Racing Lee's Cheltenham Festival Day 1 Tips

He’s short, but deservedly so. He’s the only winner I can see now Constitution Hill is out. He’s an eight-time Grade One winner, including when taking the Irish Champion Hurdle last time out. He bolted up that day and I can see the same again in this Champion Hurdle.

The selection started out in a point-to-point beating four-time winner, Stumptown. He won a bumper by 11 lengths, before running in the Grade Two bumper at the Aintree Grand National meeting. He beat a Grade Two winner over hurdles on debut and ended up finding the Albert Barlett too hot to handle on his final run last season.

Connections have wasted no time in sending this horse chasing, and he bolted up on chase debut at Chepstow. He beat a last time out winner that day, and also Inch House, who is now a dual winner and rated 16 pounds higher. He won a three-runner contest at Ascot giving 19 pounds to the runner-up, and then ran a solid race giving eight pounds to a primed course specialist in Flegmatik at Kempton.

He’s a solid jumper, and the race should be run to suit, from a yard that does so well with these types of runners, he’s a solid each way play.

The recent sad loss of trainer Mark Bradstock would make Mr Vango winning even more poignant. But the head rules the heart in betting, and this horse has every chance of blowing these rivals away. He may lack the slight class, and definitely lacks match practice, but he’s a stout stayer and is overpriced! His latest run he won by 60 lengths in the Devon National over a trip half a furlong longer than this, on testing conditions.

The yard famously won the Gold Cup with Coneygree and he has that running style. He’s no Gold Cup winner, but if he can dictate matters again, he might run another huge race for this mighty, but small yard.