Racing Ahead’s resident tipster Ben Morgan selects his best bets for Day 1 of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
Supreme Novices Hurdle – Star looks Supreme in Festival opener
What a way to start the 2026 Cheltenham Festival with arguably one of the races of the week first up.
The first four or five in the market would all be worthy of winning this race in a standard year, but I feel this year’s edition is way above standard.
I’m always taken by a horse who visually impresses you and produces a ‘wow’ performance, but it’s rare for a horse to produce two of those performances, especially in novice company, but that is exactly what OLD PARK STAR has done.
Looking back to his stable debut at Kempton in hindsight, it looks as if Nico didn’t realise what he had underneath him until late on, where he cleared away nicely.
Next time out at Cheltenham, he knew exactly what was underneath him as he left a pretty decent field behind with the minimum of fuss.
Haydock next, where desperate ground and a tough rival in the shape of Hurricane Pat awaited, and you felt that if he was to slip up, it would be in these conditions.
But yet again he produced a monster performance, quickening up the straight in impressive style, which I can’t admit to seeing too often at Haydock.
To me, that stamped him as my Supreme bet and although I have the utmost respect for El Cairos, Talk The Talk and Mighty Park, none of them have ‘wowed’ me like he has, and consequently, he gets a strong vote in the opener.
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Arkle Novices Chase – Trust Henderson in fascinating Arkle
This looks like a match between Kopek Des Bordes and LULAMBA, and the experience the latter holds over the former would make me inclined to support Nicky Henderson’s impressive chaser.
I think Willie Mullins’ charge is a little quirky, and I think there is a realistic chance of him running very fresh here.
With only one run in public under his belt, he will have to be very good to win this. Lulamba, on the other hand, has plenty of experience this season, and he did impress me last time once Nico woke him up.
The response he gave suggested that he had plenty under the bonnet, and he clearly would stay further, but that stamina might come in handy here, as I expect them to go quickly from the outset.
However, I appreciate both are pretty short here, and if you like a bit of value like myself, I wouldn’t put anyone off having an each way play on Jax Junior or Mambonumberfive as I think both could be live players if you can find a firm offering three places.
McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – Pin the tail on the winner!
This is an incredibly tough race to tip in, given all of them are probably hiding something from the handicapper, and I don’t think any self-respecting tipster can confess to being too confident in this race.
One horse who looks overpriced to me is HARWA, who bolted in by 8 lengths on debut for Paul Nolan, which also qualified him for this race.
A mark of 132 might look a little high on the face of it, but at the same time, he looks set to improve for the likely strong pace that will be on show here.
At 22/1 and bigger, I think he represents each way value in a race dominated by the Irish in recent years.
Ultima Handicap Chase – No Konfusion in my mind
Famous last words, but this race has been pretty good to me down the years, and I do feel like I am on the right path again this year with KONFUSION being my selection here.
Sue Smith and Joel Parkinson’s young stayer has been on a steep upward curve this season and has risen through the handicap to a mark of 145.
On the face of it, you could argue the handicapper has found him out as he got beaten last time at Haydock, but I would look more kindly on that performance as he was only beaten two lengths (worn down last 50 yards) by two horses carrying considerably less weight than he was.
That was also his fifth run in four months, and he was probably just a little below his best.
Now freshened up for this race, I feel he could continue that run of improvement, and he looks competitively weighted for a trainer who knows how to win this race.
Champion Hurdle – The New kid on the block to mark his authority in open Champion Hurdle
I think THE NEW LION has all the makings of a Champion Hurdle winner, and I hope he can prove that in the feature race on Tuesday.
His bare form wouldn’t excite you, but the manner of his victories have been very impressive, and I can’t help but feel there will be more to come now that he faces stronger opposition.
A good pace to aim at would be a big help to him, as I don’t think he has had that yet this season, and his ability to stay further will be a big asset as they charge up the hill.
Conceding 7lbs to two high-quality mares may not be so easy, but I think he is more than up to the job, and if able to latch on the tails of the leaders turning in, I don’t think many of them will finish faster than him.
Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase – Back Skelton to serve it up in the Plate
This doesn’t look the strongest of races on paper, and there will be a few at the top of the market licking their lips thinking this is a fantastic opportunity for a Festival victory.
I gave MADARA a good mention in Racing Ahead’s preview magazine last month, and the race has fallen apart a bit since then, so it has only strengthened my feelings around him.
This looks to have been his Spring target for quite a while, and the run at Kempton last time would have left him spot on for this.
He is the favourite, but 9/2 looks fair enough. Stablemate RISKINTHEGROUND has been given no chance by the bookies, but it’s worth remembering he boasts a course victory to his name within the last 12 months, beating a not too dissimilar field to this.
Off a slightly higher mark, he could be a big player at tasty prices on his favoured good ground.
National Hunt Chase – Tornado to blow them away in Day 1 finale
NEWTON TORNADO has been a progressive horse this term, with chasing seemingly bringing about plenty of improvement.
He impressed me on his chase debut here, jumping boldly before coming to grief and duly put that right at Bangor when winning like a horse who knew defeat was out of the question.
An error at Newbury led to Ben Jones pulling him up quickly, but he proved none the worse for that at Doncaster when winning impressively, beating two horses who have come out and won since.
Despite two victories this year, he remains on a mark of 133, which certainly doesn’t look insurmountable and allows him to sneak in here off a nice low weight.
Again, another favourite, but another goody hopefully!
READ MORE: Cheltenham Festival 2026: Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch
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