Lucinda Russell
Lucinda Russell’s William Hill Blog: Cheltenham Festival Days 1 and 2

William Hill ambassador Lucinda Russell previews her runners of days one and two of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
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Tuesday, Cheltenham
We have two runners on the first day of the Festival in the Ultima (2.40pm), and we’ll start by talking about Whistle Stop Tour. On Trials Day he ran really well considering the trip was well, well short of his optimum. We had it in our mind from a way out that we wanted to come to the Ultima and so it was pleasing to see him run encouragingly that day. He has course experience and he’ll stay three miles easily, and he’s a very honest horse. We hope that he will improve stepping back up in trip and we think he’ll be right there.
Myretown is our other runner on the day and is a fascinating contender in the Ultima too. He’s a really lightly raced horse but one with an awful lot of talent. He’s ran mainly in small field races and when he has done he has mostly won because he’s been a class apart from his rivals. It was a shame to see him fall at Windsor two starts ago because he had been jumping so exuberantly before that. It was therefore pleasing to see him win so well at Kelso last time out, and he was very impressive. He seemed to jump better and to have learned for his fall. He’s yet to run in a big field handicap yet, but there’s nothing about him that I’d say would inhibit his chance in a race like this. We think he will go up through the handicap, so we want to make the most of his mark while he has it. If he puts it all together, he’d have a chance as he’s a lovely horse.
Wednesday, Cheltenham
We also have two runners on the Wednesday in the Grand Annual (4.40pm), and we’ll start with Traprain Law. He ran nicely at Musselburgh the other day and really, his run at Kempton over Christmas made him as it really sharpened him up. He’d want a little more cut in the ground but he’s definitely a two-miler and we like his chances if they get a drop of rain.
We’ve always thought so much of Primoz and we’re excited to see him take his chance in the race. He’s put in some nice performances this season and it was really pleasing to see him win the way he did at Kelso last time. Like I said, we’ve always thought he could be a really good horse, and for him this year at Cheltenham, it’ll just be about putting everything together at once. We’ve treated him for gastric ulcers and now they’re sorted out, we think he’s a solid jumper with a nice chance.