Festival first for flat king Cecil

HENRY Cecil makes his first ever visit to the Cheltenham Festival today and could even mark his appearance with a winner.

The legend of the Flat is running the Niarchos family-owned Plato in the St Patrick’s Day Derby, a fundraiser for Cancer Research UK.

A winner of a maiden at Newmarket last summer and joint-highest on ratings in the field, Plato will be ridden by Lorna Fowler, the broadcaster and sister of jockey Mark Bradburne.

“I am looking forward to having my first runner at Cheltenham and he should run well,” Cecil told his website.

Further glamour will be provided by Sky Sports News presenter Rachel Wyse, who is riding the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Silent Jo.

Channel 4 Racing presenter Alice Plunkett, the only woman to have ridden around Aintree and Badminton, will take the mount on Devil To Pay.

Another possible winner of the mile-and-five-furlong event could be the Shark Hanlon-trained Super Collider, who used to be with Michael Jarvis.