Our form expert has tipped 11/1 and 15/2 winners in his last two Verdict columns and he has four selections for day one of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
The Verdict: Tuesday March 10
1pt win Kargese in 14:00 Cheltenham at 5/1 (General)
1pt win Steel Ally in 14:00 Cheltenham at 14/1 (William Hill, Unibet)
1pt e.w. Mino Des Mottes in 14:40 Cheltenham at 25/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt win Quebecois in 15:20 Cheltenham at 10/1 (General)
Mullins aims to dominate on day one
Willie Mullins could have the bookies running for cover again on day one of the Cheltenham Festival with Mighty Park, Kopek Des Bordes and Lossiemouth set to be a popular treble.
It’s great to see Lossiemouth finally given the chance to win a Unibet Champion Hurdle, as she bids to take her Festival record to four from four, and her very presence in the field looks an indication that she is coming good in the spring once more.
The drying ground, officially Good to Soft, is one to monitor as we get race times through on Tuesday, but we know she loves the better conditions and if the cheekpieces help her travel sweetly at this trip I think she’s the one they all have to beat.
With The New Lion well respected, the market looks to have cornered on the right horses in the Champion Hurdle and I feel the same about the opening Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, too.
Old Park Star sets a lofty standard and his chief rival that could be anything is Mighty Park, so it’s little wonder those two, as well as the one proven Grade 1 winner in the field, Talk The Talk, dominate the betting.
Taking on the Arkle big guns
The one Grade 1 race that I want to take a swing at on day one is the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy as there are question marks over the market leaders in this.
Kopek Des Bordes is an exciting prospect, but the Mullins charge has had one chase start 113 days ago and that makes him a different kettle of fish to the other once-raced chasers who won this race, Well Chief and Western Warhorse, who had at least run over fences in the same calendar year prior to their Arkle wins.
We know he’s a keen-going sort anyway, so there has to be a chance he over-races in the early stages while Lulamba is arguably at the other end of the scale.
He’ll likely be going out in trip as he gains more experience over fences and I do think concerns about him not getting into the best rhythm early could be valid on this track, so I want to take the pair on.
Mullins’ second string KARGESE is the obvious one to take advantage if the big two do fluff their lines and I think she’s a very fair price at 5/1.
A runner-up to Majborough in the Triumph and a County Hurdle winner last season, she has some serious Festival form to her name and she looks like she’s going to make an even better chaser judging by her last two efforts.
Too classy for inferior rivals on yielding ground at Leopardstown over Christmas, she ran a great race in the Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival, jumping really well as she looked all set to beat Romeo Coolio before that rival ground his way to the front in the soft conditions.
It was to Kargese’s great credit that she refused to be brushed aside by him and rallied to get within a neck, and with Gordon Elliott’s horse all set for the Brown Advisory, she represents that form here.
It’s a race that is traditionally an invaluable guide to the Arkle and on ground she’ll love with her 7lb mares’ allowance in tow, she can put it up to all of them under Danny Mullins.
However, I also want Sam Thomas’ STEEL ALLY on side at 14/1.
Three from three over fences, he’s been a revelation since switched to chasing in a tongue-tie and only Lulamba has achieved more than him over fences in pure form terms.
He’s open to more improvement and looks set to be ideally positioned here just off the leader, while he’s got both two-mile pace and stays further.
I think the track and stiff finish will suit him well and he seems to be underestimated in part due to the drying ground, but he’s got plenty of form on such conditions and I don’t see it as a negative at all.
His sire, Doctor Dino, could be stallion of the week when we tot up these things at the end and his progeny have a fantastic record on better ground, so conditions look a positive for all of his runners (Steel Ally, Madara and Zurich) on day one.
The Verdict: Back KARGESE and STEEL ALLY in the 14.00 Cheltenham
Eeny meeny Mino go!
I’ve no interest in taking on the Emmet Mullins plot job Backmersackme in the National Hunt Chase and the Plate has a very different feel to it this year now switched to the Old Course on day one.
That leaves the Fred Winter and the Ultima and in the former, officially titled the McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, we have Saratoga for Padraig Roche who won this race for JP McManus with Brazil four years ago.
He was an ex-Aidan O’Brien trained juvenile just like this one and Saratoga looks to be learning with each run, which bodes well when it comes to predicted improvement from the McManus-owned son of Camelot.
He’s favourite, though, and in a crazy 22-runner race full of potential improvers from all angles I’d rather have an each-way bet on something at a bigger price.
And with Saratoga firmly in mind, MINO DES MOTTES is worth an each-way interest at 25s.
His trainer Willie Mullins was worried he might not get in, but he has made the cut at the foot of the weights and the son of It’s Gino is dead interesting.
A winner of a French AQPS bumper over a mile and a half on good to soft ground (at 50/1), that suggests he might well have the pace for this assignment and the runner-up that day, Magic Bede, came out and won a hurdle at Pau.
Bought by Gigginstown, Mino Des Mottes needed three hurdles runs to qualify for the Fred Winter and he had them all in the space of five weeks at Punchestown between New Year’s Eve and February 4, suggesting this was always the ideal target.
He was sent off 7/4 favourite to win his stable debut against 7/2 Saratoga and he had the legs of him for much of that contest before weakening late on, while he was beaten just four lengths by the Roche-trained horse off level weights (he gets a 4lb pull here) at the line.
Less than two weeks later he was short of room in fifth and then last time he ran a cracker against his elders when second to stablemate Too Bossy For Us, in a race where he switched between rivals to challenge and should’ve learnt plenty.
He’ll stay further, but the nature of this race could be perfect for him at this stage of his career and at 25/1 he’s worth a speculator.
The Verdict: Back MINO DES MOTTES in the 14.40 Cheltenham
Get in the Que in the Ultima
Finally, back Paul Nicholls’ QUEBECOIS in the Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase.
I’ve had Ben Pauling’s Handstands in mind for this for a while, but I do think he’d prefer softer ground and with the drying conditions in mind I’ve come back around to Quebecois.
He’s the most unexposed chaser in the race after just four starts (along with Jane Williams’ Knight Of Allen) and it was noticeable Nicholls was so keen to get him qualified for this he had to run him over an unsuitable trip at Newbury last time.
You can put a line through that, it was simply a necessity to get him in this race, and he ran a cracker on his previous start at Cheltenham in the always-informative Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase on Trials Day where he was a nose second to Jordans Cross.
He jumped great on the front end that day and it was a clear pointer to his claims here, while the combination of 3m1f and better ground could be the catalyst for further improvement judging by his best hurdles form.
There aren’t too many with something up their sleeve in this, but he is the obvious one, and while the quartet at the top of the weights deserve plenty of respect they could be vulnerable to something lurking towards the bottom of the handicap.
Quebecois could well be that horse.
The Verdict: Back QUEBECOIS in the 15.20 Cheltenham
Preview posted at 15:45 GMT on 09/03/26
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