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Heavy snow has arrived at Cheltenham (Image: PA)
The opening day of the did not disappoint, and the stage has been set for another sensational day of racing today in the unlikeliest of ways – . The drama of yesterday’s will still be fresh on the minds of punters still, and those on the very popular 7/1 accumulator (Kopek Des Bordes, Majborough, Lossiemouth and Constitution Hill) will be hoping for more luck today – and they may need a helping hand from .
Willie Mullins heads into day two with a strong hand, with Final Demand and Ballyburn both proving popular this morning. Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon remains well-supported in the Champion Chase too, in what would prove a very popular winner. Express Sport takes you through all of the action on course…
Cheltenham Festival Day One recap
Before we take a look at today’s action, let’s look back at what was a memorable opening day of the meeting…
Kopek Des Bordes landed the opener in style for favourite backers in the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at odds of 4/6, with William Munny back in second for the Barry Connell team.
The popular 7/1 accumulator then came down at the second hurdle after Majborough’s poor round of jumping may have cost him the Arkle. After trading at 300/1, Jango Baie (5/1) flew home in the final furlong to land the spoils to capitalise on the favourite’s mistake at the second-last.
Lucinda Russell then built on her impressive record in the Ultima thanks to a brilliant front-running performance from Myretown, who was gambled in from 12/1 to 13/2 favourite before the off.
Lossiemouth (4/6) then cruised to victory in the Mares’ Hurdle with ease, and it took just forty minutes before questions were asked about whether connections made the right call given how she was previously being aimed at the Champion Hurdle.
The mare would have had a great chance of winning the main event given how the race fell apart when Constitution Hill fell at the fifth and Brighterdaysahead emptied coming onto the home straight. State Man then fell at the last when the race was at his mercy to allow Golden Ace to sweep home at odds of 25/1 for a remarkable success.
Joseph O’Brien then landed the Fred Winter with Puturhandstogether (17/2) before Haiti Couleurs (7/2) stayed on well to win the National Hunt Challenge Cup under a confident ride from Ben Jones.
Snow has arrived at Cheltenham
After a dry few weeks at Cheltenham, there was always bound to be drama on the weather front.
However, few could have expected the twist to come in the shape of snow.
It has been all of this morning and it has laid lightly, though it is expected to ease sooner rather than later. It remains to be seen how it affects the going, we’ll keep an eye…
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Good morning!
Good morning and welcome to Express Sport’s Cheltenham Festival day two blog. Yesterday provided plenty of drama, and today’s action looks set to be equally as exciting.
After Constitution Hill’s fall in the Champion Hurdle yesterday, Nicky Henderson will be bidding for redemption when Jonbon takes to the track for the Champion Chase at 16.00 – in what would be a long overdue win for the gelding.
Willie Mullins will be hoping to kickstart the day in style before that though, with Final Demand and Ballyburn both heading the market in the opening two races.