Getabird to start Mullins’ Cheltenham bid

Getabird is one of 20 runners in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as trainer Willie Mullins bids for a sixth win in the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival .

Mullins has won the Festival curtain-raiser three times in the past five years with his past two runners, Min and Melon, both second.

This year’s assault is headed by Getabird, who is unbeaten in four starts and was a brilliant winner of the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in January, a race the Mullins-trained Vautour and Douvan claimed en-route to Supreme glory.

The trainer’s second runner is Sharjah.

Gordon Elliott’s Mengli Khan and Henry de Bromhead’s Paloma Blue are also leading hopes for the Irish contingent, while the home team includes Amy Murphy’s Betfair Hurdle hero Kalashnikov, Tom George’s Tolworth Hurdle winner Summerville Boy and Claimantakinforgan, who is Nicky Henderson’s only representative.