sport news Cheltenham Festival: Ireland earn early bragging rights after fascinating day ... trends now
One day down, three to go.
The Cheltenham Festival certainly lived up to expectations on Tuesday, with Constitution Hill stealing the show with a dominant performance in the Champion Hurdle. And there's so much more still to come.
Every morning Sportsmail will be dishing up a helping of Cheltenham Breakfast, as we take a look at everything happening both on and off the track.
Chamberlin holds on to his ITV job
The velvet-smooth Oli Bell is a key part of ITV's racing coverage, a man whose views are respected by viewers and industry colleagues alike. All colleagues except Ed Chamberlin, anyway.
Bell told hospitality punters on Tuesday that he fancied outsider The Wolf to win the Ultima but Chamberlin, ITV's anchorman, was having none of it.
Ed Chamberlin (second left) still has his job after winning a bet on the opening day
In fact, Chamberlin was so adamant that Bell was wrong that he vowed to step down and let his colleague present on ITV on Wednesday if he was proved right. As it was The Wolf finished way back, meaning a smug Chamberlin kept the hosting reins.
Egg on the face at Paddy Power after Jonbon defeatPaddy Power delivered a dose of generosity to punters back in November when their traders were so impressed by videos emerging of Jonbon in schooling that they paid out on the horse to win the Arkle early.
Fast forward five months and there was very much egg on the faces of the same traders at Power Tower. Nicky Henderson's charge ran a good race to come home in second but he couldn't deny 6/5 favourite El Fabiolo victory, meaning the Irish bookies ended up paying out on two horses to win the same race.
An awkward conversation for one or two members of staff has ensued.
Paddy Power tipping big 2024 for El FabioloSticking with El Fabiolo, and his Arkle win impressed so much that Paddy Power have cut his odds from 6/1 to 3/1 to win next year's Queen Mother Champion Chase.
The six-year-old proved he could handle the big occasion on Tuesday, and may charge to more glory in 2024.
Willie Mullins's six-year-old appeared to only be getting stronger up the testing Cheltenham hill.
El Fabiolo won on Tuesday and his odds slashed for next year's Queen Mother Champion Chase
Energumene and Editeur Du Gite will line up in Wednesday's Queen Mother Champion Chase with Edwardstone the favourite in the feature race of the day.
And once they've crossed the finishing line at Prestbury Park, all eyes will turn to a repeat battle on a different type of turf later in the day.
Energumene, last year's winner of this race, is owned by Brighton and Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom, whose high-flying Seagulls host rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium this evening.
Hoping for a double dose of despair for Bloom will be the Palace-mad Preston Family, who own Editeur Du Gite. Paddy Power price an Energumene/Brighton Win double at just shy of 3/1, with an Eagles victory coupled with success for 5/1 shot Editeur Du Gite a 44/1 shot.
Vaughan at Cheltenham after Yorkshire hearingEngland's 2005 Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan was in the parade ring on Tuesday afternoon taking in the Cheltenham atmosphere.
He appeared in good spirits just days after attending an independent hearing following allegations made by Azeem Rafiq that Vaughan had used racist and/or discriminatory language towards him and three other Asian team-mates at Yorkshire in 2009.
A verdict on Vaughan's conduct is expected before the end of the month.
Michael Vaughan appeared in good spirits at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday
Some felt that Britain could challenge Ireland at Cheltenham this year, but it's the Irish who take a 5-2 lead into Wednesday.
Mullins took the training honours thanks to wins for El Fabiolo and Gaillard Du Mesnil, while Michael O'Sullivan was the star in the saddle after riding Marine Nationale to glory in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and steering Jazzy Matty first past the post in the penultimate race of the day.
Trainer Willie Mullins had two winners on the opening day of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival
Michael O'Sullivan rode Marine Nationale and Jazzy Matty (above) to victory on the first day
A fairytale ending for Honeysuckle under Rachael Blackmore and a fairytale day for 315 players of Paddy Power's daily Pick 5 game.
They successfully picked five winners from five Cheltenham races to win a share of the £50,000 prize pool.
Punters will get another chance to win the free-to-play game, which is available on Paddy Power News, every day this week.
Beat the Bookies on day two - The CHEAT SHEET!Day one is in the books, and there's no time to dwell on the past with seven more races set to take place on Wednesday.
You may be struggling with some of your picks on what promises to be
