1730: The only way to resume winning form is to work harder. I'm off back to my luxury chateau to study, study and study like I never have done before (after a medicinal pint or seven). Join me tomorrow as the roller-coaster ride takes off again. There's something special in the air, but that might just be smell of 100 sweaty men in an unventilated press room. Over and out.

1725: They're lining up at Hexham. I must be strong. I. Must. Be. Strong.

1714: I have received a rather excellent poem offering a rather unique perspective upon Gold Cup day, but sadly it's just a little long to appear on the blog. The sender should feel proud of themselves though. However, my spot prize of a £50 bet goes to regular emailer Rich L, for his view that Christophe Pieux's decision to stay wide "must have cost him at least 30 lengths, because anyone who has played G1jockey on the PS knows that saving ground on the inside is paramount". I may not agree with his view that Pieux cost Kasbah Bliss victory, but one thing that we do agree on is the importance of sticking to the inside around the bend (particularly at a sharper track like Thames) when it comes to G1jockey. Rich, send me your Skybet user name or account number and I'll do my best to sort you out with a free wager.

1707: Character Building is 14/1 from 20/1 for the Grand National with Sky Bet.

1703: According to my computer, I have an unresponsive script. I know how my script feels, as I'm not feeling much like being responsive at the moment. The last film I went to see, that Vicky and Christina thing, also had a pretty unresponsive script.

1658: Hard not to feel that Nina Carberry has been spending too much time at the Christophe Pieux school of race-riding, judged by the way she conceded the outside to no-one there.

1650: I think, upon reflection, that I'm just glad there isn't another race left in which to lose my money. What a shocker. Four horses backed, all each-way, including the two shortest in the betting in the whole race and even the payout on fifth place wasn't enough to see me collect. I think tomorrow I'll go back to telling you what I've backed after the race. If I come back tomorrow, that is.

1639: That's not a false start. It's a breakway. Don't let the man from the British Horseracing Authority hear you say that it was a false start or you'll get a right lecture.

1632: Don't forget that Sky Bet are paying five places on this race for each-way punters if, like me, you're in need of a winner to put the account balance back into the black. I've gone for Shouldhavehadthat, Alexanderthegreat and my old friend Le Duc (always a horse to be backed each-way due to his habit of finding ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory).

1622: The replay shows that Tony McCoy was lucky to escape without serious injury after being brought down in the melee. The injuries already sustained today by Paul Carberry and Ollie Greenall are a reminder of how dangerous a game this can be.

1606: Is there a prize for second and third? Le Burf would have gone close for the each-way money if he hadn't fallen too. What a cruel game this is sometimes.

1558: Forecast guru Jonny Rose has been on with his daily passport to fortune - It's Finger Onthepulse and Perce Rock for him. No chance JR, they've both surely got too much weight.

1542: The weight of Ben Conway's Sydney crew are behind Ping Pong too, having tipped up Big Buck's on here earlier today. It's 2.45 in the morning over there. Now that's dedication to your racing.

1540: I am now going to blast my way out of trouble in the next. It's Notable d'Estruval and Ping Pong de Sivola for me. The former doesn't quite stay three miles, so this trip should be perfect, the latter has a lovely racing weight and should bounce along in front and make them all go for a long way. At huge prices, I'll also be trying Bible Lord and Le Burf. If one of them wins, the SPs will make up big too.

1536: Oh Rich, it's too late to start complaining about Monsieur Pieux now. You know what you're going to get. I did try to warn you. Anyway, the horse simply wasn't good enough on the day, was he? My advice is a stiff drink and a good night's sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning.

1533: Non, ne rien de rien. Non, je ne regrette rien. No excuses for Kasbah Bliss and both of the good things have been blown away. He jumped well, but was wide out all the way and didn't seem to quite get up the hill. When Baracouda was once beaten in this race, it was my job as a young, eager reporter to go and ask how Francois Doumen was feeling. He wasn't very polite to me. I'm glad it's not my role to ask him the same question today. When Big Bucks was running in novice chases early last season I started calling him 'Big Boat' because he couldn't do anything quickly but what an engine he's got. A great performance. Well done Paul Nicholls and Andy Stewart. I must just also say well done to connections of Mighty Man who painstakingly took all the time they needed to get him back to the track and were rewarded with the sight of him staying on up the hill to finish a fine fifth.

1523: If Pieux gets this wrong, this will do nothing for Anglo-French relations. Imagine if he rode the finish a circuit early. He might not leave the track alive.

