Three For The Festival

With just five days to go until the Festival, opinions, news, and rumours are rife around the showpiece event. So let’s send you into Cheltenham week with one horse, one jockey and one trainer to follow throughout the four days of jump racing’s highest pinnacle.

Horse – Ma Shantou

This year’s championship races at the Festival look more open than ever, and the Stayers’ Hurdle is probably the most open contest of the week. The door is open for a few unsuspecting contenders to claim their bit of Cheltenham history.

Emma Lavelle is no stranger to this race after Paisley Park’s memorable success in 2019 and valiant efforts in the years that followed, and this year she is represented by another likeable stayer.

The seven-year-old Ma Shantou has won three out of his four starts this season, all at Cheltenham over three miles, including the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle on Trials Day, beating the highly-touted Impose Toi by seven lengths.

Last year, he ran in the Albert Bartlett, finishing a respectable seventh, where the form has worked out nicely for those who have ventured over fences, but it looks like staying over hurdles proved the right decision for Ma Shantou.

He will have to contend with the last two winners of the race, the Irish raiders Teahupoo and Bob Olinger, yet in a division that lacks real depth, Ma Shantou has the liveliest chance of any British runner, and will bid to register another Festival success for the Lavelle yard.

Trainer – Ben Pauling

The ascent of OGR trainer Ben Pauling in recent seasons has been meteoric. He has consistently produced high-calibre horses, none more so than this season’s King George winner The Jukebox Man. This year, he looks to have a team capable of landing the big prizes at Prestbury Park.

His last Festival success came back in 2024 when Shakem Up’Arry found success in the Plate Handicap Chase, and next week he will team up once again with owner Harry Redknapp for The Jukebox Man’s run for Gold Cup glory.

The Jukebox Man has Festival history, placing second in the Albert Bartlett a couple of years ago when losing out by a head to Stellar Story, having looked certain to cross the line in first.

Handstands, the former Scilly Isles’ winner, looks likely to go for the Ultima Handicap Chase on Day One, and the highly exciting The Jukebox Kid has a solid chance in the National Hunt Novices’ Handicap Chase.

The JP McManus-owned Meetmebythesea is a leading hope in the Jack Richards’ Limited Handicap Chase, and Diva Luna could have an each-way squeak in the Mares’ Chase after some impressive performances this season.

He is unlikely to come home as the top trainer overall for the week, but certainly has to be considered for the top British trainer.

Jockey – Mark Walsh

Since the news was announced earlier this season that Harry Cobden will take over as JP McManus’ number one jockey from May, Mark Walsh has been riding out of his skin. Perhaps with a point to prove!.

His performance at the Dublin Racing Festival highlighted that Mark Walsh is still a talented jockey in his own right with four victories at the February meeting, including on Irish Gold Cup winner Fact To File and on Dublin Chase winner Majborough, who is now odds-on for the Champion Chase.

Last season, he won four races at the Festival, including the Gold Cup aboard Inothewayurthinkin. Fact To File, Dinoblue and Puturhandstogether put him in a share of first place atop the jockey’s leaderboard with Paul Townend.

Once again, he will have a glittering book of rides and is sure not to go back to Ireland empty-handed. I wonder how many times we will see him carry the famous Green and Gold silks to victory for the final time at Cheltenham next week.