Of the horses the bookies are fearing most, Bambino Fever – who runs in Thursday’s Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle – currently stands as one of their biggest liabilities.

Here at the course the heavens have opened and it is pouring down now with racing due to begin in a couple of hours time.

For the racegoers already here sunglasses have been replaced with umbrellas and Cheltenham’s new coverd marquee - The Retreat - will be seeing plenty of action as the day unfurls.

The Willie Mullins-trained mare, famed for her grey coat, headlined the first champion race of the four-day festival and was a class above the rest of the field. And that is saying something, as the race featured previous Cheltenham winners Golden Ace and Poniros, as well as Dan Skelton’s favoured The New Lion, who hoped to threaten but failed to make his move early enough.

This Morning presenter, Josie Gibson, has given her thoughts on the week’s racing and is backing any horses owned by Harry Redknapp.

His horse The Jukebox Man runs in the Gold Cup on Friday and Gibson said: "I would love to see Harry win anything, especially the Gold Cup.

"I was over the moon for him when Shakem Up'arry won at Cheltenham in 2024, because I think he's such a nice bloke and I like good things to happen to good people.

"I also love the way Harry Redknapp loves his wife. That is the sort of man you want to love you. He just worships her."

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.

The final two races of each day will not be shown on ITV but fans wanting to watch can do so via Racing TV. Subscriptions for the channel, which shows every race from the festival, are available through Sky and Virgin Media and online through its website and app.

Racing TV coverage begins at 12.30pm every day and ends after the final race. The Independent will also have a dedicated live blog covering the action which you can follow.

A number of betting sites and apps also show all the races, provided you have a funded account with them.

You can find more insights, tips, odds and more each day of the Cheltenham Festival right here at The Independent.

Along with our dedicated live blog coverage of each race day we have expert analysis of the biggest stories, tips and predictions from weekly meetings and specialist coverage from the world of horseracing in our Independent Racing newsletter with Jonathan Doidge.

To subscribe to our daily newsletters covering all things Cheltenham follow the link below.

Independent Racing will then drop into your inbox each Friday after the Festival concludes as our insights move towards the Grand National and the Flat racing season beyond.

After two days of dry weather, we're seeing the first drops of rain as festivalgoers open their umbrellas as they alight at Cheltenham Spa station.

It's certainly not heavy enough to impact the ground yet, but experts say continued showers could leave the ground “good to soft” for when the races start this afternoon.

It's standing room only on trains from Bristol to Cheltenham Spa this morning.

Will we see another increase in attendance from last year, after rises from 2025 for Champion Day and Ladies Day?

Last year, St Patrick's Day saw just over 53,300, down slightly from the year before.

More than 57,000 racegoers – from binocular-armed racing enthusiasts to city hipsters – congregated in this corner of the Cotswolds, sending opening day attendance up 3 per cent from last year.

The excitement of the smiling crowds entering Prestbury Park, many arriving after a testing six-hour journey from Ireland, was palpable, and as the first race set off – met, of course, by the rousing Cheltenham roar – there was consensus on the terraces that the festival was back to its best.