Tag: Cheltenham Festival odds

Ladies Take Centre Stage Of Day 2 Of The Festival

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

It’s only appropriate that Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon AKA Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is honoured on the second day of The Festival at Cheltenham. The Grade 1 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase is the feature race on Ladies Day. In 1980, the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase was renamed in the Queen Mother’s honour as she celebrated her 80th birthday. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of 3219 metres with runners facing 12 fences. The race was famously taken out, for the second time, but Sprinter Sacre in 2016. The third highest rated steeplechaser of the modern era, the French-bred, British trained 10yo returned from a series of health and injury problems to score a famous victory before he was retired.

Douvan a Deserved Top Pick

Douvan won the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy on the opening day of The Festival in 2016 and will start at a similarly prohibitive price in this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase. He is unbeaten in 13 starts for Willie Mullins, including a pair of victories at The Festival after his debut win in the 2015 Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. The Susannah Ricci-owned seven-year-old is the 2/7 ($1.28) favourite with race sponsor Betway. The only one rated a serious threat to Douvan is Fox Norton ($8 with Paddy Power). The seven-year-old made an eye-catching debut for Colin Tizzar when landing the Shloer Chase at Prestbury Park in November, but was then sidelined by injury for three months. He proved no match for Altior on his comeback run in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury, but connections are confident he will raise his game at the Festival.

Neon Wolf Set to Shine

Our best of the day comes up in the opening race of the day – the £125,000 Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m 5f). Neon Wolf (Harry Fry) will run here after connections decided to skip the Supreme on day 1 with conditions set to improve for day 2. Fry’s youngster has been hugely impressive on his three starts to date, completing his hat-trick with a stunning display in a Supreme Trial at a frigid Haydock in January. Trainer Enda Bolger and owner J P McManus have teamed up to win the £65,000 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (3m 6f) on five occasions and the trainer/owner combination has five contenders this year, including course winner Cantlow and Auvergnat, a winner over Punchestown’s banks course on February 5. Although he’s a 12yo, Cantlow has been lightly raced throughout his career and makes a sensible top pick at $3.75 with Coral.

Bumper Attracts Huge Field

Our best roughie for day 2 is in the last race on Ladies’ Day – the £75,000 Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1 over 2m ½f), which the most prestigious flat race on the National Hunt calendar. Always a great race to watch for future reference, a big field of mostly unexposed horses from Britain and Ireland has revealed a handful of future stars in past editions, including the likes of Florida Pearl and Dunguib. A field of 28 ensures plenty of action and drama as the huge field battles for position. This race has been won a staggering eight times by Willie Mullins, and his best hope this year looks to be the ante-post favourite Carter McKay. But we like the look of another Mullins runner, Ballyward ($15). He was impressive when winning a 2m 4f bumper at Leopardstown over the festive period.

Get Ready for the Roar as 2017 Cheltenham Festival Kicks-off

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Festival at Cheltenham is the pinnacle of jumps racing. The Grand National may be worth more prize money race, but the four days of drama set against the vista of the Cotswold Hills is a far richer experience. The best horses, jockeys and trainers join a crowd that regularly tops 250,000 across the four days for one of the great experiences in racing, anywhere in the world. The origins of this festival date back to 1860 and has been run at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire since 1911. Until 2005, the festival had been run over the three days, but this changed with the introduction of a fourth day, meaning there would be one championship race on each day.

Hurdlers Take Centre Stage

The famous roar as the tapes rise for the first race on Tuesday is one of the most iconic moments of The Festival. Champion Day features the most important hurdle race of the season, £400,000 Grade 1 Stan James Champion Hurdle, won in 2016 by the wonder mare Annie Power in a course record time. Favourite Yanworth heads 12 confirmations for this year’s two-mile test. Yanworth (Alan King), one of three contenders for owner J.P. McManus, is the $3.50 market leader with Stan James after an unbeaten campaign. The seven-year-old defeated The New One in the G1 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park on Boxing Day before tipping out Ch’Tibello in workman-like fashion in the G2 Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on February 18.

Brain Over Brawn

Buveur D’Air, also owned by J P McManus, heads a three-strong team for trainer Nicky Henderson. He is the $5 second favourite after cruising to victory in the Listed Contenders Hurdle at Sandown Park on February 4. Henderson also plans to run Michael Buckle’s Brain Power ($8), an impressive five-length winner of the G3 Wessex Youth Trust Handicap Hurdle at Ascot before Christmas. In his two impressive wins this season, he travelled exceptionally well in both and seems to have overcome the jumping problems that bedevilled his novice season. Henderson has been at pains to remind reporters not to forget Brain Power when quizzed about Buveur D’Air – he’ll do us at a price that still has at least two points of value.

Ruby’s Lead Telling

Perhaps the most intriguing event of the day is the £110,000 OLBG Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m 4f). Willie Mullins has sent out eight of the nine winners of this race and the trainer has seven of the 28 contenders in this year’s renewal including Vroum Vroum Mag, who took the spoils 12 months ago. Limini, successful in the 2016 G2 Trull House Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, and Let’s Dance also feature among the Mullins-trained contenders, while Apple’s Jade, runner-up for Mullins in the G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle at The Festival last year, could line up for Gordon Elliott. The fact that jockey Ruby Walsh has elected to ride Limini deserves respect despite the support for Vroum Vroum Mag.