It's Day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival at Prestbury Park - and all eyes once again turn to the hand of Willie Mullins, who has three short-priced favourites today in the form of Ballyburn, Fact To File and El Fabiolo.
He bids to become the first man to ever train 100 Cheltenham Festival winners.
Henry de Bromhead got off the mark yesterday with victory in the opening Supreme Novices' Hurdle, that coming courtesy of Slade Steel - and he has a number of runners today as he bids to add to his tally.
The Cross Country Chase has been cancelled on account of significant rainfall, and will not be rescheduled for Friday as was originally planned.
Speaking on ITV's Opening Show, clerk of the course Jon Pullin said: "Firstly, we're all as a team gutted we're not able to stage the race. There's a lot of effort that goes into putting this race on and the team are really sad we're not able to.
"We've been struggling for a while, the going on this cross-country course has been heavy, soft in places, and even waterlogged a week ago. We've struggled to get into a good position and unfortunately that 11mm of rain has tipped us over the edge and it's really not safe. The ground moves under your feet and water comes up and we had no choice but to abandon."
"We looked at a contingency to move it to Friday, which we wanted to do, but the updated forecast tells us that there's another 3-4mm tomorrow and possibly on Friday. This track would need dry weather to give it a chance."
The cancellation of the race means there are revised times for the six remaining races on Wednesday, with the opening Gallagher Novices' Hurdle starting at 1.45pm.
Wednesday's revised Cheltenham Festival day two race schedule:
1.45 (from 1.30): Gallagher Novices' Hurdle
2.30 (from 2.10): Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
3.15 (from 2.50): Coral Cup
4.00 (from 3.30): Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase
4.50 (no change): Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase
5.30 (no change): Weatherbys Champion Bumper
Here's today's local runners and riders:
Brown Advisory Novices' Chase
Montys Star - Rachael Blackmore (5/1)
He has been lightly raced today but looks to be a top-class staying chaser, showing that ability in a commanding performance at Punchestown on New Year's Eve. He is a half-brother to well regarded stayer Monalee, and has a live chance of upsetting Fact to File if the script doesn't go to plan.
Coral Cup
Ballyadam - Rachael Blackmore (13/2)
He has been the subject of significant market support this morning as has the Martin Brassil-trained Built By Ballymore. Ballyadam was available at 11/1 last night.
He has ran credibly on all three starts at the Festival - twice finishing fifth in the County Hurdle. Ballyadam finished third in a Grade 1 over Christmas and will certainly be among the contenders when push comes to shove.
Queen Mother Champion Chase
Captain Guinness - Rachael Blackmore (7/1)
Captain Guinness produced an excellent run to finish second behind Energumene in this race last year - and it has been a race that has been kind to Henry de Bromhead down the years with winners such as Put The Kettle On and Sizing Europe.
He has a record of 0-13 at Grade One level, and was 14 lengths behind El Fabiolo at the Dublin Racing Festival. It is a stiff task, but it would be no surprise to see him finish best of the rest once again.
Johnny Henderson Grand Annual
Maskada - Darragh O'Keeffe (17/2)
This partnership landed the race at odds of 25/1 this time last year. Any replication of that form would be more than enough to potentially repeat the trick. She is rated 8lbs higher than in 2023, and her form has held up well in the interim period. The heavy ground should be no trouble to her and she holds a live chance of making it back-to-back successes.
The Folkes Tiara - Rachael Blackmore (40/1)
Won for the first time over fences at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival, but then finished 8 of 11 behind a lot of today's field at the Dublin Racing Festival. The 8-year-old comes in off a nice mark but looks to have a bit to find with his rivals.
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