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Good morning from Cheltenham on day three of the 2025 festival meeting – effectively the day that was added to the schedule 20 years ago to expand it from three to four. It still feels a little uncertain of itself, with two Grade Ones in the middle of the card rather than a standout feature, but one or other of the Ryanair Chase or the Stayers’ Hurdle generally throws up a decent yarn, and sometimes – as was the case on a memorable afternoon in 2019 – it is both.
This year, perhaps – it is always risky to be too dogmatic at Cheltenham – it will be the Ryanair, which is a vanishingly rare meeting of top-class chasers trained in the three major jumping nations. The Irish team is led by Fact To File, who was quoted at fairly short odds for the Gold Cup after winning the three-mile novice here last year but is leaving that to his stable companion, Galopin Des Champs. The British challenge is headed by Protektorat, last year’s winner, while France fields the hugely exciting Il Est Francais.
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