Midnight Chase won the Argento from the front under a brilliant ride by Dougie Costello, stealing a soft lead and getting the fractions spot on as he blew the race apart from the front.

Back at his favored venue on decent ground, Midnight Chase was jumped out by Dougie Costello and never saw another rival over the 3m1f trip.

The unpredictable Tidal Bay, partnered by Ruby Walsh, came with a challenge turning for home, but was outpaced between the final two fences and although he closed all the way up the hill, he had given the 9-2 winner too much rope.

Diamond Harry was sent off the market leader and travelled well, but - not for the first time - did not appear comfortable on the undulations of Prestbury Park and was ultimately well beaten while Captain Chris, friendless in the market prior to the off, fenced as if something was amiss and jumped markedly to his right before being pulled up by Richard Johnson.

Mulholland said: "I'm delighted; we've had a bad time so this is great. We just haven't had the horses. We've had success for a couple of years and a lot are badly handicapped. You can take cars apart and change them, but you can't do that with horses. Thankfully Midnight Chase is always there to pull out a performance."

"I thought he was in the same form as a year ago, but he's got stronger and he's very genuine.

"He loves racing and he loves Cheltenham, so he has to go for the Gold Cup after that."

William Hill cut Midnight Chase to 20-1 for the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival horse racing betting.

Jockey Richard Johnson believes Sadler’s Risk can improve on his brilliant hurdling debut at Kempton when he runs in JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The four-year-old won twice on the Flat for Mark Johnston and could hardly have been more impressive on his first start over timber for Philip Hobbs earlier this month, winning by 17 lengths at Kempton.

He is now towards the head of the William Hill betting for Cheltenham Festival Triumph Hurdle itself in March and will get the chance to show he handles the track this weekend.

"Hopefully he runs on Saturday. I schooled him last week and this week and he has come out of his race really well," Richard Johnson told At The Races.

"We all feel he should have come on a bit for that run as he'd had a fair break off the Flat before Kempton. He jumped nicely and showed a very good attitude. He's a real strapping horse. You'd struggle to sit on him and realize he was a Flat horse, so that is a massive plus for a juvenile."

Grands Crus, the leading staying novice chaser, is the early favorite for the Argento Chase on Saturday after a potential field of 13 was entered on Monday for the feature race on the last afternoon of action at Cheltenham before the Festival.

Saturday's race is likely to decide whether Grands Crus will even line up against Long Run and Kauto Star, as it will be his first race in open company after just three outings against novices.

Grands Crus' trainer, David Pipe stressed on Monday that he has yet to decide whether the grey will travel to the Cotswolds this weekend, though there could be no better place to assess whether Grands Crus is ready for the toughest test of all.

"We'll decide in the week whether he runs or not, after we've seen how he is and thought about whether we want to run," Pipe said. "I'd expect we'll decide on Wednesday.

"Even if he wins on Saturday, that wouldn't confirm him in the Gold Cup in my eyes. If it was down to me, I'd leave everything until much nearer to the time to be cautious, just like I am with any horse."

The depth of the competition that could line up against Grands Crus is underlined by the Cheltenham Festival William Hill horse betting, which lists four of his possible opponents – Captain Chris, Diamond Harry, Time For Rupert and Midnight Chase.

Defending champion Hurricane Fly features among a total 27 horses entered for the Stan James Champion Hurdle, highlight of the first day of the Festival at Cheltenham on March 13^th.

The Willie Mullins-trained-eight-year-old victor has not been seen since his emphatic win at the Punchestown Festival last May, but is due to reappear in the Irish Champion Hurdle next weekend.

Hurricane Fly comfortably won the Stan James Champion Hurdle in 2011 and is currently the 2/1 favourite for the Stan James Champion Hurdle with the race sponsor to win for a second successive year.

Ireland’s champion trainer, Willie Mullins has also entered Thousand Stars, So Young, Mikael D'Haguenet, Zaidpour, Final Approach and Flat Out.

Nicky Henderson is another with multiple entries. Spirit Son, due to have a racecourse gallop at Newbury on Thursday, 2010 champion Binocular, last year's third Oscar Whisky and the improving Grandouet comprise his strong squad.

Paul Nicholls also has a strong hand. Rock On Ruby, narrowly denied at the Festival last year, Triumph Hurdle winner Zarkandar, Greatwood scorer Brampour and the durable Celestial Halo could all represent the Ditcheat maestro.

A possible improver could be Dermot Weld's Unaccompanied, who looked impressive when beating Thousand Stars in the Istabraq Festival Hurdle.

Donald McCain has left Overturn and Peddlers Cross in the race, although the latter is more likely to stick to novice chasing.

Oscars Well, Staying Article, Olofi and long-term absentee Bobby Ewing are also engaged at this stage.

With only 55 days to go, make William Hill your destination for betting on the Cheltenham Festival 2012.

Willie Mullins’ talented hurdle saw off three opponents for a convincing victory in the Follow Navan on Facebook Hurdle at Navan on Sunday.

