Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Tips: Loader's taking on Mullins in the Champion Bumper

The first place to start is with Willie Mullins who is the all-time leading trainer in this race with eleven victories and he fields a strong team in this year's renewal fielding seven runners. His first string looks to be the favourite Facile Vega who created a strong impression when cruising to victory in the Grade 2 Goffs Future Star Bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.

The five-year-old gelding comes from a powerful family with his Dam being no less than superstar mare Quevega, who won at the Cheltenham Festival six times. He could open to further improvement and is joint best on ratings in this field. Furthermore, the jockey booking of Patrick Mullins has to be a positive who is likely to have had the first choice, however he is too short for me and I am prepared to look for some value elsewhere. 

Redemption Day has plenty of supporters after he made a winning start to his career at Leopardstown over Christmas and he could be a star in the making with Paul Townend booked for the ride. He might lack the experience but he needs to be respected and is one to note for market strength throughout the day.

Similar comments can be applied to his stablemates James's Gate, Madmansgame and Houlanbatordechais who are all lightly raced and could easily have more to offer after doing every little wrong.

Elliott's market challenger

American Mike is an interesting contender and he has been on my radar for this race for the majority of the season after taking an identical path to last year's winner Sir Gerhard winning the same races at Down Royal and Navan.

His trainer Gordon Elliott also has a good recent record in this race winning it twice since 2017 with top amateur Jamie Codd also riding on both occasions who is booked on the ride here.

The son of Mahler cost £195,000 at the sales and he started out life in point-to-points which is not a bad profile for this race as recent winners have come from that sphere. Furthermore he is bred for further and plenty of winners of Champion Bumper winners have stamina in their pedigree.

He appears to have been kept fresh for this race and seems be versatile on any ground so I wouldn't be concerned if the conditions did get quicker on the day. According to the betting he looks to be Gordon Elliott's main fancy for the race and I prefer him to the current market favourite.

Hennessy has an each-way play

Of those at bigger prices my eye is drawn to Ocean Of Mercy who is trained by Paul Hennessy. The six-year-old gelding has not been seen since the Cheltenham October Meeting when finishing third in a Listed Bumper over this C&D.

That form has been boosted by the winner, the second placed Top Dog who went on to score in a similar event at Newbury and reopposes here, as well as the fourth Aucunrisque who is now a Grade 2 winning hurdler. Despite not running since the autumn I think he has been saved for this and he looks to have his ideal ground. He will have to improve significantly but I just cannot let him go unbacked.

The best British hope could be Poetic Music, who is unbeaten after winning all of her three career starts and she was impressive when pulling away to score in a Listed race at this venue on New Years Day. The daughter of Poet's Voice will be in receipt of the fillies' and weight for age allowance which could be a valuable asset in this contest.

When it comes to my final thoughts on this race I am very keen to oppose Facile Vega who is too short at the top of the market and American Mike looks to be a worthy adversary for a combination who knows how to win this race, while Ocean Mercy looks to have gone under the radar and he is worth an each-way play for connections who should not be underestimated.

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