As the countdown to Cheltenham continues, The Wine Tipster is keeping an eye on who to look out for at the highlight of the jump season which takes place between 14th and 17th March.

They include Cole Harden in the Sun Bets Stayers Hurdle on Thursday which provides him with a good chance to regain his crown from the 2015 race as long as the ground softens over the week following a great performance at Festival Trials Day at the end of January. In terms of one of the handicaps, Singlefarmpayment who is an excellent jumper and has proven form at Cheltenham has a tremendous chance of scoring another success in Prestbury in the Ultima Handicap Chase on March 14th.

In the Neptune Investment Management Novices Race, look out for Willoughby Court, a horse trained by Ben Pauling, who is certainly one of the trainers to watch at The Festival. We also know Ben is very patient with his string and very shrewd at placing his horses. The Wine Tipster selected Willoughby Court on his last start when he won at Warwick in convincing fashion whilst certainly giving the impression that he is highly progressive and improving every time from the racecourse experience. He still looks a little inexperienced but he is a great traveller and if he can cope with the hustle and bustle of the Neptune, he has a really good each way chance.

Starchitect is trained by David Pipe and has multiple entries at Cheltenham but look out to see whether he runs over hurdles or fences. Whichever race he ends up being declared for, he has a tremendous chance. He is a fantastic traveller and has certainly relaxed more as he gets older in his racing and big fields are certainly not a negative for him. He showed the other week at Ayr that he can certainly jump larger obstacle with ease and he could really have a really bright future. Now is the time to prove himself.

Ballyandy who won the Champion Bumper at Kempton last season, even though he had been beaten on his couple of starts over hurdles, showed all his ability last time out when winning the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury in great style and certainly showed that aiming at the Supreme Novices Hurdle or Neptune Novices Hurdle make perfect sense and he must have a great chance for the popular Nigel Twiston-Davies yard. They can look forward to celebrating in the pub in Guiting Power.

In the build up to The Cheltenham Festival, you can follow Neil’s top racing tips in his Racing Plus column and daily during Festival week. Enjoy all the action on ITV Racing and Racing UK.

The Wine Tipster saw Long Run beat the mighty Denman and Kauto Star to win The Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2011 (the most emotional reception I have witnessed at any racecourse for the first three, who were all winners) and yet this gutsy effort to beat two great champions took so much out of Long Run that he will never win a Gold Cup again in my opinion. It was hard to fancy him yesterday at the unfriendly odds of 11-8 to beat either Silviniaco Conti or The Giant Bolster in the Betfair Chase and whilst he managed to beat David

Bridgewater’s horse, Long Run couldn’t cope with the jumping display of the Nicholls’ trained Silviniaco Conti. Long Run is not a smooth jumper, yet his class still keeps him very competitive in races and in an open Cheltenham Gold Cup I will take some 8/1 each way on him finishing in the first three.

Was Nicky Henderson right to run Finian’s Rainbow in the extreme going? The horse never looked happy and you wonder if the winning pot had been smaller as to whether Finian’s Rainbow would have been pulled out. At Cheltenham the previous weekend the Henderson trained Spinning Sacre wasn’t risked because of the deteriorating ground conditions in the Sholer Chase and you do wonder whether Henderson should have done the same yesterday. Let’s hope the very talented Finian’s Rainbow puts in a winning performance in his next race.

Cheltenham Racecourse fully deserves its reputation as the centre of jump racing and The Open Meeting, November 15^th – 17^th proved this once again. Not only does Cheltenham provide quality racing to an appreciative crowd, there is also plenty to engage the racegoer before, during and after racing with the popular exhibitor village, including a range of clothing, jeweller, arts and the expanding Food Hall, which featured the high quality cheeses from Philip Stansfield at The Cornish Cheese Co and delicately flavoured meats from The Cotswold Curer.

Some horses to watch out for from The Open included the David Pipe trained Dynaste in the Steel Plate and Sections Novices Chase, who looked very accomplished and one to have in your selection at The Cheltenham Festival. Another Pipe horse, Ashkazar, who can be a tricky customer, was given a quiet ride by Timmy Murphy at the back of the race in the Henrietta Knight Handicap Chase before pulling up and I’ll be looking out for him next time he runs at Cheltenham. I would also like to see where Emma Lavelle goes next with Bouggler, who looked in excellent condition on returning after a lay off and wasn’t given a hard time once he weakened in the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Hurdle.