Expect Astracad to be the best bet for Twiston-Davies

Yet the Cotswolds-based trainer believes Astracad could be the pick of his select Festival team when he takes on Ferdy Murphy’s De Boitron in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase, Friday’s finale to the entire Festival.

This is the race that Twiston-Davies famously won two years ago with Pigeon Island on an unforgottable afternoon that saw Imperial Commander record his finest victory before the frontrunning Baby Run landed an emotional Foxhunters for the trainer’s eldest son Sam.

Astracad – owned, like Pigeon Island, by Raymond Mould – has enjoyed a long lay-off since chasing home top novice chaser Al Ferof at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power meeting before narrowly beating Venetia Williams’s highly-rated Rileyev in December at the same track.

“Astracad is in very good heart and looking forward to that,” said Twiston-Davies.

“He’s in the very last race of the meeting and that will be our best chance. That’s a shame but there you go. He’ll not have run for three months but he’ll be fit enough.”

Others he is looking forward to saddling include Little Josh in Thursday’s Ryanair Chase and Ackertac in the Pulteney Land Novices’ Handicap Chase, tomorrow’s concluding contest.

“Little Josh is 100 per cent and I’m looking forward to running him in the Ryanair,” said the trainer.

“Ackertac has come across some very nice types and improving horses and he was unlucky not to win this year, but he’s in great heart and off not too bad a mark.

“We’ve got old Kayf Aramis, Tour Des Champs and Pettifour all going in the Pertemps. They’ve got chances and we’ve got quite a few in the handicaps.

“We’ve got a nice new one called Changing Times, who has just arrived from Ireland. He’ll get in one of the handicaps and he looks quite good.

“He looks a smashing sort. My slight worry would be his last two wins have been on heavy ground and I don’t think we’ll have that at Cheltenham.”

Meanwhile, Colin Tizzard thinks tactics could very well play a key role in tomorrow’s Racing Post Arkle.

Tizzard fields Cue Card in the two-mile race headed by Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten charge Sprinter Sacre, a potential superstar.

Cue Card arrives on the back of a win at Newbury and Tizzard expects his horse to set a blistering pace that will test the jumping of his rivals.

“He schooled last week and jumped superbly. It’s going to be a very tactical race.

“Sprinter Sacre is a very good horse, but so is Cue Card and we’re looking forward to it,” said Tizzard whose son Joe will be in the saddle.

Cue Card won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper for Tizzard back in 2010 and the team will field recent Ascot winner Royal Guardsman in that race this time.

Tizzard added: “Royal Guardsman is in good form and is a very talented horse. His run at Fontwell was awesome and we wanted to give him one more run before Cheltenham.”