Horse racing-Leading British horses line up for stellar first day as Cheltenham Festival begins

LONDON, March 10 : British trainers Dan Skelton and Nicky Henderson will take on the might of the Irish at jump racing's showcase event with the likes of The New Lion and Lulamba vying for a share of the five-million-pound ($6.70 million) prize pot as the Cheltenham Festival opens on Tuesday. 

Attracting some 200,000 racegoers across four days, the festival is worth an estimated 274 million pounds to the local economy boosting local restaurants, hotels and pubs. 

It is also horse racing's biggest betting week of the year with bookmaker William Hill predicting 450 million pounds will be wagered across Britain. Guinness, reduced in price by 30 pence, will be drunk by the gallon.

But for those at the heart of the sport, it is all about the horses and whether this year's crop of jumps stars can rival the Irish. 

It is almost two decades since the golden years of British jump racing when Somerset-based Paul Nicholls and his crop of horses like dual Gold Cup-winner Kauto Star and 18-times consecutive hurdle winner Big Buck's outclassed the rest, before the pendulum swung in favour of the Irish. 

Since then, Willie Mullins' sizeable team has continued to dominate the festival, racking up 113 winners to snatch the leading trainer title 12 times. Backed by big-spending owners like former Barclays executive Rich Ricci and businessman J.P. McManus, this year's squad looks no less dangerous.

Mullins' pick for jump racing's most prestigious chase is Gaelic Warrior who looks set to go off favourite in Friday's feature, the Gold Cup, a race that has so far evaded owner Susannah Ricci. Before that, Majborough is favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday. 

In with a strong chance of ending Irish dominance is a fresh crop of