Paul Townend: the lowdown on my 2024 Cheltenham Festival rides

I think Ballyburn is really good. Obviously, we were very disappointed he got beat the first day but it turned into a dawdle and he missed the second last. But I was happy leaving there that we still had a very good horse, and he showed that at Christmas and again back at the Dublin Racing Festival. He runs with his head quite low, but he's well broken, so he's manageable. He jumps, stays, and has speed, so he has all the attributes you want in a horse.

I think we've improved a lot, and I suppose as much as us improving, Firefox's disappointing run at Naas is probably why he’s been forgotten about because all the talk has been about Ballyburn. The horse has been performing recently, and you can forgive a horse a bad run.

I don’t have a strong opinion on whether he should run in the Supreme Novices’ or the Ballymore. I love the horse and I think he'll take a lot of beating in either.

I think Tullyhill warrants respect. He was obviously very poor the first day, but he’s schooled a lot since and his jumping has improved run by run. I think going left-handed will suit him, and I think the more competitive race will get him more competitive and hopefully speed up his jumping.

At home you wouldn't think much of MysticalPower, but he's been impressive on the track. I remember him going for a bumper and kind of wondering what was going to happen, and he won and he's improved again. His win in the Moscow Flyer, you'd have to stand up and take note of it.

I've no idea what I’ll ride! If GaelicWarrior - who has won a three-mile Grade 1 novice hurdle at Punchestown but could come back to two miles here – is on the declaration sheet, it'd be hard to stick your name alongside something else. But you can say that for a lot of them.

Il Etait Temps probably doesn't get the credit he's deserved. He's won a Grade 1 over fences and hurdles and has been a second string. You'd say he's fallen into them, but he's still won them.

Hunter's Yarn is a little unproven, while Facile Vega is a little bit of an enigma in that Willie thinks he is the bomb. I thought so as well, as the work he'd done before the Dublin Racing Festival was extraordinary. Willie likes him a lot and is putting a lot of time into him, but we'll have to wait and see what turns up.

Obviously it’s been a strange week given Constitution Hill’s piece of work and the news, and we don’t know what horse will turn up if he does make it. But can State Man beat a peak Constitution Hill? We'll struggle.

I'd hope we'd give them a run for it, though, as I thought we would last year and we didn't. By the time we jumped two hurdles, I was never giving them a race. I was trying to get second and got a flicker of hope when I saw him coming out of Nico [de Boinville]'s hand at the last, but that didn’t last long!

State Man just wasn't good enough and he wasn't able to go the pace of the race last year, but I feel this year he's really good. It wasn't an easy decision to leave Impaire Et Passe behind the first day and I was delighted with the performance State Man put in and he backed it up again the last day.

I've got a lot of respect for Slade Steel, but I love Ile Atlantique. He's been beaten when he's looked like he's going to win a few times, albeit we were robbed in Naas, but I actually came out of it with a lot of respect for my horse as he battled and he actually quickened a little bit more than I expected him to. I thought, after riding on very heavy ground at Gowran, that he's just a big, long-striding horse.

Obviously early in the Naas race, things were messy. The horse in front didn't jump the first couple of hurdles, and I ended up in front and I was there to be shot at. Everyone had a go at me, but he didn't fold at the back of the last. He put his head down and pulled out more than I thought he would. So yeah, I like him a lot.

If you were to ask me which one at the Festival I'd like to ride that I wasn't riding, it'd be Fact To File. I've actually sat on him a couple of times at home. And it’s like... ‘Here's what you could have won!’ It's like Bullseye. I'm not sure who was doing the [work riding] board that morning, but I was obviously upsetting them!

He feels the real deal. He looks the real deal. When I rode Gaelic Warrior against him last time we went into the back straight doing a million miles an hour. And I knew when I missed one down the back straight, when Mark [Walsh, retained rider of Fact To File] was doing an absolute half speed alongside me, that I was just going nowhere at that stage.

I haven't ridden Sa Majeste a whole lot and I didn't manage to get on him when Mark [Walsh] got injured. You need so much to go right for you in the handicaps, but they [stable lads and lasses] talk about him in there. I'd like to be riding him, obviously.

It was a shock when Jonbon was beaten, I suppose, but if he'd actually jumped the last, he'd have probably won. I've been beaten on enough short-priced ones to know they can get beaten, but at least he was there, didn't fall out the back of the screen after the mistake.

Would I swap El Fabiolo? No, I think he's a tank. He's strong and he's riding down to a fence now and he can be a bull sometimes as well. There was nothing between them in their novice hurdle season and we got the better of them in the Arkle last year and I think he’s more mature and stronger, both mentally and physically.

I spoke to a few of the lads who rode against Edwardstone the last day, and though the horses behind were probably inferior to him, they thought he went a fair gallop and said they just couldn't stand it. So I have lots of respect for him.

