EXCITING times lie ahead for jump followers with the resumption of normal racing service and the Cheltenham Festival looming large on the horizon.

The Tote sponsored Gold Cup on March 13th promises to be one of the most competitive in history with a bumper entry of 44 announced yesterday, bettered only once in the last nine years.

Three previous winners - Jodami, Master Oats and Imperial Call - are joined by last year's Grand National hero Rough Quest and the dual King George VI Chase winner One Man.

Imperial Call is among eight Irish trained entries, the highest level in the last nine years. Imperial Call, trained by Fergie Sutherland, is the current favourite with the sponsors ahead of One Man and Rough Quest.

At the opposite end of the betting scale are Call Home at 400 to 1 and Rose King at 500 to 1 stablemates at Coldharbour Farm Sutton, near Pulborough with first season trainer Stephanie Edwards.

Both horses are owned by Maurice Pinto, who has another 10 horses with his private trainer.

Pinto, whose Comandante won the 1990 Guinness Arkle Chase, persuaded Miss Edwards to take out a full licence after two successful years of training point to pointers.

Entries for the £130,000 added Queen Mother Champion Chase, on March 12th, were also released. Klairon Davis, Sound Man and Viking Flagship, the first three home in the race last year, are entered again, the latter seeking to equal the record of three wins in the race held by Badsworth Boy.

In all there are 17 entries for the Queen Mother, including four from Ireland, the equal highest number for nine years.

As expected, trainer Gordon Richards has taken out insurance by also entering One Man for this event.

Assessing the entries Cheltenham managing director Edward Gillespie said: "The entry for the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup exceeds our expectations and is again of a very high quality.

"It is also pleasing to see entries like Call Home and Rose King, the outsiders in the Tote betting.

"History tells us there have been sufficient cases of rags to riches stories, such as Norton's Coin and Rushing Wild, to encourage it.

"The Queen Mother Champion Chase has been one of the highlights of the meeting in recent years and we have two former winners entered. Obviously, having had this wintry period with little racing, we can look forward over the next two months to extensive action on both sides of the Irish Sea.

. Paul Carberry, who returned from injury with a double at Haydock five days before Christmas, rode his first winner since then, and his first in Ireland since he broke his arm in a fall at Kilbeggan in September, at Punchestown yesterday.

Riding top weight Bobbyjo for his father, Tommy, Carberry was seen at his strongest in winning the Carrick Hill Handicap Chase by just a head from course winner Quattro. The winner, successful in a novices' event at Down Royal on St Stephen's Day, had been schooled around Punchestown.

"I missed nearly three months after my fall at Kilbeggan and although I rode two winners on my first day back, it has been slow ever since. The bad weather since Christmas, both here and in England, has not helped."

Caitriona's Choice, the 7 to 4 favourite, ridden by Richard Dunwoody, who gave up his remaining ride due to the effects of an earlier fall, was a popular winner of the Fairyland Handicap Hurdle.