Under 24 hours away now from the Festival kicking off, I promised a preview, and here it is in all its glory ahead of the first day...
1:30pm Supreme Novices' Hurdle 14 runners 2m
We start of this year's festival in the same way we always do with the Supreme, and this race was won last year by a horse we will be seeing later on in the Champion Hurdle, Constitution Hill.
This time around we have a horse who has very similar qualities I think, Facile Vega, but he's going to have to bounce back from that disappointing effort last time to take this.
It was clear that he didn't run to his actual level when he lost his unbeaten record at Leopardstown, but while he's been really impressive, I had already felt like I was asking a few questions about him before that.
That Champion Bumper he won last year here hasn't shown up with the best of form, and I'm ready to take him on here in this first race and go elsewhere.
He might cruise to victory, in fact, that's probably exactly what he will do, but my gut instinct isn't telling me that right now.
I've been really impressed with the attitude of Marine Nationale on all four of his wins, and he needed it to win his Grade 1 last time out, when he ran on so strongly up the running to win by a head.
He's the one I'm taking at 9/2 because he's just kept improving and improving, and to put that with his ability to get down and tough it out under pressure, he could just well beat the favourite in the opener and get the punters off to a slow start.
Chasing Fire at 22/1 seems to be quite a big price as well, and he's the one that I fancy at an each way pick.
2:10pm Arkle Novices' Chase 9 runners 1m 7f
To say I fancied him last year to overturn Constitution Hill in the first is a bit of an understatement, I thought he really would, but this time around Jonbon can do the business.
His win in the Kingmaker at Warwick ended up being a real workout against his sole rival, and at one point you had to think there was a real chance he was beat.
But I said this last year, I like how he seems to be able to do that and dig deep when things aren't in his favour, it just so happened he bumped into an absolute machine when I said it back in 2022.
El Fabiolo lost out by a neck when the two clashed in April last spring, and his chasing career has been really impressive so far.
He's rightly favourite at the time of writing, but I'm not convinced that he turns that form around with Jonbon so I'll stick with Nicky Henderson's charge at 7/4, and hope he can get the English off the board.
It's between those two for me, I don't see Dysart Dynamo being able to make up the 10 lengths that he was behind El Fabiolo at Leopardstown, and Saint Roi and him will more than likely be batting it out for third place.
2:50pm Ultima Handicap Chase 23 runners 3m 1f
Our first handicap to get stuck into, what a pleasure these always are.
It's more like a list when I'm previewing these, but I've been impressed with quite a few of the horses in this, I'm just not as confident on them though as my selection which I'll come onto in a minute.
First of all though I can see clearly why Corach Rambler is favourite, well, everyone can considering he won this same race last year off a six pound lower mark, and he seems to be back again for more.
Into Overdrive has been campaigned superbly by Mark Walford, and there's no reason why he won't take this in his stride and land this as well.
His win at Wetherby showed he hadn't reached his limit just yet, and he's been on such a roll you would have to be silly to rule him out of this.
At 20/1 The Big Breakaway is my pick here, because I think we saw a more mature horse at Chepstow last time who had finally got the hang of fences.
His jumping usually lets him down in races, but I don't think that was the case last time out, and he is a real strong stayer who will be loving the fact it has rained as well.
That all seems to me that he will probably go off shorter than that price, so I'm going to put him up as the selection here and hope that jumping doesn't return back to what I'd describe as clambering his way over them.
3:30pm Champion Hurdle 7 runners 2m
I don't need to type much for this one, Constitution Hill, should win, and State Man should follow him home, it should really be that simple.
But this is horse racing we're talking about here, and it never works out like that.
One thing is for sure though, I will never be able to put myself in a position here where I can convince myself to go against the favourite, so I'm not going to, and I'm keeping it brief and simple.
4:10pm Mares' Hurdle 10 runners 2m 3f
Marie's Rock bids to make it back-to-back successes in this race but she's got a right job on her hands here.
The field she beat last year was good enough, but now she's also got Honeysuckle to contend with, and despite holding the tag of favourite currently, I'm going to be taking her on here.
She is very solid, don't get me wrong, but my head and my heart is telling me Honeysuckle wins this, and I wouldn't want it to be any other way.
I think coming to this race here is probably a good call, but I wouldn't say it's the right one, because I would've loved her to run in the Champion Hurdle instead.
But I'm not Henry De Bromhead, I don't know the horse anywhere near as much as they do, and to be able to even see her race one more time is just fantastic, and I really do hope she gets her swansong tomorrow.
At 7/2 I'll have a go with her, but I will also be hoping Love Envoi can run a good race at 9/1 and creep into those places.
With a likeable attitude, there's nothing to say she can't win it, but at that price an each way shout is very reasonable indeed.
Boodles Handicap Hurdle 22 runners 2m
I do love this handicap I'll be honest, it'll be the only time you'll probably hear me say it this week though.
These four-year-olds all have their racing futures ahead of them, and no-one really knows to be honest where they could end up.
Tekao is solid as the 9/2 favourite, and seems to be on a workable mark of 135, but Sir Allen off 131 for me seems to be a real improver and could have plenty more to offer going forward.
His last two wins have shown he's got what it takes to land a prize like this, and the fact he's won a 20 runner event means he won't be put off by the big field size which can sometimes be the case.
At 11/1 he could be my only pick, but I'll give you another at a price who could rock up and run well, and that's Samuel Spade.
20/1 seems very fair for this horse, and the 126 mark he's been given by the handicapper looks tempting to me at the minute, even though he does have his quirks about him.
5:30pm Amateur Jockeys' Novices' Chase 3m 5f 10 runners
I'll finish things off quite quickly here, Gaillard Du Mensil will be very hard to beat and will probably win it, and at even money he looks a steal here still.
I won't be boring though and give you Mister Coffey as my shout at 10/1, because this horse didn't do much wrong at Uttoxeter last time apart from not win, and even though is very frustrating, you can't keep him out of the picture, so he's my one here.
A reminder of the picks:
1:30pm - Marine Nationale 9/2, Chasing Fire 22/1.
2:10pm - Jonbon 7/4
2:50pm - The Big Breakaway 20/1
3:30pm - Construction Hill (4/11) to beat State Man (10/3), in that order
4:10pm - Honeysuckle 7/2, Love Envoi 9/1
4:50pm - Sir Allen 11/1, Samuel Spade 20/1
5:30pm - Gaillard Du Mensil 1/1, Mister Coffey 10/1