‘This horse has slipped under the radar’ - Ryanair Chase Confirmations

Day three of the Cheltenham Festival has been boosted by the decision to move the Grade 1 Mares' Hurdle over from Tuesday.

As per usual, the Ryanair Chase is the big race on Thursday and confirmations for it were revealed on Friday.

A maximum field of 14 will go to post, but you would imagine it could end up being a small field once the final declarations are made next week.

Here we go through the horses who remain in contention and they're headed by Impressive Irish Gold Cup winner Fact To File

Leading contenders

Fact To File is the obvious place to start, as he was a very impressive winner of this race last year and he was far too good for them in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

Disappointing in the King George, he has since left that well behind him and as he's a dual Cheltenham Festival winner, it is no surprise that he's the shortest priced horse of the meeting. The only real danger will be posed by stablemate Gaelic Warrior

Willie Mullins is keen to run Gaelic Warrior here, but the Gold Cup is also an option for the eight-year-old. Having won the John Durkan on seasonal debut, he wouldn't look out of place, but he looked like a thorough stayer when winning at Aintree last term.

Heart Wood is a single-figure price for the Henry De Bromhead yard and is one of very few guaranteed runners here. He has won a couple of average Grade 3 races this term, but was firmly put in his place by Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File at Punchestown in November.

Nicky Henderson has reported that Jonbon is an unlikely participant here, but surely he'll be tempted if the race continues to cut up. This race would be the ideal target for him and the 10-year-old would have every chance if he lines up.

Intriguing outsiders

Impaire Et Passe has been carefully campaigned and only made his first start of the season at Gowran last month. Mullins' gelding won the Ballymore here three years ago and came out on top in a Grade 1 novice at Aintree last term. This horse has slipped under the radar.

Gordon Elliott is likely to run Romeo Coolio in the Arkle, if he doesn't skip Cheltenham altogether, but that could prove to be a mistake. This is definitely his trip and his performances at Fairyhouse and Down Royal suggest he's a classy operator.

Banbridge is a useful horse on good ground and he won the Martin Pipe in his novice hurdling days. Joseph O'Brien's 10-year-old would be more interesting in this race than the Gold Cup, but is not always the most consistent performer at this sort of level.

Other entries

Elliott's Firefox is hard to fancy at this level and didn't see the trip out over three miles in the Irish Gold Cup, so the drop back in trip will help. Il Etait Temps is almost certain to run in the Champion Chase, so you can rule him out too.

Joe Tizzard's JPR One isn't a Grade 1 horse and he's hard to fancy at this level and the same can be said for Matata and Master Chewy. Energumene hasn't been the same horse for a few years. although the longer trip might help him, while Croke Park is 100/1 for a reason.