Day two of the Cheltenham Festival is here, which means The Coral Cup, The Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase and the Champion Bumper are among the key races to look out for today.
Yesterday saw favourites State Man in the Champion Hurdle and Gaelic Warrior in the Arkle Challenge Trophy steal the headlines, both winning in fanatic style being ridden by Paul Townend.
Sadly we saw two horses pass away, Highland Hunter and Ose Patir both fell in their respected races.
Today starts off with more bad news as the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase has been cancelled due to a water logged track. This has caused races to move forward.
Gallagher Novices Hurdle
The first races now starts at 13:45 pm with Ballyburn being the clear favourite as Willie Mullins looks to achieve his 100th career win. Jimmy Du Seuil will also be a horse to look at each way for a race with eight runners.
Novices’ Steeple Chase
Another favourite tipped to win this one would be Fact To File but Stay Away Fay won’t be an easy push over. This race is now set to start at 14:30 pm.
Coral Cup Hurdle
Now at 15:15 pm, The Coral Cup looks to be an incredibly competitive with Sky Bet paying eight places in a 21 horse race. Shanbally Kid is tipped at a generous 11/1, Langer Dan at 13/2, Ballyadam at 6/1 and current favourite Built By Ballymore at 3/1.
Queen Mother Chase
A front runner tipped by all for the 16:00 pm race would be Mullins’ El Fabiolo at 1/3 who was beat by Jonbon in last year’s Arkle. El Fabiolo looks very tough to beat, looking for a hat-trick of wins in this race. Edwardstone at 6/1 looks to put up a fight, winning the Arkle at the 2022 festival.
Johnny Henderson
Sky Bet look to pay six places in this 16 horse race. We are finally back on time with a 16:50 pm start, with Liberty Hunter favourite at 7/2, winning his last two races.
Weatherbys Champion Bumper
Finally the last race of the day will commence at 17:30 pm and with 21 runners. It seems all up for grabs with a range of young horses. Mullins has eight horses looking to set the track a light with Jasmin De Vaux and Quebecois being the pick out of the bunch. Despite that Gordan Elliot’s Jalon D’oudairies is current favourite at 4/1.
