Cheltenham Festival day 1 guide: Tips, races, results, weather and more

The Tuesday of the Cheltenham Festival is the most anticipated day in the jump racing calendar, as months of preparation and conjecture finally come to a head.

The big race of the day, the Champions Hurdle, has unfortunately lost a key participant in Constitution Hill but there are still plenty of stars ready to light up the opening day of the meeting. 

The meeting begins on Tuesday, March 12. With first of seven races is off at 1.30pm

The first five races of each day of the meeting will be broadcast live free-to-air on ITV1 and on streaming via ITVX. For coverage of the entire card, including the final two races of each, Racing TV is the place to go. 

1.30: Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Best bet: Slade Steel

2.10: Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) 
Best bet: Gaelic Warrior

2.50: Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
Best bet: The Goffer

3.30: Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (Grade 1) 
Best bet: Irish Point e/w

4.10:
Best bet: Telmesomethinggirl

4.50: Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) 
Best bet: Ose Partir 

5.30: National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Novices’ Chase (Grade 2) 
Best bet: Salvador Ziggy

There is the possibility of a few showers on the opening day of the meeting but these should light and sporadic. The temperature will get up to a maximum of 12C.

Mr Vango (National Hunt Chase, 5.30): Won the Devon National by 60 lengths on his last start, definitely stays the trip. Any chinks in the stamina of the good Irish horses, he’ll find them out. His trainer died last week - it’s written in the stars.

Slade Steel (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, 1.30): The opening two races of the meeting are wide open and are enticing punting propsitions with big-names at the head of both markets not running. Gaelic Warrior is temping in the Arkle but Slade Steel looks a tatsy price for the opening race of the meeting – the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. 

He has only been beaten twice under rules, on both occassions by Ballyburn – the red-hot favourite for the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle on Wednesday. He was seven lengths behind Ballyburn at Leopardstown last month and that may well be good enough form to win this race, with others all having questions to answer. 

At around 7/1, he’s an excellent each-way bet to start the meeting.