinger won the opener the Ballymore Novices Hurdle by 7 1/2 lengths from Gaillard Du Mesnil while the other favourite to win was Monkfish who made it 7 victory's on the bounce taking the Brown Advisory Novices Chase by 6 1/2 lengths. The 2 favourites who didn't win were Chacun Pour Soi who finished 3rd in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Kilcruit who was 2nd to Sir Gerard in the Champion Bumper.
Cheltenham continues on Thursday with three Grade one's on the card,1.20 sees 8 line-up for the Marsh Novices Chase. The standout horse in the field is definitely Envoi Allen who made it 11 wins in a row and 3 out of 3 over fences when he easily won a grade 3 novice chase at Punchestown in January. He has won a race at the last two festivals and will be hard to beat here. The main challenger could be Shan Blue who completed a hat-trick of wins over fences in the grade 1 Kauto Star Novices Chase at Kempton on Boxing day and showed similar form when a 3 3/4 length second to Sporting John in the Scilly Isles Novices Chase at Sandown when last seen in early February. The others who will fight for the minor places are Chatham Street Lad and Asterion Forlonge but this is definitely Envoi Allen's race. At 2.30 14 start the Ryanair Chase. Allaho looked back on track when beating Elimay by 3 lengths in the Kinloch Brae at Thurles at the end of January,he has finished 3rd in races at the last two festivals and is a major player here. Last year's winner Min goes again he won the John Durkan at Punchestown in December but a rare poor run in the Dublin Chase where he was pulled up just before the 8th at Leopardstown last month means he needs to bounce back and he should as he defends his crown. The other two in with a shot are Imperial Aura and Mister Fisher in another highly competitive race. The final grade one on Thursday comes at 3.05 when 15 begin the Paddy Power Stayers Hurdle. Paisley Park is the leading staying hurdler a point underlined by his strong finish to win the Long Walk Hurdle by a neck at Ascot in December and he will be the one to beat as he looks to regain his crown after winning this race in 2019. Sire Du Berlais won the Pertemps final at last year's festival and the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan in November, he always runs well at Cheltenham and is a danger. Lisnagar Oscar won this race 12 months ago and looked back to his best when second to Third Wind in the Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock in February and he shouldn't be ruled out. There is one more day left and my preview of that will be up on Thursday night.
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