Cheltenham Festival tips from Martin Dixon: Best bets for day one

Kopek Des Bordes no doubt has a big engine to do as much wrong as he did at the DRF and still win hard held but I am worried about his fiery temperament given his short odds and Romeo Coolio has drifted out to a very backable price at 7/1. 

Admittedly, his Grade One win over Christmas hasn't worked out but he was vastly superior to his rivals that day anyway and impressed me with how strong he was late on despite a blunder at the last. He's handled the occasion of the Festival before when a good second in last year's Champion Bumper and I think a fast pace on the expected good to soft ground will be perfect for him to show his talent. 

It looks to me as if Gavin Cromwell has had his eyes on this all season with Malina Girl, who has had just the two starts this campaign and a good second at Exeter last time suggested to me she could be about to peak again. 

She's run in three chases at Cheltenham previously, winning easily on one of those, and on her last visit here in December 2023 she was still tanking along (trading at 2.06 in running) only to fall three out. She'll hopefully creep into contention from off a strong pace and I'm very hopeful she can reward each-way support at general odds of 14/1 with most firms offering six places. 

It's hard to ignore the handicapping case for Gericault Roque who gets in here from a 7lb lower mark than when runner-up in the 2022 Ultima despite having raced just three times since. 

His comeback at Windsor in January was encouraging, travelling with exuberance for a long way, and you can rest assured this race will have been targeted by the Pipe yard all along. He's a proven stayer with loads of big-race experience and at the age of nine I'm optimistic he'll retain his ability.