Your Ultimate Cheltenham Guide At attheraces.com/cheltenham Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 14:41 | Winning time: 5m 23.4s

Baron De Midleton²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-9| J: B S Hughes| T: B Ellison| OR: 124

4/1

Made a winning return from wind surgery when accounting for the Alan King-trained Perfect Predator at Doncaster (2m½f, soft) in December; lacked fluency when highly tried over 3m at the Musselburgh Cheltenham Trials fixture subsequently.

Form: 661/414

Jour A La Plage³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Adam Wedge| T: Evan Williams

33/1

Ran okay (fourth) on debut in a Chepstow bumper, but hasn't been able to replicate that level of form over hurdles since (0-2); needs plenty more, albeit his trainer/jockey have strong respective records at this County Durham track.

Form: 403

Strong Glance⁴⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-2| J: R Johnson| T: O Murphy| OR: 130

1/5

Hasn't always appeared to be the most straightforward; that said, it's impossible to knock his smooth Market Rasen win (2m2½f, soft); top-rated of this quartet (130); could well be another winner for the returning champion Richard Johnson.

Form: 1055-21

Aphaea⁶⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-9| J: Sean Quinlan| T: M & D Easterby

50/1

Both of her Flat wins came on the AW (Southwell & Wolverhampton); weakened from halfway and eventually pulled-up on hurdles debut (28-1) at Wetherby (2m3½f, soft) on Boxing Day; look elsewhere.

Form: 12-P

Forecasts

Strong Glance (1/5), Baron De Midleton (4/1), Jour A La Plage (33/1), Aphaea (50/1)

The race for the jockeys championship has recommenced with Richard Johnson making a super-human recovery from a broken arm and this low-key novices' hurdle represents another small chapter in the greater battle to defend his crown from the northern challenger Brian Hughes. On the form book, this race should rest between their respective mounts (both previous winners over hurdles) with the smooth Market Rasen scorer STRONG GLANCE favoured over Baron De Midleton.