Golden Ace defends crown and Sober Glory takes on the Irish in Tuesday’s Festival opener

Day one of the iconic Cheltenham Festival kicks off at at 13:20 with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and runs through to the finale at 17:25 with the National Hunt Chase.

Our expert, Laurence Morter, has provided selections and analysis for three of the races on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.

Tuesday’s Tips

Sober Glory has confirmed the promise he showed last season continuing his superb form with three wins from four starts over hurdles. A brilliant start to his hurdling career was followed up with a slight blip at Sandown. Connections seemed to find nothing wrong with him that day, but he was ridden differently than he had been, much more toward the rear early on, it is possible that having to play catch up early did not suit him at all and he ended up getting outpaced in the closing stages.

However, the lesson looked to have been learned from that and he was once again positioned more prominently early on and he has been untouchable since winning back to back races at Newbury.

He will be up against it with some of the Irish contingent in what will be a much stronger run race then he will have experienced before but his form is solid, he seems to be versatile ground wise and looks to have a good blend of speed and stamina which helps him see a two-mile trip off with ease, all of which point to him being a strong contender for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

15.20 Cheltenham - King Of Answers

King Of Answers put in a brilliant performance last time out at Kelso and showed that he is progressing enough to be considered a serious contender for one of the big handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival.

His record as a chaser has been brilliant with two wins from four, both wins at Kelso. His win last time out was especially impressive, running strongly throughout the 2m7f trip and, while his jumping was not always perfect, he dug deep to pull clear two from home. It was a performance that will stand him in good stead for the Cheltenham Festival.

The only downside being he was put up 10lb for his win last time out which he will have to contend with at Cheltenham. However his trainer Lucinda Russell has an excellent record in his race having trained three of the previous four winners so he will be heading to Cheltenham in good shape and with the yard looking to be hitting form at the right time, he goes into the race with a solid chance.

16.00 Cheltenham - Golden Ace

With Sir Gino’s unfortunate injury and Constitution Hill rsquo;s ongoing jumping issues this year’s Champion Hurdle looks to be the most open in years. With many others in the field not staking a solid claim for out and out favourite the eye is drawn to last year's winner Golden Ace.

The winner of the Fighting Fifth in November, taking advantage of current ante-post favourite The New Lion rsquo;s fall, and a respectable second to Sir Gino in the Christmas Hurdle, where the quick ground conditions were not particularly to her liking, she has been superb again this season and connections will be heading to the Festival full of confidence.

She has been rested since to give her as much time to get her prepared for this and she has an excellent record at Cheltenham with three wins from four runs.

However what is more important, especially at Cheltenham, is that she rarely puts a foot wrong and while she may not have the turn of pace that some of her rivals here do have, she has the benefit of the 7lb Mares’ allowance.

In a race where they can sometimes go off too quick, she can take advantage of that in the closing stages and all being well she will have a good chance of claiming back-to-back Champion Hurdles.