Riders Onthe Storm was the buzz horse at the Cheltenham Festival preview in a bar in the UK city of Liverpool on Tuesday evening this week. The event was hosted by the owner of Splash Of Ginge, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies. One of his sons, Willy, was on the panel and his brother Sam contributed over a telephone link. On a night that delivered a few snippets for the Festival, Ballyandy and Midnight Shadow emerged as big-priced contenders.

The preview night has become part of the Cheltenham Festival experience. From the end of February pubs, racetracks and workers' clubs host a rundown of the championship races and handicaps at the jumps meeting that matters most. The guests are generally ex-jockeys and trainers and there is an MC who directs operations. The flaw is that a panel of five pundits often tip a different horse each for a race. The only consensus in Liverpool was Paisley Park for the Stayers' Hurdle.

There was a guest appearance by one of the owners of Riders Onthe Storm. He explained the thinking behind buying the horse and why his purchase is ideally suited to Cheltenham and the Ryanair Chase. The horse is crying out for a trip, is an excellent jumper and is progressing through the chasing ranks. Riders Onthe Storm won the Grade 1 chase at Ascot earlier this month, a race that will be remembered for the fall of Cyrname and the horse's recovery.

SEE ALSO: MIN & RIDERS ONTHE STORM CAN FLY IN RYANIR CHASE

These preview nights follow a pattern whereby the invited guests explain the reasoning behind backing a horse. There is often a bookmaker representative on hand to report the market moves and the best-backed horses. However, on this occasion the Starsports man was more concerned with opening new accounts than providing any betting market insights. He suggested Envoi Allen is one of the best-backed horses at the Festival, but the runner is the Irish banker.

Sam Twiston-Davies stayed up late to tell the audience that Ballyandy could figure in the Champion Hurdle if there was any rain. The jockey overlooked the fact that it hasn't stopped raining in Britain since the start of the month. No matter, because Ballyandy relishes soft going and apparently it is due to rain in Cheltenham on nine of the next 12 days. Ballyandy is +2500 with Bovada to win the Champion Hurdle but a bigger price on the Betfair betting exchange.

The horse is part of the Twiston-Davies stable and the trainer's business partner, Carl Llewellyn, was a panel member in Liverpool. Sadly, he didn't have a great deal to say and seemed to be going through the motions. The best guests on these occasions contribute information not in the public domain that might be stable gossip about a horse's prospects for a race. Bland delivery of the form did not engage an audience that became rowdier after some liquid refreshments.

One nugget of insight can justify attending a preview night. It might have gone unnoticed by most of the crowd, but the host reported something he had been told by Danny Cook, the jockey. He can't see Midnight Shadow finishing out of the frame in the Marsh Novices' Chase. The horse is currently on offer at +2500 with online bookmakers. However, the horse that got the biggest recommendation was Riders Onthe Storm and it was put forward by the owner. You could say the tip almost came straight from the horse's mouth.