Three Of The Biggest Duals At This Seasons Cheltenham Festival

Arguably the race of the four days this year is set to be the Champion Chase with the contest being dominated by Altior over the last few seasons and him looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in the contest but this season will have his work cut out.

Henderson's stable star has not had the season he would have wanted only running once and losing his 19 race unbeaten streak to Cyrname when stepped up in trip at Ascot.

Since then he has suffered with little training setbacks and has not been seen, not having the ideal preparation ahead of his title defence but there is still the factor of his star quality that makes him the one to beat.

In normal seasons the nine year old has had tough opponents but this term it has been exceeded with Defi Du Seuil looking like two of the best horses he will ever come against in this event.

Defi Du Seuil has been faultless all year round winning all four of his contests over two miles including back to back Grade Ones in his last two runs in the Clarence House and Tingle Creek.

Chacun Pour Soi for Willie Mullins has been touted as one of the best horses the yard currently has and with the abundance of talent that the Irishman has that is some statement.

Very unexposed for Mullins only racing four times in three years but last time out cruised to victory in the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown to throw his name in the hat.

It is set to be one hell of a contest that we can not wait for and it is to early to name our winner with still five weeks left before the big one.

A race that does not normally see this amount of talent in the field is the Triumph Hurdle that in the past has been won or the market has been taken over by one sole gem of a horse.

However, this season there are two stand alone entries in Goshen for Gary Moore and Allmankind for Dan Skelton and in the betting they can not be split apart and it sets up a great spectacle.

The two youngsters have been superb in their first campaigns over hurdles with Goshen coming from the flat and racing three times over timber and winning his events by a combined 68 lengths.

He needs to learn to jump slightly better but has one of the best engines ever seen in a jumps horse, it really is frightening how quick and effortless he glides across the courses.

Allmankind on the other hand is also unbeaten on all three of his starts with the four year old taking on the same front running tactics as Goshen which is what will make the battle between them that extra special.

Dan Skelton's juvenile has the added advantage over Goshen of racing left handed at Cheltenham already this season whilst also landing a Grade One last time out which looks slightly the stronger form.

However, there is very little between these two and it looks to be a race that will go down in the history books.

The final dual, that if both mares end up racing against each other in the Mares Hurdle on the Tuesday, could be the greatest edition of the race ever seen.

Honeysuckle for Henry De Bromhead potentially against Benie Des Dieux is a race that every fan would love to see but from a better perspective would be a nightmare as they are so likeable and talented.

The trainers star mare is still unbeaten under rules and last time out and has shown how good she can be when taking on the boys and beating them with ease to land her first Grade One in the Hatton's Grace Hurdle and last time out in the Irish Champion Hurdle just getting up on the line.

Benie Des Dieux for Willie Mullins on the hand has been labelled as the best mare he has ever trained and in a world with Quevega and Annie Power that is a supremely bold statement that should not be taken lightly.

The French exploit has proven over bother hurdles and fences only being beaten once under her trainer in nine outings and that was when coming down at the last at the festival last year, where she would have romped to victory.

For us this could be one of the great races of our generation but with both of them offering entries in the Stayers Hurdle and Champion Hurdle it may become unlikely that they face-off against each other.