What’s on?
One of the best sporting weeks of the year kicks off with the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, with two Champions League fixtures following later in the evening.
The main events
1. Cheltenham Festival: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1.30)
2. Cheltenham Festival: Arkle Chase (2.10)
3. Cheltenham Festival: Champion Hurdle (3.30)
4. Cheltenham Festival: Mares’ Hurdle (4.10)
5. Champions League: Leicester City v Sevilla (7.45)
Tuesday highlights
Cheltenham, quite rightly, dominates proceedings this week, and the Festival kicks off with Champion Day on Tuesday (TV3, ITV, 1.0-4.30).
The highlight of the racing calendar begins with the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1.30). Willie Mullins has won three of the last four renewals of the race and has the favourite this year in the form of Melon. The five-year-old has a solitary hurdles run to his name but arrives at Cheltenham with a lofty reputation and is the pick of Ruby Walsh.
Next sees last year's Supreme winner Altior run in the Arkle Trophy (2.10), and the star of Nicky Henderson's stable arrives at Prestbury Park as one of two Festival dead-certs, along with last year's Arkle winner , the brilliant Douvan.
What is likely to be a procession for Altior is followed by the first of the week's handicaps, the Ultima Chase (2.50), with the Tom George-trained Singlefarmpayment a warm favourite to score under Adrian Heskin.
Next up is the day's feature race, and one of the most open Champion Hurdle's of recent memory (3.30). Mullins and Walsh memorably won the race last year with the magnificent mare Annie Power but have a weaker hand this year in the shape of Footpad and Wicklow Brave - leaving Henry de Bromhead's Petit Mouchoir to lead the Irish challenge.
One race Mullins is likely to bag is the Mares' Hurdle (4.10), having won the last eight renewals of the race. He has the two market leaders on Tuesday in the form of last year's winner, the incredibly versatile Vroum Vroum Mag, and Limini - who is the choice of Walsh. The Gordon Elliott-trained Apple's Jade is a strong third-favourite but the winner is likely to be wearing the pink silks of Rich Ricci.
With the Grade Ones over for the day attention then turns to the National Hunt Chase, with Joesph O'Brien's Edwulf and Noel Meade's A Genie In A Bottle (4.50) difficult to split at the top of the market.
And finally the day comes to a close with the Close Brothers Novices' Chase (5.30), an open looking handicap in which Nigel Twiston-Davies's Foxtail Hill heads the betting.
After the racing is finished and you’ve cashed your winning dockets there’s Champions League football to enjoy, with Leicester City looking to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit at home to Sevilla (TV3, BT Sport 2, 7.45). Craig Shakespeare will be at the helm for the Foxes, with Claudio Ranieri sacked shortly after their first leg defeat.
And in the nigh’t other fixture the mighty Juventus welcome Porto to Turin with a two-goal cushion from the opening leg (BT Sport 3, Eir Sport 1, 7.45).
Any tips?
Throughout Cheltenham week Betfair columnist Tony Keenan will be tipping up his Festival selections, and you can read his first offering here.
Both he and our racing correspondent Brian O'Connor are very warm on Ultima favourite Singlefarmpayment, who currently heads the market at 15/2.
