WINNER two years ago, the brilliant mare Apple’s Jade headlines 30 entries for the £120,000 Grade 1 OLBG Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on the opening day of the 2018 festival.

Apple’s Jade who won the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle in 2017, could only finish third last year as Benie Des Dieux gained the spoils and gave her trainer Willie Mullins a remarkable ninth victory in the race, which was first run in 2008.