2.20 Juvenile Handicap Hurdle
Willie Mullins should get off to a good start with Voix Du Reve, a late faller when close up at the Cheltenham Festival. Paul Nicholls relies on the more exposed Tommy Silver.
Prediction: Mullins gain
2.55 Oaksey Chase
Drying ground gives Nicholls a chance with Wonderful Charm but his rival is still the more likely winner. Mullins’s Valseur Lido might have won the Irish Gold Cup but for unseating at the last.
Prediction: Mullins gain
3.35 Celebration Chase
Nicholls fields three of the six runners, guaranteeing him at least £11,687 if they all get round. Mullins, though, has Un De Sceaux, who could get an uncontested lead here, perhaps allowing him to turn round Cheltenham form with Sprinter Sacre.
Prediction: Mullins gain
4.10 Bet365 Gold Cup
Southfield Theatre gives Nicholls a fair chance of place prize money if back to the form of his RSA second at last year’s Festival. Sir Des Champs, the outsider of Mullins’s pair, should appreciate this sound surface and might also get involved.
Prediction: Nicholls gain
4.45 Select Hurdle
A significant test for Mullins’s classy Vroum Vroum Mag but she looks up to it. Her main dangers are probably not the three Nicholls runners, though Ptit Zig could get a place.
Prediction: Mullins gain
5.20 Josh Gifford Novice Handicap Chase
The only race without a Mullins runner also looks like Nicholls’s best chance on this ultra-competitive card. He has three contenders lined up for this prize, the unexposed Some Buckle appearing the pick of the trio.
Prediction: Nicholls gain
5.55 Bet365 Handicap Hurdle
Four runners for Nicholls including the recent winner Red Hanrahan. Mullins has three, of which two look exposed but Bellow Mome is hardly that. He is progressive and should love this sounder surface than the one he won on at Limerick.
Prediction: Mullins gain
Verdict: Mullins the winner
Mullins has said he would need four winners on this card to take the title. By my reckoning he will get one more than that and seize the crown from his rival. Nicholls has done well to stay competitive but his runners here appear known quantities while Mullins sends several with no evident limit to their ability.
