THE addition of mares’ races to the Cheltenham Festival has been a topic of debate in recent years. The mares’ novice hurdle has been the domain of Willie Mullins since its inception and is perhaps still not yet one of the more interesting of the graded races.

However, you do have to think that this season it’s shaping up to be a rather tasty looking contest, if all the mares that have shown more than average ability already.