Cheltenham Festival Tips Day 1: Opposing the favourites on Tuesday

The Cheltenham Festival is upon us and we've enlisted our resident football tipster and keen horse racing fan @TwoPoundPunt to give us his best bets of day one from Prestbury Park.

He's put up four singles and we've combined for a Lucky 15.

Paddy Power are offering a free £10 bet on all of today's races from Cheltenham if you open an account and have a £20 bet on the first race of the day, the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

For more expert Cheltenham Festival tips and insight for the rest of the week visit our sister horse racing site.

If you're following good luck with your bets and please remember to gamble responsibly.

Probably playing for places here with Shiskin a very warm favourite for the Arkle Challenge Trophy at 13:55. However, Franco De Port has decent form on the ground with three runs returning a win and two places. His stats for the distance are the same. He won a Grade 1 at Leopardstown on boxing day and followed that up coming second to what would have been another warm favourite in Energumene.

The Festival Handicap Chase at 14:30 feels like an open race and with five places on offer with Paddy Power we can try and go for some value. I have been talked into Pym by Kris but there are stats to back this up. In four trips to the track, he has a win and two places. He has better form on good to soft which could well be the case come the afternoon and with a 75% win rate I am happy to take a punt.

My third selection comes in the feature, the Champion Hurdle off at 15:05. Second in this race last year behind Epatante, I think Sharjah will get much better conditions this time around. He completed a hat-trick of wins in the Grade 1 Hurdle at Leopardstown over the winter beating a number of horses in today’s race. If he runs his race he should be well in the mix for the places at least.

Last up I've picked Roksana to win the Mares' Hurdle at 15:40. She's one we have backed many times before and will stay loyal to again here. Solid numbers across the board, 67% place rates for races at Cheltenham and over the distance and a slightly better 70% on the ground. The jolly, Concertista, has been tipped up in multiple places but Roksana should make a race of it.

If you're adding these into a Lucky 15 with Paddy Power all four winners will pay over 8000/1. Good luck!