Horseracing: Barton and Seebald head Arkle field

Rising stars Barton and Seebald are among 57 entries unveiled today for the £125,000 Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase at Cheltenham.

The pair are set to line up in the two-mile event on the first day of the Festival on March 12.

The Tim Easterby-trained Barton, the 1999 Royal & SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle winner, has made an outstanding start over fences and won impressively at Newcastle last time out.

Seebald, one of Martin Pipe’s eight entries, completed a seven-timer at Warwick earlier this month.

Other entries are the Nicky Henderson-trained pair Fondmort and Blue Royal, Armaturk and St Pirran, from Paul Nicholls’ stable, and Truckers Tavern, an easy winner at Newcastle on Wednesday for Ferdy Murphy.

There is a particularly strong overseas challenge including, from France, Guillaume Macaire’s pair Imlight and Mont Misere, and no fewer than 15 Irish-trained entries a new record.

These include Jessica Harrington’s exciting Moscow Flyer, along with J P McManus’ pair, Youlneverwalkalone and Grimes, both trained by Christy Roche.