Day two
G ood afternoon and welcome to the second day of this Cheltenham Festival. And let’s kick off straight away with the big news that hot on the heels of Altior’s defection from the Champion Chase yesterday, unfortunately Chacun Pour Soi has been declared a non-runner due to a vets certificate.
That means what had looked the race of the Festival has now been decimated and leaves what appears to be an open goal for Defi Du Seuil. The Tingle Creek winner is now a 2/5 favorite in a five-horse field. What a shame. That Altior-Chacun-Defi three-way battle looked like fireworks all round. And now we have this. Eurgh.
But let us not dwell as there is plenty else to look forward to. Not so long ago, the Cross County Chase was easily ignored, but not so when Tiger Roll is involved. The double Grand National winner has triumphed four times at this Festival and is bidding to complete a Cross Country hat-trick this afternoon.
Just look at how he won by 90 lengths in this race last year:
W hat a horse and what a story it would be if he triumphed again today. He looks certain to go off an odds-on favorite.
There are a couple of other interesting novice races to kick things off as well. Gordon Elliott’s Envoi Allen is one of the Irish bankers of the week and is a very short price at the head of the market for the Ballymore Hurdle.
The RSA Chase is a fascinating renewal, featuring Champ, Minello Indo and a handful of others with fighting chances.
We’ll have news from all seven races, ending with the Champion Bumper to round things off at 5. 30 pm. Enjoy.
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