CHELTENHAM, England - The aging geldings Cue Card and The New One have had a near constant presence at the National Hunt festival at Cheltenham this decade. Both have run a six times at this four-day meeting for chasers and hurdlers, and each has won at least one Grade 1 race. Thursday, they will start for a remarkable seventh time here in Grade 1 races that are the main events on a seven-race program that begins at 9:30 a.m., Eastern. The 12-year-old Cue Card is likely to be the second choice in the betting for the $489,405 Ryanair Chase at 2 5/8 miles over 17 fences. Cue Card won the 2013 running at the age of 7 and won the Bumper, a two-mile flat race, here in 2010 in his first start at this meeting. More recently, Cue Card fell in the Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2016 and again last year. In both races, he was well within range in the final mile before falling. Trained by dairy farmer Colin Tizzard, Cue Card is winless in five starts since February 2017, and was second to Waiting Patiently in his last race, the Grade 1 Ascot Chase in February. Waiting Patiently is not racing here this week, and is being pointed for a major race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool in April. Last month, Tizzard said the Ryanair Chase was preferred over the Gold Cup for Cue Card, who has won 16 of 40 starts. He cited the difficulty of the Gold Cup at 3 5/16 miles as the primary factor for running on Thursday. The Ryanair Chase drew a field of seven and is led by Un De Sceaux, who is starting at the festival for the fourth time. Un De Sceaux is a deserving favorite, having won both of his starts at the current season, including the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot in January. Trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, the 10-year-old Un De Sceaux has run in the last three Cheltenham festivals, all in Grade 1 races. He won the Arkle Chase for novices at two miles in 2015, finished second in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2016 and won the Ryanair Chase last year. The New One will be about 12-1 in the $454,415 Stayers’ Hurdle at about three miles over 12 obstacles. Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, The New One will start in the longest race of his career in a wide-open running of the Stayers’ Hurdle, which drew a field of 17. The New One, 10, won a Grade 1 novices’ hurdle at 2 5/8 miles here in 2013 and was third, fifth, fourth and fifth in the Champion Hurdle from 2014-17. During the current season, The New One has won 2 of 5 starts. He won the Grade 2 Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock Park on Jan. 20. The 6-year-old youngster Sam Spinner was the 7-2 favorite for the Stayers’ Hurdle as of Wednesday morning. Trained by Jedd O’Keefe, Sam Spinner has won four of his last five starts, a span highlighted by a win in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at three miles at Ascot on Dec. 23. Sam Spinner would be a deserving winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle, but there will be sentimental support for The New One. The same can be said of Cue Card earlier in the afternoon.