Stayers Hurdle Betting Preview – Cheltenham Day 3 Tips (2025)

The Stayers Hurdle is the feature race on Day 3 of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and 15 runners have been declared for one of the biggest horse racing betting heats of the season.

We’ve known the early entries for the Stayers Hurdle for some time now but decisions have been made and all eyes will be on Prestbury Park on Thursday afternoon.

Here, we look at some of the leading players in the Cheltenham odds for this year’s race, with a Stayers Hurdle selection ahead of the 2025 renewal.

Teahupoo has been the Stayers Hurdle antepost favourite since winning last year’s race but he has been a notable drifter in the market over the past week or so – presumably because of the drying ground as he clearly prefers softer conditions.

Having said that, he is still the class horse in the race and I’d expect him to be there or thereabouts even on a quicker surface. At his current price, he’s probably not a betting proposition though barring a change in the weather forecast.

So, who do you take him on with? Well, the obvious contender is Home By The Lee, a two-time Grade 1 winner around Leopardstown, but there has to be a question mark over whether he acts just as effectively around Cheltenham.

He is 0-3 at Prestbury Park and was third in the race last year, some six lengths adrift of his main market rival. Joseph O’Brien believes he has him in the best shape of his career so connections clearly fancy their chances of getting one over on Teahupoo.

Langer Dan will welcome the spring conditions but he has plenty to prove after another dreary winter campaign. Trainer Dan Skelton is adamant that he is a better horse at this time of year so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares on Thursday afternoon.

He clearly loves it round Cheltenham, winning two Coral Cups while finishing second to a certain Galopin Des Champs in the 2022 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle. He turned out to be alright in the end, didn’t he?

The roof would come off the grandstand if Bob Olinger was to notch a third Cheltenham Festival success but you’d have to be a tad concerned at the stable form. Henry de Bromhead’s runners struggled on Tuesday and he may be best left watched.

If they go slow, he’ll have a decent chance of staying the Stayers Hurdle trip and he will surely be the last one to be asked a question. He’s a strong travelling type but questions lie over just how much he can find off the bridle.

The one I’ve landed on is LUCKY PLACE for Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville. Seven Barrows had a torrid time of things last season but they had the Arkle winner on Tuesday and Constitution Hill was going well when falling in the Champion Hurdle.

This has been the plan for some time now and the drying conditions will be absolutely fine for him. He’s yet to step up to three miles but he looks a dour stayer and he’s surely got a huge chance if he gets the trip.

SELECTION: LUCKY PLACE (E/W)