#Patrick Neville

What a week it has been! The racing has been phenomenal, the weather largely clear and most crucially of all, fans were back where they belong on the terraces. Cheltenham felt like it was truly back this week as a result. See you in 2023! It's the seventh Irish-trained winner from seven races on Friday! Mark McDonagh did an excellent job steering…

The entries for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup have this week been announced, with A Plus Tard in the mix to defend his crown for Henry De Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore. Last year, Blackmore and the then seven year old were favourites going into the race and won in stunning fashion with 2021 winner Minella Indo second and Protektorat third. The duo…

Monmiral: the likely favourite for Paul Nicholls Weighing up Graded novice chases in the middle portion of the season has its unique challenges. Who do you side with: horses who have shown the most promise in their nascent chasing careers or those who have a generally larger body of work over hurdles which may not be as relevant? There is no…

Bookmakers seem to run for cover whenever Emmet Mullins and Paul Byrne combine for a top handicap in Britain and the layers are taking no chances with Thousand Tears in the Greatwood. Byrne had a 35 per cent strike-rate over jumps in Britain in the last five seasons before the start of racing on Saturday and Thousand Tears shares a similar profile…

With the Tingle Creek in three weeks one of the few remaining genuine championship races run in Britain before March, the stakes are higher than usual in the two-mile chases at this time of year. Greaneteen will be defending champion at Sandown and also the leader in the clubhouse after his mighty handicap performance in last week's Haldon Gold…

Pentland Hills (right) competing in the 2019 International Hurdle Early-season novice chases don't get much better than this. All bar outsider Fusain were rated 140-plus over hurdles and Pentland Hills is a Grade 1 winner in that discipline. Cheltenham is a tough place to jump and only six horses have made a successful debut over fences at the…

Rachael Blackmore can make history and win her first Cheltenham Gold Cup riding A Plus Tard. Henry De Bromhead's chaser, second last year, was extremely impressive in the Betfair Chase at the start of the season. He was then pipped by Galvin, when Blackmore probably hit the front a little sooner than ideal against a strong stayer, at…