Cheltenham Festival 2022 – day one preview and tips

The opening day of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival takes centre-stage at Prestbury Park on Tuesday afternoon with a card that features the Champion Hurdle.

We have previewed the action with our race by race guide and make sure to check out the latest odds

1.30pm Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2m)

A brilliant contest to look forward to with Nicky Henderson’s brilliant novice hurdlers Constitution Hill and Jonbon doing battle. Constitution Hill is unbeaten in two starts under Rules and impressed when powering to a facile victory in Grade One company at Sandown last time out. Jonbon is a brother of the mighty Douvan and is unbeaten in four starts under Rules. Willie Mullins has three contenders including Dysart Dynamo who has won his three starts this term along with Kilcruit who remains a fascinating runner and debut winner Bring On The Night. Grade One scorer Mighty Potter, Shallwehaveonemore, Silent Revolution and JPR One complete the nine runners.

Selection: Constitution Hill

2.10pm Arkle Novices’ Chase (2m)

Edwardstone is a leading player for the British team. He has won his last four starts over fences and impressed at Warwick last time out. Blue Lord and Riviere D’etel were first and second in the Irish Arkle and both are deeply respected, along with the unexposed Haut En Couleurs. Saint Sam, Coeur Sublime and Brave Seasca are others to note.

Selection: Blue Lord

2.50pm Ultima Handicap Chase (3m 1f)

Lots in with a chance in this event. Frodon is a fascinating runner off top-weight given his previous Grade One winning form at the track, whilst Lostintranslation has to be respected given he is a former Gold Cup third. Does He Know arguably is the one to beat having already won at the track this term and impressing at Ascot last time out. The likes of Discordantly, Death Duty, Fantastikas and previous winner Vintage Clouds are also considered along with Full Back who is another winner at the track this term.

Selection: Does He Know

3.30pm Champion Hurdle (2m)

This is all about Honeysuckle. Unbeaten in 14 starts under Rules, she is already a dual Cheltenham Festival winner and impressed when landing this contest 12 months ago. She is very tough to oppose in this event, which also features previous winner Epatante and Appreciate It who makes his seasonal debut 364 days after landing the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Teahupoo is progressing with every run and is also considered along with Tommy’s Oscar.

Selection: Honeysuckle

4.10pm Mares’ Hurdle (2m 4f)

Telmesomethinggirl was successful at this meeting last term and is deeply respected. Stormy Ireland impressed in the Relkeel at Cheltenham last time out and has to enter proceedings along with Burning Victory and Queens Brook who were first and second at Fairyhouse last term. Mrs Milner, Heaven Help Us and Indefatigable are all former winners at the Cheltenham Festival and also have to be of interest.

Selection: Telmesomethinggirl

4.50pm Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (2m)

Gaelic Warrior is yet to run in Britain or Ireland. A mark of 129 could be interesting for the French import, but there are a host of unexposed runners including last time out winners HMS Seahorse, Brazil and Saint Segal. Other interesting runners are The Tide Turns, Sea Sessions and Ebasari. Champion Green is another interesting contender, but preference is for the aforementioned The Tide Turns who won well on debut for Gordon Elliott, before finishing fourth in two graded events.

Selection: The Tide Turns

5.30pm Ukraine Appeal National Hunt Chase (3m 6f)

A cracking event to look forward to. Stattler is deeply respected for Willie and Patrick Mullins, but has only run twice over fences. Vanillier was a winner of the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle last term and deserves respect, but Run Wild Fred has the services of Jamie Codd and backed up victory in a competitive handicap at Navan with a good second in Grade One company at Leopardstown last time out.

Selection: Run Wild Fred

You may also like to read