Ginger Joe's Cheltenham 2023 Early Picks Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of my Cheltenham Early Picks

The first day of the Festival is always my favourite and today I’ll be looking at five big races from the seven-race card: The Supreme, The Arkle, The Champion Hurdle, The Mares Hurdle and last, but not least The National Hunt Chase. As well as some strong fancies, I’ve also got a hot talking point for you that seems set to bring an electric hour at Prestbury Park!

Ginger Joe's Bookie of the Day

13.30: The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m 1/2f

Running in the Supreme is one of my strongest selections for the entire Cheltenham Festival and this is one selection that will not change. In my opinion Marine Nationale is the best 2-mile Novice Hurdler on the planet right now and he looks like equine perfection. He’s owned and trained by Barry Connell, who has brought him to the peak of condition.

He has an unbeaten record so far and has looked incredibly impressive in each of his four races. He overcame a lot of adversity to win the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse in December, which bodes very well for him at Cheltenham and he is the only proven performer lining up for the Supreme. I think he is an absolute steal at 4/1.

14.10: The Sporting Life Arkle Chase (Grade 1) 2m

The current market has Jonbon and El Fabiolo fighting for favouritism and rightly so based on what we’ve seen so far. There was very little to separate them over Hurdles at Aintree last year and they are clearly the best two Novice Chasers out there at the minute.

While Jonbon’s best asset is his jumping, El Fabiolo has an electric turn of foot. There’s little to choose between them, but I am leaning slightly towards El Fabiolo at this stage, as it’s likely to be a fast-paced Arkle next week. I’m not sure I’ll be backing either at the prices, I might just enjoy this one for the clash that it is.

Cheltenham Parade Ring

Honeysuckle winning at Cheltenham

15.30: The Unibet Champion Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m

The feature race of the day is the Champion Hurdle and this year we have a potential freak heading the market in the name of Constitution Hill at an incredibly short price of 1/3. He is last year's Supreme Novices Hurdle winner and has a reputation like we’ve never seen before.

So far what we have seen of him on a racecourse has been simply breath-taking, to the point of scaring off dual Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle, who incidentally has been re-routed to the Mares’ Hurdle.

I’m convinced that Constitution Hill is the one to beat and he is the shortest-priced Favourite at the Festival this year. He has been described as bombproof and we really don’t know where his ceiling is just yet. State Man is his closest rival and although I believe he can push Constitution Hill all the way, this is going to be a big ask. A no bet race for me, but I’m certainly expecting fireworks!

16.10: The Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m 4f

Honeysuckle is lining up here hoping to win her second Mares’ Hurdle, having been re-routed from the Champion Hurdle. This has been a very hot and much-debated topic in the world of racing, but she has clearly regressed this year and could be about to come up against some seriously classy mares here.

She has beaten Epatante on more than one occasion, but the likes of Brandy Love, Love Envoi and Maries Rock have turned into extremely talented mares who are still progressing and it seems likely to me that Honeysuckle may well have met her match, despite being the 2/1 Favourite for this race.

In my opinion, she should be running in the Champion Hurdle anyway, to at least try and defend her crown, but she now looks up against it dropping down to the Mares. If she lines up, I think that Maries Rock will be the one to beat. She is very much an improved mare and is as hardy as they come. The plan may be for her to go to the Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday, but if she turns up here, she will be my selection.

17.30: The National Hunt Chase (Grade 2) 3m 6f

The Willie Mullins trained Gaillard Du Mesnil has been labelled as one of the meeting bankers and he does look to have all of the credentials necessary to win here, having finished runner up in an Irish National already this season.

I never thought he had the pace for 3 miles anyway, so upping him in distance to 3m 6f should suit nicely, as he stays all day long. His yard won this race last year and look to have a similar sort on their hands here. He is only 5/4 to get the job done, but looks hard to oppose at this stage.

More Cheltenham insights following soon

I’ll be covering all four days of the big event, and your Day 2 Early Picks will be along very soon. Remember that these are only my thoughts at this point in time, my final selections won’t be out until the weekend before the Festival but in the meantime, you can look forward to plenty more Cheltenham-related content.

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