A look at possible Irish winners at this years Cheltenham festival

TUESDAY

SUPREME NOVICES HURDLE

Clopf (E O'Grady)10-1

De Valira (M O'Brien)6-1

Hide The Evidence (J Harrington)8-1

Kalderon (T Hogan)16-1

Orbit O'Gold (N Meade)20-1

Rindoon (E Sheehy)25-1

Tipperary All-Star (M Halford)20-1

Wins Now (N Madden)14-1

Verdict: A good start can be half the battle at Cheltenham when it comes to relating novice form, and this looks the easier of the two big novice hurdles.

De Valira is highly regarded, but how much he will find up the hill is debatable. Clopf is a very slick jumper, while Wins Now is a fast improver and will relish testing conditions. Watch out for Granit Jack in the home team.

ARKLE TROPHY

Gemini Lucy (J Harrington)16-1

Vintage Treasure (C Byrnes)40-1

Verdict: Gemini Lucy ran an encouraging race behind Nickname at Naas on her return, but this looks one for the home team, possibly with Don't Push It.

CHAMPION HURDLE

Al Eile (J Queally)50-1

Asian Maze (T Mullins)16-1

Brave Inca (C Murphy)7-2

Harchibald (N Meade)10-1

Hardy Eustace (D Hughes)4-1

Iktitaf (N Meade)16-1

Jazz Messenger (N Meade)20-1

Sublimity (J Carr)16-1

Verdict: The past winners, Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace, set the standard, and the favourite Detroit City could just struggle to match it. A strict reading of the AIG form gives Hardy Eustace a third title, but Colm Murphy's horses in general didn't appear to be running to their best in late January and it's a different story now.

Ruby Walsh on board Brave Inca is a plus: the horse has never travelled better than he did for Walsh at Christmas.

WEDNESDAY

NOVICES HURDLE

Aran Concerto (N Meade)2-1

Catch Me (E O'Grady)7-1

Scotsirish (W Mullins)14-1

Verdict: Aran Concerto has carried his trainer's label of "possibly the best I've trained" with panache all winter and is many people's banker of the meeting.

But it would be nice to see the Meade string in better form when it matters most. Catch Me exited through pilot error in the Deloitte. He looked to be going just as well as Aran Concerto at the time and, crucially, is proven in a scrap.

NOVICE CHASE

Cailin Alainn (C Byrnes)7-1

Chelsea Harbour (T Mullins)20-1

Patsy Hall (M Cunningham)16-1

Snowy Morning (W Mullins)10-1

Verdict: Cailin Alainn is a double Grade One winner but took a horrible fall here in January. Chelsea Harbour and Patsy Hall will love soft ground. However, the best of the Irish may be Snowy Morning, who impressed by smoothly beating Gazza's Girl at Navan. Denman, though, will be hard to beat.

CHAMPION CHASE

Justified (E Sheehy)25-1

Newmill (J Murphy)4-1

Nickname (M Brassil)6-1

Verdict: Newmill is the defending champion and is a remarkably versatile horse, while Nickname has to have bog-like conditions. Both have a big task on their hands against a rejuvenated Well Chief. The Pipe horse was part of a holy trinity of top two milers, along with Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop, and, at his best, he has the figures to win.

CHAMPION BUMPER

Aranleigh (A Mullins)10-1

Cork All Star (J Harrington)4-1

Cooldine (W Mullins)16-1

Fiveforthree (W Mullins)10-1

Judge Roy Bean (E O'Grady)14-1

Mad Fish (W Mullins)15-2

Shirley Casper (P Fenton)20-1

Tranquil Sea (E O'Grady)16-1

Verdict: Willie Mullins is the "go-to" trainer in this, having won it five times, but his squad don't appear as intimidating this year. Cork All Star has been the long-time ante-post favourite and Aranleigh is a horse of massive potential. Den Of Iniquity has been impressive in Britain, though, and might even be an appropriately named festival winner.

THURSDAY

WORLD HURDLE

Asian Maze (T Mullins)8-1

Verdict: The star mare is only a possible runner, depending on how she gets on in Tuesday's Champion Hurdle. If she runs, the suspicion remains she will be more of a contender in this than the shorter race.

FRIDAY

TRIUMPH HURDLE

Convincing (J Murphy)20-1

Duty (K O'Brien)18-1

Deutschland (W Mullins)33-1

Financial Reward (W Mullins)20-1

J'y Vole (W Mullins)18-1

Lounaos (E Griffin)3-1

Jayo (W Mullins)33-1

Verdict: Nothing in the race can touch the bare form of Lounaos's AIG effort when chasing up Hardy Eustace, Brave Inca and Macs Joy. It makes her a stand out in a cavalry charge where favourites have a surprisingly good record. And yet Willie Mullins sprang a big-priced surprise in this with Scolardy in 2002 and may well be capable of something similar, maybe with Deutschland, while Katchit is a proven course winner. The dark horse is Mountain, good enough for seventh in the Derby for Aidan O'Brien, and winner of his sole jumps start to date.

CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP

Beef Or Salmon (M Hourigan)20-1

Cane Brake (T Taaffe)16-1

Forget The Past (M O'Brien)16-1

Verdict: So many high-profile defections have turned Gold Cup 2007 into the Kauto Star show. Some will pounce on his jumping as being not worthy of a Gold Cup winner, others see an engine big enough to overcome any mistakes and complete a remarkable season. What the Irish hopes can do is debatable. This will be Beef Or Salmon's fifth attempt at overcoming his apparent loathing of the Cotswolds. So, it's over to Kauto Star.

- Compiled by Brian O'Connor