Four horses who will relish soft ground on day one of the Cheltenham Festival
Ten millimetres of rain overnight changed the going at Cheltenham to soft, good to soft in places, and we have identified four horses who could benefit from the change in conditions on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.
Appreciate It has never raced on ground quicker than yielding, so the easing of conditions boosts his chance in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
He is three from three over hurdles this season, with wins coming on ground described from soft to heavy.
On Racing Post Ratings, the best victory of the Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old's career came on soft ground at Leopardstown in December.
A going change to soft will certainly suit Milan Native, with his four highest RPRs recorded on this type of ground.
The best of those efforts came at the Cheltenham Festival last season, when the Gigginstown-owned runner stayed on well to win the Kim Muir.
His form figures on soft ground read 22112P so he certainly deserves plenty of respect in this competitive handicap.
James Du Berlais
3.05 Cheltenham
This Willie Mullins-trained Champion Hurdle dark horse has only ever raced on either very soft or heavy ground when he was trained in France so slower ground will be in his favour.
Cheltenham Festival day one card
Before joining Mullins, he won two Grade 3 races and finished a short-head second in a Grade 1 at Auteuil in November on his final start in France.
This challenge will be a completely new test, but given his connections it would be hard to rule him out.
Notorious mud-lover Native River finished second in the National Hunt Chase in 2016, and in the same Brocade Racing silks, Remastered looks to go one better for connections with conditions set to be ideal for the David Pipe-trained novice.
The eight-year-old comes here off the back of a career-best in the Reynoldstown novice chase, ran on soft ground at Ascot, while his previous best two runs came on testing ground.
This race is typically a bit of a slog which looks ideal for Remastered, although he does have a touch of class about him.
Read more on the 2021 Cheltenham Festival:
Our experts on how the easing of the ground at Cheltenham affects their betting
Racing's greatest show: superstars gather for the 2021 Cheltenham Festival
Everything you need to know about day one of the Cheltenham Festival
2021 Champion Hurdle: the runners, the odds, the verdict
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