The big punters: how to play like a pro and profit at the festival

It's the opening day of the greatest week of any punter's year, and many of us will by now be in possession of a portfolio – or at least a grubby pile of betting slips – that encapsulates all our hopes, dreams, moments of inspiration and irredeemable follies for the meeting.

In another world, however, sit the professionals, those backers whose livelihoods depend on making the Cheltenham Festival – and every other week of the racing year – pay out in hard cash. It goes without saying that they have the same flights of fancy as the rest of us, but how well do they resist the urge to play for 'fun' at the expense of hard-nosed business sense?

Here we talk to four of the game's more serious players and ask them how they approach the festival, what business they've done already and which horses they're banking on to bring home the bacon.