THE countdown to the Cheltenham Festival will continue at Naas this Sunday with the Paddy Power Cheltenham Trials Day. Punters will be treated to plenty of clues on and off the track ahead of the Cheltenham Festival next month with a number of horses looking to book their ticket to Prestbury Park.

Prior to racing the Paddy Power Winning Line will take place in The Circle Bar at 12:45pm. The Circle Bar is located on the ground floor of our new feature building, The Circle. The expert panel will be hosted by Thom Malone and will feature At the Races presenter Kevin O’Ryan, Paddy Power representative Tom Nugent, Grade 1 winning jockey Danny Mullins and Irish Gold Cup winning trainer Joseph O’Brien.

The panel will be giving punters top tips for the day and the lowdown ahead of the Cheltenham Festival. Also throughout the day and between races a Cheltenham Preview will take place in the parade ring. Some of Ireland’s leading trainers and jockeys including Jessica Harrington, Gordon Elliott, Rachel Blackmore, Davy Russell and Robbie Power will be interviewed in the Parade Ring about their best chances ahead of the festival.

ENTRIES

Cheltenham entries Hardline and Makitorix line up in the Grade 2 Paddy Power Onside App Novice Hurdle for Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins while Elliott is also represented by impressive Naas maiden hurdle winner Cartwright and hurdling newcomer Defi Bleu. Last year’s winning connections Jessica Harrington and Robbie Power will bid to land the Grade 2 again this time with the talented Impact Factor.

Gordon Elliott commented this morning: “We’ve declared three for the big race at Naas and it looked an obvious place to go for Hardline after he won at Punchestown last time over the same trip. This is another step up in grade so we’ll see how he gets on. Cartwright won well at Naas earlier in the month. That was a maiden so it’s a step up for him too but he looks a nice horse and Defi Bleu is having his first run over hurdles for us but he ran in a point-to-point and won his bumper so we’ll learn more about him on Sunday.”

Power said of his mount Impact Factor: “He’s been in very good form and working real well. It was a race we were lucky to win with Forge Meadow last year and Impact Factor was very impressive winning his maiden hurdle at Punchestown and the runner-up has come out and won since. He is a horse that we think has a bright future.”

The Henry De Bromhead-trained Allister D’irlande will try and win the Grade 3 Paddy Power Rewards Chase for a second consecutive year when taking on Cheltenham Festival entries Ball D’arc and Doctor Phoenix, while the concluding bumper looks a fascinating race with the Willie Mullins-trained Carefully Selected taking on Gordon Elliott’s impressive Navan bumper winner Invincible Cave.

Admission tickets are €15 and include a €5 free bet, the first of eight races will kick off at 1.40pm.