‘Defied a penalty at Wetherby’ - Weekend action offers final Cheltenham clues

March is just around the corner and that means the Cheltenham Festival will soon be upon us. We've still got a couple of weekends of top racing to look forward to beforehand and this week we have some competitive action from Kelso, Newbury and Doncaster on offer.

It remains to be seen if any of the participants will line up at Cheltenham, with it being so close, but there's a substantial bonus on offer for horses who can win Kelso's Morebattle Hurdle and a race at the Festival.

Here we take a look at some of the weekend's key races and consider some of the likely contenders to line up at the Cheltenham Festival.

2.15 Kelso - Premier Novices' Hurdle

This race doesn't tend to produce many Cheltenham Festival winners, despite being a Grade 2 novice hurdle, but top trainers Dan Skelton and Ben Pauling both send up promising types for this year's renewal. Starmount has won two pretty average races over hurdles, but you can't help but be impressed by the manner in which he defied a penalty at Wetherby last month. His below-par display at Aintree is a concern but he should improve over longer trips.

Dan Skelton is having an excellent season so far and he runs Le Beau Madrik here and the five-year-old won with plenty in hand at Newcastle last time out. The race conditions suit Pauling's runner better, as the handicapper has Starmount on a 9lb higher mark.

2.55 Kelso - Morebattle Hurdle

There's £120,000 on offer for this thoroughly competitive handicap hurdle and there are several runners who will be hoping to win here en route to following up at the Festival, so the Kelso/Cheltenham double could be on the cards. Cracking Rhapsody is going for the hat-trick in this race and the handicapper has definitely given him a chance. He beat Kabral Du Mathan when winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle off a 1lb higher mark last term and also holds an entry in the County Hurdle.

James Owen is a shrew operator across both codes and he runs Supreme and County entry Hamlet's Night Second in the Grade Elite Hurdle on his last start over hurdles, he remains unexposed in this sphere and winning a race like this off 134 shouldn't be beyond him.

Tom Dascombe 's Hot Fuss also holds an entry at Cheltenham and he won a valuable prize at Windsor last time out. A 5lb rise could prove to be fairly generous and a similar effort should put the five-year-old bang in the mix.

3.45 Newbury - Greatwood Gold Cup

Vincenzo has been in good form this season and began the campaign with a couple of excellent seconds in very hot races at Cheltenham and has been raised 2lb for winning at Ascot last time out. There could be more to come and he's surely the one to beat here.

The Festival could be on the agenda for him too and Sam Thomas' gelding is one to keep on side for the time being. Paul Nicholls' Twinjets also holds a couple of Cheltenham entries, as does Tom, Gary & Josh Moore's Blow Your Wad