The 2026 edition of the Cheltenham Festival is set to kick off with a barnstorming opening day as the Unibet Champion Hurdle looks to be a stacked field of contenders.
The first champion race of the four-day Festival is headlined by Willie Mullins’ star mare, Lossiemouth, who has won the last two Mares’ Hurdles at the Festival. She is also confirmed for that race on Thursday but has been given a shot at taking a champion title against the likes of The New Lion and Golden Ace.
Dan Skelton’s charge was the ante-post favourite for the Champion Hurdle despite Golden Ace taking the crown in 2025 but Lossiemouth has now joined The New Lion as the 9/4 joint favourite for the race.
Mullins told Sporting Life: "Rich and I have been in dialogue on her target and after we spoke after racing at Gowran it has been decided that Lossiemouth will run in the Champion Hurdle.
"With the declaration timing she was always going to travel over to England when she has and we're happy to let her take her chance on Tuesday where she'll wear cheekpieces."
Gordon Elliott's mare Brighterdaysahead is another horse who could challenge in the nine-horse field while Workahead will line up for Henry de Bromhead.
Outsiders include another Mullins-trained prospect in Poniros who won the JCB Triumph at 100/1 odds last year while the British challenge comes from Joe Tizzard's Alexei and Paul Nicholls’ Tutti Quanti.
Elsewhere on day one, Lulamba and Kopek Des Bordes are set to go hoof-to-hoof in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase. There are seven runners for the Arkle but Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba and Mullins’ Kopek Des Bordes are the main threats.
Once again the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle will open the Festival with Old Park Star, Mighty Park and El Cairos among 12 declarations and there’s an outing for Grand National favourite Iroko in the Ultima Handicap Chase.
The other headline news is that Fact To File will not be competing for the Gold Cup on Friday. He is another superb runner for the Mullins yard and, following his victory in the Irish Gold Cup back in February, he had been expected to challenge in the main event.
However, Mullins has decided to place him in Thursday’s Ryanair Chase instead. Fact To File won this race last year and his confirmation makes him the shortest-priced favourite for next week's Festival at 8/13.
