Supreme Novices' Hurdle field dominated by Willie Mullins

Willie Mullins is responsible for nine of the 15 horses confirmed for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.

The most successful trainer in Festival history has won the traditional curtain-raiser on seven occasions and again holds a very strong hand, with his potential squad headed by ante-post favourite Ballyburn.

Tullyhill and Mystical Power are also prominent in the market and it will be interesting to see how Mullins shuffles his pack, with both Ballyburn and Mystical Power having the option of running in the newly-named Gallagher Novices' Hurdle the following afternoon.

Anotherway, Asian Master, Gold Dancer, Ile Atlantique, Mistergif and Supersundae are the other Mullins inmates who have stood their ground for the Supreme, with the majority holding alternative engagements.

Gordon Elliott's Firefox, who beat Ballyburn earlier in the season, is another leading contender from Ireland, with Henry de Bromhead's Slade Steel and Paul Gilligan's Kings Hill other possible raiders.

The three British-trained hopefuls are Alan King's Favour And Fortune, Nicky Henderson's Jeriko Du Reponet and Tellherthename from Ben Pauling's yard.

The My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy has a distinctly more open look to it, despite the fact five of the 15 remaining contenders are based at Closutton.

That quintet includes Irish Arkle hero Il Etait Temps, Hunters Yarn, Gaelic Warrior and Facile Vega, while Found A Fifty (Elliott) and Quilixios (De Bromhead) are also well fancied. The pick of the home team looks to be Joe Tizzard's JPR One.

The Tizzard-trained Eldorado Allen heads the weights for the Ultima Handicap Chase, for which 43 are still in the mix, with Meetingofthewaters a likely favourite to give