Cheltenham Festival tips: Dave Nevison likes a 20-1 shot on day one

It is great to see the two best mares around running in the Champion Hurdle after much speculation, as well as last year’s winning mare once more in the field. There will not be much between them, but the application of cheekpieces for Lossiemouth looks a very positive move and, with her record at Cheltenham being better than that of Brighterdaysahead, I fancy her to land this intriguing race.

My bets are as ever in the handicaps and hopefully the three below will at least run into an extra place. Have a great Cheltenham everybody.

Mustang Du Breuil is the biggest priced of three well-fancied J P McManus runners, but looks to have good prospects of running well. He was purchased after an impressive debut success at Auteuil in October and won well at Doncaster on his first run in this country.

He was then sent against older horses in the Dovecote Hurdle at Kempton and once again performed very well, finishing third.

He looked a stayer on that occasion, and this strongly run race and stiff uphill finish will likely suit him very well indeed. In what could easily be a sea of green and gold coming up the hill after the last, I am very hopeful Mustang Du Breuil might be staying on amongst them.

It was 2006 when the Irish last won this handicap, but I think it may be their turn again and Henry de Bromhead’s nine-year-old might be their strongest challenger.

I have no fears about The Short Go not having had a race this season as he generally has a gap between his races and has won after a longer break in the past. He ran really well at Cheltenham (no stranger to this course) on his latest start when a tongue strap was applied and he finished a good five lengths third to Blaze The Way. That race is working out really well with two next time out winners finishing behind him.

He is 6lb better off with the winner, but possibly more significantly, has had a wind operation since that run. If the surgery has had even a modestly positive effect, then The Short Go might have a live chance here.

There are several in this race who have clearly been plotted up, but bookies have taken strong evasive action and there is no juice at all left in the prices available. I backed Jipcot last time out and certainly wasn’t alone as he shortened from 7-1 into 11-4 favourite.

For most of the race I was watching confidently so good was his jumping out in front, but the last mile from Swinley bottom proved too tough for him and he faded. I feel he will be much better suited by stepping back to this two and a half-mile trip and, even though this will be fiercely competitive, I am hoping Kielan Woods will be able to conserve some of his reserves to still be in it after the last.

He won in terrific style at Leicester on his penultimate start and after just three runs on this his second stint chasing, there might be several pounds of improvement in him. He certainly seems to have got the hang of jumping this time around.