CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL Notebook

FORMER England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan (right) is expected to be at the track today to see the horse named after him. Captain Morgs lines up in the Pertemps Network Final and the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding looks to have a genuine chance, having won over course and distance in December. He has since been kept fresh for this race.

TRAINER Gordon Elliott was out bright and early on the track yesterday supervising the exercise of the 60 horses he has brought to the Festival. One of his best chances is Teahupoo in this afternoon’s Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle and Elliott is hoping for a better Cheltenham outcome for the horse than last year, when he finished a distant ninth in the Champion Hurdle. Elliott said: ‘I really fancied him but he wasn’t fast enough. He’s not a quick horse at home and all he does is stay.’

THE emotional scenes after Honeysuckle won tuesday’s Mares’ Hurdle were not just admiration for a great racehorse but also an outpouring of support for winning trainer Henry de bromhead and his family, who lost 13-year-old Jack in a riding accident in September. there will be plenty backing De bromhead’s five runners today in the Mares Novices’ Hurdle, which is being run in Jack’s memory.