I haven’t won this race before and I don't know what I’ll be riding this year, but Facile Vega is settling a hell of a lot better than he ever did. He got fairly worked up in the parade ring again in Leopardstown but by the time he got out, down to the start and jumped off, he didn't go overly quick for a two-mile chase and I had no problem staying behind Jack [Kennedy, rider of Found A Fifty). So he is settling a bit better, and he settled well in the Supreme last year too until I decided to kick on him.

But if the ground is soft and this track does take a bit of getting, staying, so you've got a horse in Gaelic Warrior who, as we referred to earlier, has stayed three miles, but been beaten on the other course a couple of times. So you try him on the bigger loop and see what happens. Luckily it's Willie who is going to have to have that headache and make the decision!

Capodanno is another that I won’t get to ride, but I was on him when he won the Cotswold Chase. I hadn't ridden him before but he gave me a great feel – he jumped and travelled well, and bypassing the second last probably didn't help me.

They’ve got to train him properly this year, as he'd had a very interrupted career up to that. I thought as a novice he was very good and he looked back to himself here. Did he feel that day as though he had enough pace for two and a half miles? I didn't think we hung around. We went quick and steady and then raced again. To be honest, I was in my comfort zone in most stages. Would he have the pace to follow an Allaho in a real competitive Ryanair? Maybe not. But it doesn't look that strong this year, does it?

I’ve struggled to figure Sir Gerhard out, but I do think he's overpriced in the Stayers’ Hurdle. I like the way he settled the last day but he is a better horse fresh. I do think Teahupoo will take a hell of a lot of beating and I think he's a horse on the up. Obviously, Sir Gerhard is an old horse with a lot of miles in him, but he definitely prefers hurdling to chasing. Does he stay? I think he will.

I loved Jade de Grugy at Leopardstown where she impressed me a lot. In fact, she impressed me a lot more on the track than she did at home, which was a pleasant surprise. Brian [Hayes] rode her the last day and she did what I hoped she would.

But the way Jack [Kennedy] talks about their mare [Brighterdaysahead], well it's not like Jack to get excited. And he is. He's even talking quicker when he talks about her - usually it's slow sentences! You have to give her and the English mare Dysart Enos all the respect they deserve, but I'm looking forward to riding Jade de Grugy.

Our juveniles are a headache, to be honest, because there isn't one standing out. I thought I was happy to ride Storm Heart but he ran a funny race last time and I couldn't really get him to go early on. He jumped a bit slow and then got into it but I was pushed wide and Danny [Mullins]'s mount Kargese had the experience and the allowances and the pace to get through.

I still think my horse is open to more improvement out of the race than Kargese, but there isn't a lot between them. I'm definitely not going to just jump onto Danny's because it beat me in Dublin. Majborough will improve a lot for his run there and Bunting is probably overpriced, but I think Sir Gino is a deserving favourite.

On the County Hurdle: I don’t think we have a new State Man, let’s put it that way! We have a few novices in there, and Absurde ran better the last day, but does he jump well enough? State Man was a lot more solid and straightforward chance than Absurde, that’s for sure.

It won't be an easy choice picking between Readin Tommy Wrong, Dancing City and High Class Hero.

I love High Class Hero’s way of racing and the profile he has coming into the race, and they've been thinking about this race all the way through the season. He reminds me a little bit of Penhill and I like how he hasn't been blowing anyone away.

Readin Tommy Wrong will have no problem getting the longer trip and this track would give him a bit more time to jump and everything else. He's probably achieved more than High Class Hero at this stage.

What Galopin Des Champs did last year was a relief really, as I hadn't planned on being as far back. We kept them in our sights as long as we could and thankfully, when I pushed the button, he responded and kept going. It was a huge performance to come from there. And I needed an awful lot of luck for a safe passage through.

If you take him [Galopin Des Champs] out, the second Bravemansgame has put up a huge performance. He's been in the thick of it the whole way around, but we’ve come through and had a target on his back from a long way out.

There’s big pressure ahead of the Gold Cup, but Galopin Des Champs is straightforward too. The pressure with a horse like him, that I have so much confidence in, is a lot easier to take than one that I'm unsure about. The feeling I get off of him is special. I’m just anxious to get going on him.

I’ve been riding him a bit handier this year at Leopardstown because of the shape of those races, and I got a bit too far back in the John Durkan at Punchestown after missing the first couple of fences. He was so simple to ride last time, a real dream.

I give Fastorslow all the respect in the world, as I didn’t think he got it after the Punchestown Festival where they said the second and third had had hard races, but he hasn’t beaten us out of the park in either race. Martin Brassil will have him firing for Cheltenham I’m sure, but I wouldn’t get off Galopin Des Champs for anything.

I don’t know if Allegorie De Vassy can go one better [than when second last year] as I thought I was coming there to win it with a good jump at the last.

It was an improved performance when she beat Riviere D’Etel the last day after a complete flop at Fairyhouse, but I think Dinoblue will be a tough nut to crack. JP [McManus] always seems to have one for this race!

I think she will run her race, at least she is going there on the back of a win, but could you be confident? We will need a lot of luck!