After 362 days of waiting for some, the roar that greets the start of The Supreme Novice Hurdle will tell us that The 2020 Cheltenham Festival is underway.

The wet winter ensures that the week will start on soft ground and that, combined with the fact that, with adrenalin pumping, they tend to go quickly in this will make this 2 mile hurdle event a test. Although it’s run over the minimum distance, you do need a horse that can stay. There are 16 due to go to post and many firms are offering enhanced places and money back specials so the first advice is to shop around if you can.

The current favourite is SHISKIN who represents Nicky Henderson. He fell on hurdling debut in December but has since won twice in good style at Newbury and Huntingdon. He looks to have a good turn of foot and it’s easy to see why he’s at the top of the market. He is one of three entries for Henderson and may not even prove to be the best of them. CHANTRY HOUSE is unbeaten in 3 starts under rules and runs here exactly a year to the day since winning his bumper.  Both horses are looking to improve what is, for a trainer who has had so many Festival winners, a surprisingly poor strike-rate for Nicky Henderson in novice hurdles at this meeting. In the last 20 years, he has saddled just 3 winners of such contests (Altior, Simonsig and Bobs Worth) although he has had many placed.

Of those towards the head of the market it may be worth having a ‘win saver’ on ASTERION FORLONGE who, although in the same ownership as SHISKIN, is trained by Willie Mullins and he has won the race six times in the past. This horse was very impressive last time out, winning a race at Leopardstown that has been a good pointer to this contest in the past, despite seemingly still running a bit ‘green’. Prior to that he had won his first hurdles start at Naas by 10 lengths and that form has been well and truly franked by the runner-up bolting up next time out at Punchestown. Originally thought of as a potential 3-miler by his trainer, he is a little reminiscent in his run style of Champagne Fever who won this race for the stable in 2013. He could look to make this a real test from flag fall and may prove hard to pass.

Such tactics may suit ABACADBRAS who has always looked a high class individual. He can race very keenly and probably pulled away his chances in last year’s Champion Bumper when finishing 4th behind Envoi Allen. That horse is also the only horse to get the better of ABACADBRAS over hurdles this season when he outstayed him in The Royal Bond at Fairyhouse. The 3rd horse home that day has been talked about by many as a bit of a dark horse for The Champion Hurdle so the form looks good. He won at Leopardstown over Christmas but has been kept fresh for this ever since. He is a major contender here but he may just get out-stayed in the ground.

A strong gallop would probably also suit the Colin Tizzard horse in here and that is FIDDLERONTHEROOF. Alongside the aforementioned ASTERION FORLONGE and the Gordon Elliot-trained ABACADABRAS, he is one of only three horses in here who have won a Grade 1 contest. That came with victory in The Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown when he powered up the hill to win by 6 lengths. That was in very soft ground and he had previously won in heavy conditions, also, at Sandown so, whilst it has rained for much of Monday afternoon here in Cheltenham, the likely underfoot conditions here will suit him whilst blunting the speed a little of some ‘pacier’ types like ABACADABRAS. With the 7 places on offer, he looks a really good each-way bet as I can see him staying on strongly up the hill towards the line. The Tizzard yard have several good young novice hurdlers and it is significant that this one has been touted as the main Supreme horse for quite some time now.