THERE'S nothing so good as getting off to a winning start at the Cheltenham Festival and in the shape of Albuhera (2.00) I believe the punters are going to draw first blood in the battle with the bookies.

Albuhera (2.00) lines up in the opening two-mile Supreme Novices' Hurdle with an outstanding opportunity to launch favourite backers off to a flyer by securing the Class A £100,000 contest.

Owned by the Yorkshire-based construction supremo, David Jackson, Albuhera was a listed handicap scorer when trained on the Flat by Mark Johnston at Middleham. But like all of Jackson's horses, they are bought to do two jobs and when finished on the level the next step involves a crack over jumps.

Since Johnston doesn't train jumpers anymore, Albuhera was dispatched to top-notch west-country handler Paul Nicholls to see what he could make of the strapping son of Desert Style.

After being beaten first time up at Chepstow , some cynics took the view that the gelding wasn't enjoying his new role. Indeed, Nicholls confessed in the post-mortem that his charge hadn't been a natural when presented with a few flights of hurdles to school over at home.

To his credit Albuhera proved to be a very quick learner and has since won no less than six times over hurdles, including at Cheltenham and Newbury last time out, where he spread-eagled the opposition with ruthless efficiency.

The horse who got nearest to the selection that day, the six-length runner-up Scorned, won Saturday's fiercely-competitive Imperial Cup at Sandown, a superb effort which puts into context the sheer strength of Albuhera's claims.

Ruby Walsh, rider of Albuhera, is quoted around 3-1 to be the leading jockey at the meeting and if anyone can cause an upset in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle by beating the white-hot favourite Rooster Booster, then it is Walsh aboard Rigmarole.

Having started the season as nothing more than a useful handicapper, Rigmarole (3.20) has improved out of all proportion and at odds of around 7-2 is surely worth an each-way wager. Mick Fitzgerald's broken limbs have mended bang on cue in order to ride Festival specialist Marlborough (4.00) in the William Hill National Hunt Chase.

Arguably the most durable chaser currently in training, Marlborough won this very race four years ago off a 16lb lower mark. Clearly on the revised terms he has an extremely tough task to repeat the feat, however such is his will to win he might well be able to pull it off once again.

In Sunday's Festival preview Ferdy Murphy highlighted the chances of the potentially big-priced outsider Dominikus (4.40) for the Kim Muir Amateur Riders' Chase.

In the certain knowledge that Dominikus has been aimed specifically at the three-miler, plus has the assistance of the talented Keith Mercer in the saddle and the added advantage of being near the foot of the weights, another each-way punt is the advice from this quarter.

In the closing Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final, a similar bet on Mary Reveley's decent stayer, Hidden Bounty (5.20), could be the answer to what appears to be the toughest race of the first day.

Team Reveley have a pretty poor overall record at the fixture, nonetheless Hidden Bounty (5.20) has all the right ticks in all the right boxes, notably his latest success at Newcastle where he got the best of a prolonged tussle with Sue Smith's highly-talented gelding, Undeniable.

Best bet at Sedgefield is Upswing (5.30) in the El Sid National Hunt Novices' Handicap Hurdle.

Upswing, banned for 40-days under the non-triers rule at Catterick in January, is a winner waiting to happen. The seven-year-old came from a country mile back to snatch third-spot on that occasion and provided he's ridden nearer to the pace is in with a major shout.

* The Tote big screen will be at Sedgefield today showing all the action from Cheltehham. Admission price has also been halved to £6 and a voucher for a free pint of lager or bitter will be given to all adults at the turnstiles.