National Spirit Hurdle day at Fontwell Park: preview and tips

Racing gets under way at 2pm on Sunday with a novices’ hurdle contest in class four before the card comes to a close at 5pm as eight runners tackle the extended two-mile bumper.

Read below to discover the latest tips and a full preview of the Fontwell card courtesy of Punters Lounge, who have the most up-to-date Cheltenham Festival racecards available ahead of the Festival.

The opening contest of the afternoon at Fontwell (2.00) sees a field of four tackle the class four novices hurdle over the two mile and a furlong trip. £130,000 recruit Glynn Brae looks the one to beat for the Nigel Twiston-Davies team, a winner of a course and distance last novice last month that is a major player once again despite conceding weight all round to his three rivals.

Race two on the card (2.30) is a much bigger field of 11 heading to post for the class five handicap chase. Sussex trainers Gary and Josh Moore have a strong hand here with Celtic Ned, a fair hurdler that has been slightly underwhelming over the bigger obstacles but has shown potential of being handy in this sphere so he is taken to get the job done in what looks a fairly weak contest.

The feature race of the day is up next with the Grade 2 National Spirit Hurdle (3.00) and five runners will take on the two mile and three furlong trip to land the top prize of £45,560. The Moores could bag the glory here with Salver, a four-time winner last season that has continued in good form this time around, running well when falling at the last in the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham before an excellent second at Windsor last time out. Nemean Lion, winner of that Windsor race, rates the chief threat and is taken to fill second owing to a 3lb difference in the weights to his rival here.

A two mile and five furlong handicap hurdle in class four marks race four on the card (3.30) and this could be another winner on the day for the Moores with Kalif D’airy, runner up in all of his last three outings and was a well-clear 21 lengths ahead with an improver at Sandown last time out, so a 4lb rise in the weights might not be enough to stop him finally going in.

Ami Bondhu looks the way to go in the class five handicap hurdle at 4.00, only fourth last time out when failing to build on a promising handicap debut but this is a weaker contest here and should get the job done, while the penultimate race of the day (4.30) can head to Record High, who has only raced twice in two years but that last start was a back to form second over cheers here and has been threatening to win.

Finally, the card comes to a close with the class five bumper (5.00) and preference in the finale heads the way of Gaelic Pride, a Warren Greatrex-trained runner that cost £50,000 after winning an Irish point-to-point and has the eye-catching booking of top jockey Harry Cobden here to boost his chances.

Fontwell selections - Sunday

2.00 - Glynn Brae

2.30 - Celtic Ned

3.00 - Salver

3.30 - Kalif D’airy

4.00 - Ami Bondhu

4.30 - Record High

5.00 - Gaelic Pride