1518: Meanwhile, you've all taken my (tongue-in-cheek) advice to try and claw your losses on the double back by getting stuck into Kasbah Bliss, who has gone odds-on. I hope you're not all on the streets burning French tricolores after the race.

1514: Old Mighty Man's crept into this race with a rather low profile. Henry Daly is a very good trainer, you know. It's not impossible. And he's an outsider, so extra reason to cheer him home.

1504: And hello to the press officer of the BGRB who emails me to say that there is nothing wrong with Dale's decision to seek solace in the relative comfort of the evening BAGS cards when compared with the minefield of the Cheltenham Festival. You're preaching to the converted, pal. Why do you think I was in there? Now while you're on, how about persuading Wimbledon to buy a new carpet for the top floor of the grandstand? When I was there last week, it featured more sellotape, vomit stains and bare patches than actual fabric.

1502: A message to all 'banker' double backers (yes, including you Alan) - you can still get it all back by having the same stake on Kasbah Bliss. Not that I would. But you can. Do you feel lucky, punks?

1458: Paul Carberry sustained a fractured rib and punctured lung when unseated in the first race. Ouch. Best wishes to Paul and fingers crossed that it's not as serious as it sounds. Timmy Murphy will be on board Star de Mohaison in the Gold Cup tomorrow.

1454: The lengths that people will go to try and win a free bet is staggering. People - sending me smutty photos of your attractive work colleagues isn't going to work. I'm looking for wit and wisdom, not coarse vulgarity. Well, all right, a bit of coarse vulgarity.

1450: Rather like Rowan ("off to a flyer with Punjabi and Forpadydeplasterer - downhill ever since") I think I might have financially hit the front too soon at this Festival and now I'm struggling to maintain the pace. Maybe I should be pulled up today before I fall or even refuse.

1445: Is there a trainer harder to get right than Nigel Twiston-Davies? So far this meeting we've had Tricky Trickster (brilliant) and Ballyfitz (all washed up) show both sides of the stable coin. Now we see the the stable back to its best as Imperial Commander pluckily pulls out more to land the Ryanair. Voy Por Ustedes made that terrible jumping mistake on the final circuit, but got right back into contention on the home turn and had every chance - you can't blame that mistake for his defeat. Did you see old Tidal Bay rattling up the hill for fourth having done nothing for Dennis O'Regan most of the way? What an old rascal.

1427: There's a hell of a queue for the gents. I bet you're glad you're not here now. It could even rain soon.

1413: Is it just me or do those clouds look even greyer now? Ballydub was beaten with a mile to go. Oh dear, oh dear. I thought Venetia Williams would have a winner in one of these handicaps but I didn't necessarily think that when he tried to run out at the paddock gate and threw away victory in a three-runner race at Fontwell last month that I was watching a future Cheltenham Festival hero. No wonder Venetia can only say "I can't believe it" in her interview after the race. Nor can I, love. Nor can I.

1356: I'm outside in the stands again now. It really is brass monkeys today and yet, strangely, it's supposed to be almost tropical tomorrow. It's so grey that the LED boards of the bookmakers in the Best Mate enclosure really stand out - and it's not even 2pm. I often find that a grey day means a grey mood later on. I'm still pretty convinced that Ballydub will floor P'tit Fute though. We'll see. At the Festival preview I went to at Haydock last week, Jonjo O'Neill said that unless it was really testing, Synchronized "had no right" to be running in this race. It's not really testing. I do hope Jonjo wasn't lying.

1346: I wish he'd been 80-1 rather than 8-1. Very hard to find fault with his performance though. A good effort from Crescent Island to stick on for a place, doing best of the prominent runners. There are enough signs of life from the Nigel Twiston-Davies stable to suggest that all might not be lost for backers of Imperial Commander in the Ryanair Chase.

1336: Oh dear. One of the things I really need to do is learn when I've got it wrong. I've always had that horse down as a right old hound, but I suppose I should have seen the light when it dotted up at Doncaster last time, not putting a foot wrong. "It had a great racing weight," a man behind me has just said. It wouldn't have mattered if he'd had a stone more, pal. Naiad du Misselot hardly jumped a single fence. Tranquil Sea ran all right and finished about sixth. Could be a hell of a good day for David Johnson.

1328: Come on the outsiders. Or Tranquil Sea and Naiad du Misselot, because I've backed them. But mainly the outsiders. Preferably a big, fat, juicy 100-1 shot. I think there's only one in this racel. Was it really such a good idea to go with that bet on the SPs? Too late now.

