ED CHAMBERLIN: Four days of Cheltenham brilliance condensed into four frenzied hours as Burdett Road looks to transition from flats to hurdles

After the freeze comes the frenzy. From last Saturday’s all-weather diet to today’s jumping feast, a breathless day of racing lies ahead at Cheltenham. Never mind the festival: this is four brilliant days, condensed into four enchanting hours. Sits tight.

Trials Day in Cheltenham has produced 28 festival winners in ten years, so keep your eyes peeled. We may see the Triumph Hurdle winner in the opener, with Burdett Road and Sir Gino – first and second in the antepost betting – going head-to-head.

For years we have complained about our decent Flat horses being sold off to race abroad, but owner Tim Gredley is bucking the trend and really getting to work with some of the top performers at the level. Burdett Road won at Royal Ascot last June, but he behaves like a gazelle over hurdles.

He’s a little pocket rocket – Harry Cobden says he’s the best youngster he’s ever ridden – but Burdett Road will feel like Calvin Smith did against Carl Lewis when he started trotting into the paddock behind Sir Gino. Sir Gino is a stunner and the Seven Barrows team has high regard for him.

A horse that I think will mark the world later. Stay away Fay will forever be on my list after the huge favor he did me when he won the Albert Bartlett Hurdle at the Festival last year 18-1; I dare say he is my favorite horse in training.

Harry Cobden described Burdett Road as a pocket rocket and is the best juvenile he has ever ridden

Cobden is pictured riding over the final at Burdett Road to win the Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon Racecourse

I’m convinced he will one day be a Gold Cup contender and Paul Nicholls is putting him in early on against the big boys, like Betfair Chase hero Royale Pagaille and last year’s winner Ahoy Senor, in the Cotswold Chase ( 1.50).

No novice has won this race since the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). We still don’t know if Stay Away Fay is just good and maybe he is able to write a piece of history. Nicholls and Cobden could have a great day at Cheltenham and what a chance they have in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase (12.40pm).

They won it twelve months ago with Stage Star, and Ginny’s Destiny has a good chance of getting a sequel. Nicholls made no secret of how fat the horse was when he first came to him and he remains open to much improvement.

He was lucky to beat Gray Dawning here last time, but that still looks impressive. This is always a race to watch again and again. Last year a Turners Novices’ Chase winner defeated a Coral Gold Cup winner, Datsalrightgino.

The day is so good that I have yet to mention 12-year-old Paisley Park, running in the Cleeve Hurdle (3.35), but which really could be heralded as the best veterans’ race of all time.

Champ (12) and Dashel Drasher (11) will have their supporters, but nothing can match Paisley Park storming up the hill to win the Cleeve for the fourth time. It could hasten Cheltenham’s need for a new position.

However, there are plenty of dangers. Many will assume that Noble Yeats is just doing a lap in preparation for his bid to regain his Grand National title. If that was the case, why did Emmet Mullins book Cobden, the best in the business?

My heart firmly says Paisley Park. My head says Noble Yeats might surprise a few people.

I wrote in this column weeks ago that my wish for Premier Racing was an attempt to get the basics right and improve the racegoer experience. ‘Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic principles.’

Burdett Road will face Sir Gino, ridden here by Nico de Boinville, in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham

Stay Away Fay runs in the Cotswold Chase (1.50) later today and is a runner to keep an eye on

Cobden won the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase last year with Stage Star

So I’m really happy to see race start times in the spotlight and how lax we’ve become in this country (via a well-researched piece by Andrew Dietz in the Racing Post).

I am fully aware that half a ton of unpredictable animals can sometimes cause delays. But there is much more we can do, which will improve the viewer and racegoer experience. I have noticed improvements over the past few weeks and it seems like we are moving in the right direction. Last weekend in Lingfield the horses were even in the paddock on time and in race card order.

More of the same today, please.

Ed Chamberlin is one Sky bet British ambassador