The six-year-old made it three wins from three runs this season with a commanding win at the Meath track. With Ruby Walsh aboard he cruised to a comfortable win and Mullins has big plans for him.

“The Boyne Hurdle here next month is a possibility,” said the trainer. “He will be entered in the Champion Hurdle and the World Hurdle at Cheltenham in March. “In a fast-run two-mile race he would be competitive, but I have no doubt his future lies over two mile plus.”

In yesterday's event at Navan, Ruby Walsh was in the saddle for the two-mile race and the 1/3 favourite won by seven and a half lengths, despite the fact he would appear to be better over longer distances.

“The trip is definitely on the sharp side for him but that rode a good race, they went a good gallop and he quickened up well. I don't know where he'll go next but I imagine he'll have a lot of options,” Walsh explained.

Meanwhile, Mullins added: “Ruby was not afraid to make the pace and he did it well from the front. He jumped well and is a horse with lots of stamina - his best trip is way beyond that.”

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Senior batsmen Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey were steering Australia out of early trouble against India on the third day of the first Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Former skipper Ricky Ponting, who scored 62 in his first innings, was at the crease with the team tottering at 4/27 but joined forces with another besieged veteran, Mike Hussey to share a 115-run partnership to give Australia a chance of victory with two days left.

Australia lead by 230 runs with two second-innings wickets in hand after a day of drama which included 15 wickets falling.

Ponting and Hussey have so far put on 54 runs for the fifth wicket and halted Australia's slide after their four top-order batsmen batted poorly to leave the hosts in a mess.

However India's young paceman Yadav quickly ended Australia's celebrations when he removed David Warner (5), Ed Cowan (8) and Shaun Marsh (3) with only 24 runs on the board.

"We're 230 ahead now which I think is a reasonable total for India to chase but ideally I would like us to make a bit more than that," Ponting said.

Sehwag said India would be looking to keep Australia's lead under 300.

"I think it was a good day for India. The match is evenly balanced. If we win the game we will have to bat really well," he said.

Ponting praised Hussey's positive approach when he came to the crease with Australia in dire trouble.

"You have to show great intent in those situations and you have to be able to counter-attack at different times, and I thought the way that Mike Hussey handled that situation was great," he said.

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Golf betting fans are eager to hear the news about the latest in Thailand Golf Championship. World No.3 Lee Westwood fired a stunning 12-under 60 to take a commanding five-shot lead on the opening day of the inaugural $US1 million ($A1.01 million) Thailand Golf Championship on Thursday.

The 38-year-old Englishman sank an eagle and 10 birdies in his round and was six-under after the opening five holes. He made the turn in just 29 shots on his way to equaling the lowest score ever on the Asian Tour.

Westwood's 124 total gave him a lead of 14 shots over twice major winner John Daly, who followed up his opening round 65 with a one-over 73 to sit second in the clubhouse at the Amata Spring Country Club, 80-kilometres east of Bangkok.

"Arguably a better round this morning than yesterday in windy conditions! 64 to add to yesterday's 60. For sure the best I've ever played.-20," Westwood said on his Twitter account.

Starting the day with a five-shot lead over American Daly, Westwood opened with a par four on his first, the 10th, before three birdies in his next four holes set him on his way for another low round.

Another birdie came at the par four 18th, his ninth, to go out in 32 as his lead swelled to 10-shots over Daly.

Further birdies came at the second, fifth, seventh and eight, before he rolled in a seven-foot par putt on the ninth, his last, after a rare mistake when he missed the green with his approach.

The next record in Westwood's sights is that of the biggest winning margin on the Asian Tour which is held by South African Ernie Els, who won the 2005 Asian Open in China by 13 shots.

Judd Trump secured the biggest title of his life over the weekend with a 10-8 victory over Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, despite claiming he had only played in third gear during his week at the York Barbican Centre.

In May, Trump won the China Open - his first ranking title - and little over a month later was a surprise runner-up at the World Championship in Sheffield. But the attacking left-hander's title-winning run – which earned him £100,000 - has added further ammunition to the belief that he's going to dominate the sport for years to come.

"It feels brilliant. To win it the way I did was a great feeling, it's a brilliant achievement," Trump said. "Mark pushed me all the way and I was feeling nervous when he kept coming back, so I was just glad to get that chance to win it.

Allen, from Ulster and appearing in his first-ever ranking final, picked up £46,000 as a worthy runner-up for his excellent challenge at snooker's second biggest tournament. He admitted it had been difficult to stay in contention when Trump won seven frames on the trot.

"I knew it was going to be hard the way he was playing," Allen said. "The middle part of that match was the best I've ever seen Judd play. He scores so heavily and so quickly.

"I didn't feel as though I was doing that much wrong, but Judd was just a bit too good.

"I felt really good and I was just hoping for a chance if it went to the last frame. Judd just showed though what a good champion he is by winning that penultimate frame in one visit. Not many people do that when they're trying to win their first major title. This will be the icing on the cake for a great year for Judd."

Trump scored over a century in three frames out of four on his way to the big win and can feel certain that this is just the beginning of his winning streak. Snooker betting fans may place a bet at William Hill Sports.