Reigning champion Al Boum Photo is one of 20 horses still in contention for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup following the latest scratchings deadline for the six non-novice Grade Ones at next month’s Festival.

Had events unfolded the way Nicky Henderson hoped at the start of the season Altior would not be running in the Grade Two Win Bigger On The Betfair Exchange Chase at Newbury this afternoon.

Darren Norris selects eight takeaways from the Dublin Racing Festival with a view towards Cheltenham.

Talking horses with Darren Norris.

So much will happen between lunch time today and dinner time tomorrow that looking backwards to last week and as far back as last weekend seems pointless with how much the future has to offer.

Yes, indeed, Footpad again buried punters — many of them — one more time when failing to deliver in a Grade 2 chase at Thurles last Sunday.

What What did we learn from the Christmas racing period? Lots we already knew, and a few things that we should have known.

Yesterday bookmakers were going 5-1 the field for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and that indicates they’re just as confused as us mere punters.

Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott are responsible for nine of the 14 remaining entries in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown on Sunday.

If Giant’s Causeway was the iron horse of flat racing then it is no exaggeration to describe Un De Sceaux as the National Hunt equivalent.

After 24 very good years, yesterday I bowed out after winning the Punchestown Gold Cup on Kemboy.

Un de Sceaux has upset the odds to claim the feature race on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival - the BoyleSportsChampion Chase.

AP McCoy shares his thoughts on the psychology of success.

I have some great rides to look forward on the opening day of the Punchestown festival, it’s a brilliant week and I can’t wait for it to get underway.

Barry Geraghty could miss tomorrow's Grand National at Aintree.

Ruby Walsh led his rivals a merry dance once again when making all the running on Min in the JLT Chase at Aintree.

Funny sort of week. Great week for Willie and a brilliant week for Paul Townend, but it was a funny week for me.

Oh, the up and downs, the highs and lows of national hunt racing. Yesterday had it all for me. It was amazing to win the first race on Klassical Dream and to watch Duc Des Genievres win the second – it was clear the horses were in great order.

With the rain that fell yesterday afternoon and all that is expected today, Sams Profile can reverse recent form over Battleoverdoyen when they renew rivalry in the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, the opening race on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

The Gordon Elliott-trained Battleoverdoyen gets the nap to retain his unbeaten record in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Provided it gets the go-ahead, day two of Cheltenham will see two three-time heroes go in search of a fourth Festival success and it’ll rank as a massive surprise if Altior and Tiger Roll fail to oblige.

He’s a winning machine on the brink of equalling a modern-day winning sequence — so why has three-time Cheltenham Festival winner Altior yet to fully capture the public imagination?

Altior will face eight rivals when he attempts to win back-to-back renewals of the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham tomorrow.

For years the hardest place in the world to tip a winner was Cheltenham. For years the hardest place in the world to back a winner was Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins has three potential runners as he bids to continue his dominance of the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

Some say Samcro disappointed at Down Royal, where he was picked off by the fitter Bedrock (Rachael Blackmore), but Kennedy won’t be hanging around today, writes Ruby Walsh

Tuesday, the opening day of the Punchestown, was to be Willie Mullins’ day. Expectation was high that the stable could make the necessary start in its bid to reel in championship leader Gordon Elliott in the race for the trainers’ title. And so it did.

That result saw Mullins close the trainers' championship deficit to €226,714, having been over €521,000 behind Gordon Elliott at the start of the day.

The finale to the National Hunt season could hardly start on a better note, with three fantastic Grade Ones on the seven-race card on the first day of the Punchestown Festival.

After a seemingly endless spell of testing ground, the weather has finally changed and the forecast for next week is for mainly dry weather, with the odd shower of rain, writes Ruby Walsh.

A week and a season that was far from ideal for Altior turned around dramatically when he extended his perfect record over obstacles to 14 with a brilliant display in the Betway Champion Chase.

The clash of Douvan, Altior, and Min in this afternoon’s Betway Champion Chase is even more than we could have hoped for as a feature on day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

Henry De Bromhead’s Monalee can lead his rivals a merry dance in the RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham this afternoon.

Yesterday was a great day, a very emotional day, a day that I owe to a lot of people.

Altior has suffered a fitness scare in preparation for tomorrow’s Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

The real Trials Days take place at Leopardstown and you can bet the tank it will produce a share of Cheltenham winners, writes Pat Keane

Leopardstown’s Christmas festival had everything, both from Willie Mullins’ point of view, and from the racecourse point of view, writes Ruby Walsh.

There were many treats over the last four days in Ireland and Britain, but for me the biggest star to emerge was Willie Mullins’ Footpad in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown on Tuesday, writes Pat Keane.

It’s day two of the Leopardstown and Limerick festivals and much attention will be on Min, who contests the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at the Dublin track, writes Ruby Walsh

In 1999 Westlife were No. 1 at Christmas, Bobbyjo won the National, Meath were All-Ireland football champions, and I spent Christmas with my right leg in a cast, writes Ruby Walsh.

It’s been less than a week since a 26ft statue of Pharoah Ramses II, or Ozymandias as the Greeks liked to call him, was rescued from its ignoble resting place beneath a suburban Cairo slum and surrounded by dirty, running water.