1320: Tony Martin still hasn't trained a winner this year (Drumconvis a good second yesterday though) and his Northern Alliance is the big drifter in the first race. Green Mile is my favourite classic Tony Martin horse today though - I knew when I saw him finishing eighth of 13, beaten 30 lengths, at Naas last time out, that he would turn out to be a leading fancy for the Pertemps Hurdle. Or maybe it was when he was beaten 54 lengths at Newbury previously. What a fine game this is.

1300: Someone has just sent me a racing poem, but I think it still needs a little work. That said, I do feel that a poem has a good chance of winning the £50 free bettoday. I like a bit of art. A huge Jewson logo has just appeared all over the course's television screens to remind us who sponsors the first race. Did you know that they sponsor Jonjo O'Neill's yard too? That's interesting, isn't it?

1250: I've found a match bet I like too. Ballydub to beat P'tit Fute in the Pertemps Final at 5-6 with Sky Bet. Rhys Flint will keep rowing away when others have given up and Jonny 'lucky' Rose fancies Ballydub too, so it must have a cracking chance. I have literally just emptied my account out on to it (I think it was £7.21).

1246: Martin Pipe has just confirmed that Well Chief came out of his box without a problem this morning, so there have been no ill-effects from his fantastic comeback yesterday. Great news.

1243: Right, I've done it. My first spread bet of the Festival and I've bought winning SPs. I just fancy a shock or two today - and I wouldn't even rule one out in the Grade Ones.

1231: Ben Conway has emailed from Australia, where it is the middle of the night now, but he loves Cheltenham so much that he is getting up/staying up to watch the racing with his three racing buddies. The trans-global tips are Ping Pong Sivola in the Festival Plate and Big Buck's in the World Hurdle. Now that's dedication. The only major Australian events I never miss on television are Neighbours and the aerobics on the beach on Sky Sports in the morning.

1228: Dale Tempest, Skybet's marketing bigwig, is sat to the left of me looking smart in an expensive coat and designer scarf. But he looks worried. And he's right to, because he knows that I know that I caught him in a betting shop in Evesham last night having a bet on Swindon's evening Bags card. He claimed that he was just watching the football in the shop, having been turfed out of a club called 'Ambassador's' (sounds sleazy, doesn't it?), but I didn't believe him. And I still don't. I, of course, just went into the shop for research purposes.

1225: Alan Higgins has signed himself in as a dedicated fan of the VPU/KB double (which pays about 11/4 at the moment). I know what you're all saying and they both have obvious chances but I don't know if I can close my eyes and cross my fingers and hope that nothing goes awry for FIVE AND A HALF MILES today.

1210: Just to be clear on this and to deny email allegations of xenophobia, I'm not against the French. I know Christophe Pieux has been champion jockey 58,000 times in France and I'm sure he's better than Thierry Doumen and he managed to win the race a couple of times on Baracouda. But he rides so short that his stirrups are almost round the horse's ears and if Kasbah Bliss decides to try and jump through a hurdle rather than over one, then anything could happen. The same mistake that wouldn't lose any momentum in France (where the hurdles are designed to be brushed through) would see the jockey come off in Britain, where the hurdles are staked into the ground. I'm not saying I think it will happen, or even that it might. But I don't bet on horses ridden by jockeys that I don't trust and I don't know enough to trust Monsieur Pieux, brilliant as he might be. More fool me? Peut-etre, peut-etre, mes amis.

1148: I'm worried today. The slightest noises are making me irritated; the frantic bashing on a hundred typewriters, the ridiculous ringtones; laughter as other people seem to be having fun. I'm getting wound-up and wound-up is bad at Cheltenham. You need to be relaxed to find winners. I could do with a massage really. I;m struggling to find much in the way of Cheltenham betting opportunities today. I quite fancy a 50-1 boil-over at some stage today, so buying SPs might be the way. When an outsider wins at theFestival, it tends to be a proper outsider.

1135: Tranquil Sea, my fancy for the Jewson, has been cut from 10/1 to 9/1 by Sky Bet who have also cut Slash And Burn from 33/1 to 22/1 after laying a bet of £2,500 each-way. Tranquil Sea has had his excuses for a couple of below-par efforts over fences earlier this season when the stable wasn't right. As a result, I think he's potentially very well-handicapped now.

1120: The declarations are through for Friday. http://horses.sportinglife.com/Cheltenham2009/Racecards/ My eye is taken by the fact that Buena Vista, well-backed for the Pertemps today, is also in the Martin Pipe race. Is he so well-handicapped that David thinks he can win both? The stable has eight in the race named after his dad.

