Talented mares give me two real chances on the festival's third day

We're at the halfway point in this year's Cheltenham Festival and as we switch tracks I'm looking forward to riding three horses who all have claims at decent prices.

Compared to the Old course, the New course places a greater emphasis on stamina. Over hurdles it's an awfully long way from jumping three out to the line, so you definitely need a horse who gets the trip, particularly in the Triumph.

You cover a lot of ground from the top of the hill to the bottom and then from there to the finish it can be a tiring climb. The problem is a lot of horses begin racing as soon as they start down the hill, so by the time they reach the bottom of the descent they have almost run out of gas. As a result, conserving energy is important on the New course. One of its advantages is that whereas you find the fences coming up quite quickly on the Old course, you have more time on the New course and a better chance of getting your horse into a rhythm.