‘On track to take the crown’ - Which horses should I add to my Cheltenham Festival accumulators?

The Dublin Racing Festival provided plenty of form pointers ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, as per usual, which makes now a good time to look ahead to the March extravaganza.

We’ve picked out five horses who look like rock-solid prospects at Cheltenham and are well worth considering for your accumulators.

Arkle Novices’ Chase - Lulamba

Kopek Des Bordes was supposed to turn up for the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown in preparation for this race but missed that particular engagement, which is a potential negative for his chances at Cheltenham. Lulamba could therefore be the one to side with.

This horse has done absolutely nothing wrong in two starts over fences so far and was particularly impressive in Grade 1 company at Sandown in December. He’s set for a warm-up at Warwick on Saturday and he’s definitely not one to take on.

Mares’ Hurdle - Lossiemouth

Willie Mullins’ Lossiemouth didn’t quite have the pace to challenge Brighterdaysahead in the Irish Champion Hurdle on Sunday so a return to 2m4f should be on the cards. The seven-year-old is unbeaten over 2m4f and that trend is expected to continue.

If connections decide to keep sending her to the Mares’ Hurdle, she has the ability to match or better Quevega’s record in the race. This classy mare has all the attributes required to thrive over 2m4f and she’s going to prove hard to beat.

Stayers’ Hurdle - Teahupoo

The lack of a prep-run scuppered Teahupoo in this race last year but connections put that right by running him in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown where he confirmed his status as the best staying hurdler around with a comfortable success.

Reigning champ Bob Olinger will be bringing his A-game at his beloved Cheltenham but lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, so Teahupoo can gain his revenge this time around. It’ll take a massive performance from a rival to get the better of him.

Ryanair Chase - Fact To File

This season had been a bit of a struggle for Fact To File but he returned to form with a bang in the Irish Gold Cup on Monday. The JP McManus-owned gelding wasn’t seeing out his races but he had no issues on that front at Leopardstown.

He looked like a superstar when dominating in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase two seasons ago and no one could lay a glove on him in this race last year. Now that he has returned to his very best form, it’s hard to make a strong case for any of his rivals.

Triumph Hurdle - Narciso Has

Willie Mullins has trained the winner of this race in each of the last four seasons and has the first three in the market at the moment. Leopardstown Grade 1 winner Narciso Has is currently the favourite and there’s a very good reason why.

The French import was a winner on debut at Auteuil and looked in need of the run when second at Fairyhouse on his first start for Mullins. He has since left that run well behind him, winning impressively twice and is now on track to take the Triumph Hurdle crown.