Cheltenham 2026 preview: Day 2
11th March 2026
Tuesday didn’t disappoint at Cheltenham as Lossiemouth secured her place among the greats with a fourth festival victory. It was a career-best from Willie Mullins’ mare, who takes her overall record to 14-18 and through the £1m prize money marker.
On the tipping front, it was a solid opening day – with the nap Old Park Star (15/8) and Johnnywho (18/1) both winning. Will The Wise (10/1), Zurich (10/1) and Leave Of Absence (20/1) all placed.
There was a significant bias on Tuesday as almost every race was won by prominently-ridden horses. That’s a nod towards good ground; Cheltenham can be a very hard track to peg front-runners back when it quickens up and that’s how it seemed to ride. It will be interesting to see how much water they put on overnight.
Wednesday looks far more competitive than it usually does, with 10 or more runners in every single race (at the time of writing).
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Good luck for the second day.
1:20 Turners Novices’ Hurdle
The biggest field (22 runners) that I can ever recall for this race, which is perennially my favourite of the festival.
We’re looking for Champion Hurdle types here; speed horses win this race year after year and defeat the slower, staying chasers of the future.
With such a big field, we may get a more surprising result than we’ve been accustomed to (Only 2 of the past 14 winners retuned at odds greater than 9/2) so I’m willing to roll the dice at bigger prices.
Paul Nicholls’ No Drama This End heads the market and is all the rage. He has a really nice profile and fits a lot of trends, but to my eye he is the classic embryonic three-mile chaser of the future that we’re looking to avoid in this race, and at the prices, he’s passed over.
Nicky Henderson runs Act Of Innocence and he too has a nice profile. But Nicholls and Henderson are a combined 1-31 in this contest and at the likely odds, it’s enough for me to focus on the Irish challenge.
The one that appeals most is SORTUDO.
He looks a really speedy type and he should be well suited by this test. It looked to me as if he came to win his race at Naas, before getting stuck in the mud and outstayed by the reopposing I’ll Sort That. I think he can reverse that form on this better ground and go close.
Another Mullins runner, KING RASKO GREY is also included. He’s another that may well improve for this better ground and looks all about speed.
We’re being blessed with big odds everywhere here, so a saver will also be applied to Gordon Elliott’s SKYLIGHT HUSTLE.
Dan Skelton’s Bossman Jack possesses a huge engine but needs to jump better. Ballyfad and the aforementioned I’ll Sort That look like stayers in the making.
Wide open stuff.
2:00 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase
One of the strongest trends races at the festival but there’s no absolute clearcut qualifier so we’ll have to make some exceptions.
The one I’ve liked for this for some time is KAID D’AUTHIE and he’s the pick.
He really impressed me at Leopardstown in what’s traditionally a good trial, and I’m not sure I buy into any excuses for Final Demand, who finished third that day. The selection galloped and jumped for fun, and he has the right sort of profile for this (although I’m making allowances for his age, and French breds have struggled in recent years).
The other selection is WENDIGO who looks an old fashioned type who used to do so well in this contest. He ticks a lot of the key criteria and looks straightforward. He should run well.
Western Fold is worth a second look at bigger odds.
Gordon Elliott’s other runner Romeo Coolio heads the market but he has a lot to overcome; not least his trainer’s record in the race (0-11 since 2011) and the fact that Drinmore winners are 0-10 in recent times.
2:40 BetMGM Cup
A different sponsor but the same minefield.
Pay your money and take your chance.
It’s extremely unoriginal but STORM HEART looks the right favourite to me and has a good trends profile.
I’ll cover JINGKO BLUE and KOPECK DE MEE (all win only) in such a large field.
Good luck.
3:20 Cross Country Handicap Chase
STUMPTOWN defied a mark of 157 to dot up in this contest last year, and he is probably still competitive off today’s mark of 162.
This ground won’t hold any fears and he could go around this course with a blindfold on. He looks a fair price considering the nuances of the race.
There have been a multitude of repeat winners of this race and Gavin Cromwell’s admirable runner can join that list.
4:00 Champion Chase
Are you with Majborough or against him?
He clearly sets the standard here and a repeat of his Leopardstown win will be enough to win. But he faces very different conditions.
Firstly, the ground will ride much quicker than it did in Ireland. They’re bouncing off this surface and Majborough’s two career-high wins have come with plenty of give underfoot (2024 Triumph was heavy ground and Leopardstown was soft).
Secondly, he faces competition for the lead. Quilixios only has one way of running, and the novice Irish Panther (respected) also runs freely. Saint Segal often leads too and is a keen-going sort.
Now consider his price – a touch of odds-on. And consider this – Defi Du Seuil (2/5), Chacun Pour Soi (8/13), Douvan (2/9), Shishkin (5/6), El Fabiolo (2/9) and Jonbon (5/6) were all beaten at odds-on in this very race.
Strange things can happen in the Champion Chase – it’s the fastest-run 2m chase of the season and the slightest chink in your armour will be brutally exposed. Simply on value grounds, it’s worth chancing bigger-priced horses.
Stablemate Il Etait Temps has won six Grade 1 races and is certainly no back number, but he’s been here three times before and never troubled the judge. It’s hard to think that suddenly this track will play to his strengths.
As such, we’re left with L’EAU DU SUD as the selection.
He’ll arrive fresh and that’s a positive – Skelton seems to have found the key to him and it’s unequivocally to arrive off a break.
He did that at Cheltenham in November and walloped Jonbon by 15 lengths – form which doesn’t look too bad at all now. He’s 2-3 over fences around here and may well be 3-3 if he’d been fresher in last year’s Arkle, where he travelled like the best horse for a long way (including against Majborough).
The favourite may well go and win, but I’d rather take a chance in the unique conditions of this contest.
4:40 Grand Annual
There’s no getting away from JAZZY MATTY (NAP) who has a wonderful profile in his attempt to follow up victory in this race last year.
He’s a real Cheltenham specialist (won the Fred Winter in 2023 and this race in 2025) and he may well add a third festival success. He looks to have been trained to the minute for this contest and a recent breathing operation also looks significant.
INTHEPOCKET, a former Grade 1 hurdle winner, catches the eye off 146 – JP McManus has a good record in this contest. He’s added as cover.
Ballysax Hank is worth a second look of those at bigger odds.
5:20 Champion Bumper
Not my kind of race.
I thought that IT’S ONLY A GAME was poorly placed at Leopardstown last time out and was probably value for better than his fourth place finish. He can do better this time if ridden more prominently.
His conqueror that day, BROADWAY TED, can also be covered. The ground is a concern for him but his dam won on good to firm so there is hope that he may be OK on the prevailing surface.
Interestingly, the two selections are the two top-rated horses in the race, but both trade at 16/1 apiece.
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