The Betting Directory team continues our look at the Cheltenham Festival as the demand for tips and previews of the key races at the meeting continues to grow with every day! These aren’t tips as they will be coming courtesy of our resident tipster Tom Lee, but merely previews of some of the key trends for the feature races of each day.
The Champion Hurdle is the feature race on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival and is the first of the four Champion Races at the meeting and this year’s race looks as competitive a renewal as there has been for a long time. Co-favourites, Go Native and Solwhit currently head the betting with Ladbrokes offering 4/1 about the pair. And with the next four all chalked up at 8/1 you begin to get an idea of just how tough finding the winner of this race may be!
2010 Champion Hurdle Odds Comparison
Last year’s Supreme Novices’ winner, Go Native, has been the biggest mover in the antepost market throughout the winter after his price has gradually been cut from the 33/1, available before his Fighting Fifth Hurdle victory at Newcastle in November, where he upset the odds to beat several well fancied types and experienced two mile hurlders. He confirmed that form by landing the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, a result which saw him become genuine contender for the Champion Hurdle, contesting favouritism ever since. However, the trend that all of the last 15 Champion Hurlde winners had run in the same calendar year of their victory does go against Noel Meade’s runner whose last run was in December.
Solwhit however has run in 2010, landing the Irish Champion Hurdle in Januray. A repeat of that performance would surely make him very difficult to beat at Cheltenham providing he is unaffected by his first run on foreign soil since he was brought over to Ireland from France in 2007.
If you are a follower of trends, it may pay to side with one of the Irish duo at the head of the bookmakers lists given that 7 of the last 11 winners of this race were trained in Ireland. However, it is also useful to note that sixteen of the last 21 winners came from the top six in the betting, so you cannot rule out the English trained quartette who all sit as 8/1 co-second favourites with Ladbrokes.
Nicky Henderson trains two of those four in the form of Punjabi and Zaynar, with the latter being the long time favourite for the Champion Hurlde before a disappointing defeat when going off 1/14 in his prep run at Kelso in February. That defeat saw the 2009 Triumph Hurdle winner drift in the market and bring to an end his fine run of wins. The soft ground and a slowly run race at Kelso could be the reason for Zaynar’s latest defeat and whilst he’ll have to make a return to winning ways on the biggest stage of all, he cannot be written off. Punjabi has also disappointed on a couple of occasions this season but like his stablemate, cannot be written off; especially given he won this race twleve months ago and will look to join Hardy Eustace and the great istabraq as recent back to back winners of the Champion Hurdle.
Medermit, who represents the Alan King stable, beat Punjabi on his last run and connections are hopeful that he can bring an end to three narrow defeats at Cheltenham and win the race for the second time in two years for his trainer (who won with Katchit in 2007). One horse Medermit must reverse Cheltenham form with if he is to win the Champion Hurdle is Khyber Kim, whose last two runs (and wins) have been at the Prestbury Park track. The Nigel Twiston-Davies runner hasn’t been the most consistent of horses but his two runs this season put him right in the mix and despite not being seen since early December, is sure to make his presence felt and was the antepost pick of our resident tipster, Tom Lee, back in Januray – Read why Tom thinks Khyber Kim can win the 2010 Champion Hurlde.
