Ireland's best chances on Day Three of the Cheltenham Festival

It’s St. Patrick’s Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival and the Irish will be hoping to land plenty of winners across Day Three.

Britain actually landed the first blow on Day One with four winners to Ireland’s three, but Ireland hit back on Day Two.

It could be another great day for the away team on Thursday, as they have loads of excellent chances, so our expert has picked out several of Ireland’s best chances on Thursday. Amongst them is a Willie Mullins runner in the opener who looks rock-solid.

Bambino Fever - Mares’ Novices Hurdle

Willie Mullins’ Bambino Fever was the best of the bunch in the bumper division last term and she was victorious in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham and in the Punchestown equivalent. She tasted defeat on seasonal debut but left that performance well behind her next time.

Future stayers tend to do better in this race than the out-and-out two-milers and her maiden hurdle victory came over an extended 2m2f. Bumper horses tend to want a trip and although she wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Supreme, this test is much more suitable.

She’s banker material here and it’ll be a massive surprise if this very talented mare fails to do the business here.

Slade Steel - Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase

Henry De Bromhead’s Slade Steel is a bit of a forgotten horse, but he’s a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner and his trainer knows how to prepare a horse for Cheltenham. He is on a nice mark over fences and has more than enough ability to run a big race.

It was a good effort over a similar trip at Navan on seasonal debut and he was just a little over a length behind subsequent graded scorer Predators Gold This looks like his trip and he has more talent than his current mark indicates.

Wodhooh - Mares’ Hurdle

Gordon Elliott has yet to shine at this year’s Festival and it was this mare who provided him with a winner in the final race last year. Wodhooh was an impressive winner of the Martin Pipe over course and distance and has only lost once over hurdles.

There’s no shame in coming second to Lossiemouth either and, with her winning the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday, the door is wide-open for Wodhooh to win here. She has won well on both starts this season and we could see an even better performance here.

Fact To File - Ryanair Chase

Willie Mullins’ star chaser Fact To File would surely have had every chance in the Gold Cup, but connections have decided to aim for a second successive Ryanair Chase win instead.

The nine-year-old is a two-time Festival winner and should be very hard to beat.

He hadn’t quite been at his best this season, but that all changed with his impressive victory in the Irish Gold Cup last time out. If Fact To File is anywhere near his best, he wins this race and with minimal fuss in the process.