With the Festival running from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th March at Prestbury Park, the shortening favourites for Cheltenham are already making headlines as punters look to get ahead of the market. If you're looking to bet on horse racing ahead of jump racing's showpiece event, here's a rundown of the horses commanding the tightest ante-post prices across the four days.

Lulamba — Arkle Chase (9/5)

Already a dual Grade 1 winner, Lulamba has followed in the footsteps of some genuine legends by taking on open-company horses en route to the Arkle, most recently winning the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.

Henderson won the Arkle with Jango Baie last year, and he looks to have a serious contender again this time. The key question is whether Lulamba's jumping will hold up under Festival pressure — he was far from foot-perfect at Newbury.

Majborough — Queen Mother Champion Chase (7/4)

The Willie Mullins-trained Majborough heads the Champion Chase market after one of the most devastating performances seen in two-mile chasing for years. At the Dublin Racing Festival, he produced an exhibition of jumping to demolish defending champion Marine Nationale by 19 lengths.

It was the kind of display that ended arguments. Mullins' charge has always had the talent; now that it's all clicking together, he looks a formidable opponent. Marine Nationale will try to bounce back, but Majborough's performance in the Leopardstown mud was something special.

Bambino Fever — Mares' Novices' Hurdle (7/4)

Last season's Champion Bumper heroine makes the transition to hurdling and immediately heads the market for the Dawn Run Mares' Novices' Hurdle. Willie Mullins was effusive about her even before she'd jumped a hurdle, describing her as having a huge engine and being a lovely big mare.

She duly made amends for a surprise debut defeat with a 12-length victory at Fairyhouse, marking herself down as one of the Irish bankers of the meeting. She did lose to Gordon Elliott's Oldschool Outlaw on hurdling debut, and that rival could yet give her more to think about.

Lossiemouth — Mares' Hurdle (5/4)

Lossiemouth bids for a remarkable third successive win in the Mares' Hurdle, though her route to Cheltenham has been complicated by a defeat at the hands of Brighterdaysahead in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Connections once again appear increasingly likely to take the safer route and pursue hat-trick glory in the Mares' race — a contest she has won with authority in each of the last two seasons. A third victory would be a truly brilliant achievement, and she remains short for good reason.

Fact To File — Ryanair Chase (6/4)

Mullins’ versatile chaser put himself firmly in the Cheltenham picture with a commanding victory in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival, immediately fuelling speculation that connections might supplement him for the Gold Cup.

As it stands, he remains the Ryanair favourite, defending the crown he won at last year's Festival. He's a horse who seems to excel in big-race conditions, and his Irish Gold Cup win showed he has the engine to compete at the very highest level. If he does end up in the Gold Cup instead, the Ryanair market will be blown wide open.

Dinoblue — Mares' Chase (15/8)

Defending champion Dinoblue has been nothing short of a marvel this season, winning her fifth successive race in mares-only company with an easy 11-length victory in the Opera Hat Mares' Chase at Naas.

J.P. McManus' mare, trained by Mullins, is the very definition of a reliable performer — her racing manager Frank Berry put it succinctly when he said "she turns up every day and you can set your clock by her." Stablemate Spindleberry is her most likely danger, though she'll need to improve considerably to deny a champion who shows no signs of stopping.