It’s arrived – the greatest race meeting on the planet bar none starts this afternoon and my sole objective is to get out the other side with a profit if possible – or at the very least, to minimise losses.
It is always the toughest of calls, with horses arriving in the handicaps with a few pounds up their sleeves (but which ones?), and novice events choc-a-bloc full of recent winners and unbeaten horses open to improvement – a delightful minefield that will keep me burning the midnight oil day after day.
I cannot help myself and feel duty bond to start with the opener, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle over two miles and half a furlong.
The Irish have won this for six of the last 10 runnings though they are up against it in 2026 with Nicky Henderson’s Old Park Star dominating the early betting, and I have to be honest and tell you this may not be the strongest ever renewal by some margin.
Once again we walk into that difficult balancing act of favourites (who head the market for good reason) and value (by definition, less likely to win) and although I would love nothing more than a British winner, on this occasion I have come down on the side of El Cairos for the Gordon Elliott stable.
Already being spoken of as a serious Champion Hurdle contender for 2027, the £410,000 purchase fell at Leopardstown when looking the likeliest winner on Boxing Day and toyed with his opposition at Thurles last time out.
His bumper form is out of the top drawer, and although I am wary of his jumping letting him down here as well, if he learned from his experiences he looks booked for the first three home, with the Willie Mullins trained Mighty Park expected to try to make all and set the race up perfectly for him.
Daily Sport Recommended Bet 1/2pt Each Way El Cairos 1.20pm Cheltenham 8/1 most bookmakers