National Hunt Steeple Chase Form

No current trainer can come close to the record of Jonjo O’Neill, with the master of Jackdaws Castle having sent out five winners of the four-mile contest including three consecutive successes from 2002 to 2004. So he clearly likes to target this race at the Cheltenham, he will no doubt have a strong hand once again in 2012 so we will be keeping a close eye on him throughout the winter.

There have been 16 Irish-trained winners of the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in the post-war period, most recently Chicago Grey who won last year for Gordon Elliott. We will be following all of the major contenders for the race throughout the season in the build up to the Festival in March, all of the major contenders will be featuring for punters to study before making their all important bet.

National Hunt Chase Racecard/Form Guide

The Sir Alex Ferguson owned Harry The Viking looks a real star of the future and he could well take his chance here after featuring among the early entries. Trained by Paul Nicholls, the horse has won four straight races this season including the last two at Doncaster and has to be respected. Harry won the Handicap Chase at Doncaster last time out just after Christmas despite a bad mistake, he recovered well that day and looks the ideal stayer looking to the future.

Willie Mullins has said he is likely to take the highly exciting Soll to Cheltenham for the National hunt Chase this season. The horse has just had the two runs for Willie Mullins and he won with ease last time out at Down Royal at the start of February, he is highly progressive at this stage and could be a real star going forward.

• National Hunt Steeple Chase 2011 Form Guide

Cheltenham Festival - Betting Tips