If she can’t win the Champion Hurdle this year, it’s never going to happen. Fortunately for us, she doesn’t have to, after I advised to avail yourself of the 6/1 on offer for her each-way on betting apps, some time ago.

Lossiemouth is unbeaten at this venue and is just such a consistent and reliable mare. Detractors will say that, at her best, she wouldn’t be good enough to beat a top Champion Hurdle winner. That may still be the case shortly after four o’clock on Tuesday but I think she’s definitely good enough to finish in the first three, to return a profit and it will only take one or two others to not quite hit the heights on the day and she can win it.

If it comes to a scrap, that should suit and the race has, of course, got easier in the sense that there’s no Constitution Hill around. I’m in agreement with the market that The New Lion looks the biggest potential danger but last year’s winner Golden Ace and Poniros are two others who’d have me looking over my shoulder.

Whichever way I look at this race, and there are a number who may well be well treated, I keep coming back to the favourite Jagwar. He loves it around here, those form figures of 1132 are clear evidence of that.

He was the comfortable winner of last year’s Plate (2m4½f) when he was one of the meeting’s worst kept secrets and although both those defeats this season were when he was favourite, they were also both improved efforts. So much so that, if he ran to the level of his head defeat by Donnacha on trials day, he’d still look at least half a stone ‘well in’ for this.

In addition to that, we can factor in some potential for improvement going up to this trip for the first time. I like his chance.

I notice there’s been a further nibble at Manlaga on horse racing betting sites on Monday and I do think Nicky Henderson’s charge has claims in this juvenile handicap. However, as mentioned in a previous column, his stablemate Mustang Du Breuil is twice the price and they are rated only 1lb apart on their form to date. That looks like value.

Both are JP McManus-owned, with the latter having won at Auteuil before joining the Seven Barrows team and then adding further success at Doncaster. I wouldn’t be too discouraged about him being a beaten favourite in the Dovecote at Kempton last time, as I think it got a little bit messy and I’d be very surprised if he isn’t significantly better than that.

He’s barely put a foot wrong and he’s officially 5lb superior to the favourite Kopek Des Bordes, and I am still happy to be with Lulamba in the Arkle. He impressed with his jumping at both Exeter and when winning the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown.

Despite being reported to have struck into himself, he was still far too good for them in the Game Spirit at Newbury and showed further improvement there. His only defeat came here by a neck to Poniros in last year’s Triumph and I think it will take a very good performance to beat him.

Regular readers will know I advised Old Park Star prior to his Haydock win in January, mainly because I felt he’d win that day and, therefore, his price on betting sites would shorten. All of that has played out, so hopefully you’re holding an each-way voucher on him.

Nicky Henderson knows how to win this race and the type that it takes to do so. I’m not sure Old Park Star is as nippy as some he’s sent this way but he’s definitely not slow and I think he’ll get the strong pace he needs to enable him to do his best work up the hill. Hopefully that can prove decisive.

I’d also added in a second each-way play on Talk The Talk, in the belief that he’d eventually come here. I think he’d be 4-4 over hurdles but for that stumble after he’d jumped the last at Leopardstown in front and if anything beats Old Park Star, it could be him, for all the recent support for Mighty Park.

Ruby Walsh’s tip: Leader D’Allier

“A smaller field than expected, but this still looks a deep Supreme. I have a few concerns about some of the market principals, and I like the look of Leader d’Allier. He has the ideal profile, he’s a solid jumper and he should see this trip out strongly.”

A look ahead to the biggest event of the week...

The Cheltenham Festival is back in March and with it comes the most prestigious contest in National Hunt racing. A four-day spectacle of horse racing action builds to the showpiece event: The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Gup.

The race will be run on Friday 13 March where jockey Mark Walsh and Inothewayurthinkin will attempt to back up their victory from 2025 and claim the trophy for a second year running.

With prize money of £625,00, the Grade 1 chase is the most valuable jumps race in Britain and Ireland after the Grand National and represents the ultimate challenge for the very best horses. 22 fences are to be jumped during three miles and two-and-a-half furlongs concluding in a punishing finish up the Cheltenham hill.

Irish cousins Caolan and Kody Pringle were up at 5am to catch an early morning Ryanair flight from Dublin to Bristol – now they are among the hundreds on the train making the 40-minute journey to Cheltenham for Champion Day.

Unlike last year, when they went to the festival on Gold Cup day, the pair want to experience the “magic” of the opening day, when Caolan says “people are still full of hopes and excitement about the week ahead.”

In particular, the pair are looking forward to the opening race, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 1.20pm, and also the duel between Lossiemouth and The New Lion in the Champion Hurdle at 4pm.

They “got lucky” last week, finding a £100 room with a double bed near Cheltenham Spa for one night. “All we need is place to rest our heads, it's all worth it,” says Caolan.

Hotel and Airbnb prices during the Cheltenham Festival are notoriously high. This year, The Jockey Club has attempted to help racegoers find affordable accommodation through a third party operator, which it claims has been a success.

The Cheltenham Festival starts on Tuesday 10 March and concludes on Friday 13 March. Fans can expect 28 races over the course of four days, with seven races per day, including 13 races run over fences across the week, 13 over hurdles plus a bumper (flat race) and a cross-country chase.

The shortest run is a little under two miles, while the longest races almost reach four miles. Fans will look out for 13 of the races run at Grade 1 standard, while five are run as Grade 2s, six Grade 3s and the other four being Listed.

The first race is scheduled for 1:20pm GMT each day, with the final race starting at 5:20pm.

You can secure access to the first three days of the festival through a daily Club Enclosure ticket from £103.50, while Friday is sold out.

Tattersalls tickets will cost from £73.80 on each of the first three days but again Gold Cup day has sold out.

The cheapest way to experience the festival is through the Best Mate enclosure with a day ticket for the first three days priced from £54.

All details can be found with tickets available to purchase through the Jockey Club here.