One major chance for Team Britain on every day of the Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival kicks off next week and it’s sure to be another enthralling four days of action. It would appear that the Irish are set to dominate once again and Willie Mullins in particular. Team Britain won’t want the Irish to have it all their own way and with that in mind, we’ve picked out one major chance for the home team on each day of the Festival. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

Day 1

Chianti Classico is a name that has come up a lot on the Cheltenham Festival preview circuit. Plenty of shrewd judges like the chances of Kim Bailey’s novice in the Ultima Handicap Chase and it’s easy to see why. This big and scopey horse is made for fences and he finished second at Kempton last time out when the stable was out of form. There’s plenty more to come and 143 is an appealing mark.

Day 2

Stay Away Fay won a Grade 1 novice hurdle at the Festival last year and he’s a natural over fences. He’s set to run in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase on Day 2 and has to be a major player. It was a great run in open company last time out and the sprint finish wouldn’t have suited. Paul Nicholls’ gelding won’t be far away and he’s fully capable of winning at this level.

Day 3

Stage Star goes in the Ryanair Chase and is another big chance for Paul Nicholls having won the Turners on the same day last year. This horse has a decent course record and won the Paddy Power Gold Cup on the old course on seasonal debut this year. He made a shuddering mistake that day and did well to stay up. You can put a line through his last run and he’ll be fresh and well for this task.

Day 4

Sir Gino is the one to beat in the Triumph Hurdle which kicks us off on Day 4. He absolutely bolted up in a trial here last time out and that performance is by far the best piece of form on offer. Nicky Henderson’s four-year-old appears to be better than the Irish juveniles on the evidence we’ve seen thus far and he’s probably not one to take on.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.