1. Lossiemouth enters serious Champion Hurdle conversation

Willie Mullins was never going to pass up the chance to have two odds-on chances in back-to-back Grade 1s at the Cheltenham Festival, so it was no surprise that Lossiemouth and State Man were kept apart on day one..

However, the same cannot be said for next year after State Man perhaps hinted that he is not quite as effective at Cheltenham as he is at Leopardstown and Punchestown, while Lossiemouth really put her hand up to become a serious player for next year’s Unibet Champion Hurdle.

Given his troubled recent run, it remains to be seen what version of Constitution Hill we will get to see in the immediate future, let alone next March. He could be in a different league to everything in this division, but if there are any chinks in his armour, a mare like Lossiemouth will be ready to capitalise when in receipt of the 7lb mares’ allowance.

There is any amount of water to go under the bridge between now and then, but it could be quite the headache for Paul Townend if the Mullins pair get to the 2024 Champion Hurdle in top form.

2. No sign of Irish dominance stopping

From a total of nine Irish-trained runners, the visitors filled the first eight places in last year’s 14-runner Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and it was a similar story this time around. The eight Irish runners in the 2024 opener ended up finishing in the first nine places, an indication that the current run of dominance for the visiting team shows no signs of stopping.

For good measure, there was an Irish one-two-three in the Arkle, a one-two in the National Hunt Chase and the visitors supplied the first five home in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

It looks as though the immediate future won’t be challenging for the home team.

3. Tough times roll on for Henderson

The lack of British involvement at the business end of the day one action was extremely apparent, with Paul Nicholls’ only runner, Liari (SP 9/2), pulled up in the Boodles, Harry Fry out of luck with his sole challenger, Love Envoi, and Dan Skelton not represented on the card at all.

However, most striking was how disappointingly Nicky Henderson’s runners fared. There had been much chat in the lead up to the meeting that his string were looking out of form, and those concerns materialised in no uncertain terms at Prestbury Park. Henderson could offer no explanation for Jeriko Du Reponet or Iberico Lord’s blowouts and by the end of the afternoon, five of his six runners on the Wednesday card had pulled out.

Luccia’s cracking third in the Champion Hurdle came as a fillip to the Seven Barrows team, but it must be gut-wrenching for one of the finest trainers in the game to hit such a slump at the most inopportune time of the year.

4. Clock points to demanding ground

It only took until after the second race for the going to change to heavy, soft in places (from soft, heavy in places), and it was clearly a testing surface for runners to contend with.

According to Timeform’s Dan Barber, an official time of four minutes and 13.3 seconds ranks as the slowest time for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle this century - and by more than five seconds.

Given connections of Lark In The Mornin were so keen to avoid heavy conditions all spring and declared him a non-runner three times in the space of 10 days last month, he must have been ridiculously well handicapped off a mark of 126. Imagine if the useful flat performer had got his favoured decent ground - it could have been a demolition job.

5. All good in the hood for Mullins

One of the most eyecatching elements of the day one declarations was just how often Willie Mullins opted to fit first-time hoods on his horses. In the last decade, Mullins had only used a hood for the first time on 10 runners at the meeting, with none failing to collect and two juveniles in second.

However, five of his 20 runners wore this new headgear on Tuesday and the experiment seemed to go well. Mystical Power, one of the five, finished second in the Supreme, Gaelic Warrior appeared to be transformed by the hood and won the Arkle, while Embassy Gardens couldn’t match Corbetts Cross but finished second in the National Hunt Chase. Emmet Mullins’ runaway winner also won in a first-time hood, while Willie’s Ultima third Meetingofthewaters was hooded too.