1058: Robert Thornton has been passed fit to ride today, having suffered no lasting damage in his fall from Big Zeb yesterday.

1050: Matt T is still ill, but it's not "fun ill" any more, because he was due to be off work anyway today and tomorrow. The poor lamb. He fancies P'tit Fute in the Pertemps but that can't win because of the weight (horses with that much weight have a terrible record in Festival handicaps), even though it has won like a machine on its last couple of starts. I haven't really got a best bet of the day, even though I suspect Tranquil Sea will run a very big race in the Jewson. As for the big two (seeing as you asked), I think Kasbah Bliss will probably win and Voy Por Ustedes could well win. But I can't back the former because I don't trust his jockey (sorry Monsieur Doumen, but I can't lie) and I can't back the latter because the only time I've backed him before, he fell in the Queen Mother and I'm not the forgiving type. But you can back them, Matt. And when you win, I'll be pleased for you (kind of).

1030: Aside from Poker de Sivola, Voy Por Ustedes and Kasbah Bliss are both predictably solid in the betting for their respective races. Surely they can't BOTH win. Cheltenham just doesn't work like that. Sky Bet have cut Tidal Bay from 8/1 to 7/1 for the Ryanair Chase, which looks interesting, seeing as I don't think I've seen him tipped up anywhere, while another Howard Johnson runner, Astarador, is also being well-backed this morning in the opener, the Jewson Chase (22 from 28 Paddy Power and 20 from 33 Tote). Interesting.

1009: Poker de Sivola is already shaping up as being one of the very best-backed horses of the Festival in the Kim Muir Chase (4.40). Sky Bet went 5/1 from 13/2 first thing this morning but now find themselves offering the best price again as other firms have gone even shorter - AND they're paying out on five places for each-way backers. David Johnson loves a well-backed winner at the Festival. Will he get one today?

1006: There's quite a stiff breeze blowing across the course today and it's a bit nippy too, to be honest. Today is a day for the men rather than the boys. Despite the wind, clerk of the course Simon Claisse says he doubts whether the ground will dry up much, if at all.

1002: Despite landing the forecast on one of the hardest races of the week at the Festival, my old new best friend Jonny Rose claims "I'm not as rich as you think I am". He made the mistake of doing the Exacta rather than the forecast. As long-time readers will know, Hayler's fourth law of betting states that when weighing up the relative merits of the Exacta and the CSF, whichever one you opt for will pay less than the other. Sorry JR.

0946: And if Somerfield's marketing department are reading this and thinking of sending me a box full of spicy chicken pasta bowls, can I just have the cash alternative please?

0942: My partying last night waslimited to one pint, and a trip to Somerfield's in Evesham, resulting in a cheese and pickle sandwich (limited), a spicky chicken pasta salad (not bad) and a melon medley (pricey). There was a whole cooked chicken reduced to 75p, which was tempting, but I didn't think the nice lady at my B&B would appreciate me disecting a bird in her lovely country-style guests' lounge and I thought doing it on my bed would be just plain wrong. When I went to the till the look the young cashier gave me when she saw my purchases immediately said 'single, bedsit, beyond hope'.

0935: The racecourse itself is already a hive of activity, with the new advertisement banners going up along the home straight, while assorted huddles of well wrapped-up owners, trainers, jockeys and interested others investigate the state of the course at various locations. Meanwhile, the sausage sandwiches are running out in the small press room canteen as journalists stagger in, shaking off the effects of their last-night stupors. Some of us have been here for hours. Well, half an hour anyway.

0930: Three non-runners so far: 2.05 Hills of Aran (going), Maucaillou (vet's certificate). 4.00 Borora (not eaten up).

0925: So just to be clear on this, it's metaphorical cash my pockets are stuffed with. And not so much stuffed, more modestly filled. Anyway, I get the feeling I'm digging an ever-bigger hole here.

0910: A new day, no punctures and my pockets full of cash (note to self: probably best not to broadcast this to everyone in future). We're all set for a new day of fun and frolics at the Cheltenham Festival as we switch courses from the Old to the New and look forward to a day that features two apparent 'good things' in the championship races - Kasbah Bliss and Voy Por Ustedes. Many punters, including some of you judging by the emails I have been getting, will be doubling up on the pair, a point alluded to by the front page of today's Racing Post in which the pair have been dressed up in pinstripe suits as 'bankers' (whatever next? the editor of the form book dressed up as Sherlock Holmes - no, that would be too ridiculous). I won't be doubling up. It's hard enough to get one well-backed favourite past the post at this place. Two seems absurd.

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