Cheltenham: open meeting starts today

Cheltenham´ s 3-day Open Meeting, which starts today, is the best fixture of the early part of the N.H. season and today´s card, while not as good as tomorrow´s, still offers 6 highly competitive events with good betting opportunities. The card opens with a handicap chase over 3 miles for amateur riders at 14.10 CET. The lightly-raced Time for Spring (Charlie Longsdon/ Sam Waley-Cohen) is our choice here, although the improving Irish challenger Barel of Laughs (Jim Culloty/ MrJT Carroll) and course pecialist Pigeon Island (Nigel Twiston-Davies/ Derek O´Connor) both look dangerous. Then follows a 2 mile handicap chase at 14.45 with numerous Cheltenham specialists and several runners who have been competing in top company, such as Crack Away Jack (Paul Nicholls/ Paul Nicholls/ Ruby Walsh), having his first run since leaving Emma Lavelle, and I´msingingtheblues (David Pipe/ Tom Scudamore), who is however on a long losing run. Oh Crick (Alan King/ Robert Thornton) is another on e for the short list, while the German-bred bottom weight Bocciani (Brian Ellison/ Will Kennedy) has won 5 races this year, but has never met such hot opposition.

The cross country race at 15.20 sees the return to his favourite course of Garde Champetre (Enda Bolger/ Nina Carberry), an abolute CD specialist who has been first or second in this for the past 3 years. Theoretically he must win this, as he has17 lbs in hand according to official ratings, but we would not be surprised to see another Irish runner Uncle Junior (Willie and Paddy Mullins) make a race of it.The Grade 2 novice hurdle at 15.55 is one of the day´s highlights and features several contenders who will be running at the Festival. Steps to Freedom (Jessica Harrington/ Robbie Power), a smart flat horse who has also won his last 2 hurdles starts, is an obvious candidate, but so is Ericht (Nicky Henderson/ Barry Geraghty), not seen out since starting fevourite and finishing 6th in the Champion Bumper here, and Prospect Wells (Paul Nicholls/ Daryl Jacob), one of the many Howard Johnson horses owned by Graham Wylie that have moved to the champion trainer. Our suggestion is Ohio Gold (Colin and Joe Tizzard) each-way in a very tricky event.

Even trickier is the handicap hurdle for conditional jockeys at 16.30 with 24 runners. Our 3 against the field are Enfant de Luxe (Pipe/ Conor O´Farrell),an easy winner at Sandown last week, the German-bred Kayef (Michael Scudamore/ John Kington) and the mare Kelles Bells (Henderson/ David Bass) but almost anything is possible here. Finally the most-eagerly awaited race of the day is the novice chase over 2 1/2 miles at 17.05. Zaynar (Nick Williams/ Tony McCoy) was third in the 2010 Champion Hurdle, but his form tailed off afterwards. However he should be in the shake-up but the two principals here are Cue Card (father and son Tizzard) and Grands Crus (Pipe/ Scudamore). Both look destined for high honours, and we just prefer the Pipe runner, who ran badly in France in the summer, but in the U.K. has only ever been beaten by the outstanding Big Bucks in the last 21 months.