Straight into the notebook? JP McManus snaps up two Cheltenham Festival favourites

The Cheltenham Festival is fast approaching and owner JP McManus has been busy preparing his challenge. It’s no surprise that he has purchased two ante-post favourites less than a week before it kicks off. This is certainly an eye-catching piece of news however and both horses have been hot topics on the preview circuit. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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Ultima Handicap Chase

The Willie Mullins-trained Meetingofthewaters was the first purchase and he could be the trainer’s first handicap chase winner at the Festival. Currently ante-post favourite for the Ultima Handicap Chase, he was a good winner at Leopardstown over Christmas.

A British handicap mark of 147 isn’t exactly a freebie on the evidence of his form so far but he’s lightly raced over fences and is entitled to continue progressing. His latest run at Leopardstown was a non-event as he unseated at the first fence. Plenty of people are expecting big things here and further improvement seems likely.

Festival Challenge Cup

Its On The Line currently heads the market for the race formerly known as the Foxhunters’. Emmet Mullins’ seven-year-old is unbeaten in three starts so far this season and has narrowly beaten two of his main market rivals. He couldn’t be in better form coming into this and he looks very dangerous.

Second in the race last year, he’s more experienced now and appears to have improved. This suggests he’s got a favourite’s chance of going one better this time around. You can certainly see why McManus has bought the horse and he could be competitive in this race for years to come.

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