Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival Championship race favourites discussed
Little is discussed more widely in the world of National Hunt racing than the favourites for the Championship races at the Cheltenham Festival.
While the Festival showcases the very best equine talent and sees numerous favourite runners winning as expected, it also has a tendency to bring a few surprises and produce some great stories.
Read on for a discussion of the current favourites and their betting odds for the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase, the Stayers’ Hurdle and the Gold Cup.
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The Champion Hurdle
14th March, 3:30pm
Ever since his first win under rules by 14 lengths at Sandown, Nicky Henderson’s stable star Constitution Hill has been the short-priced favourite in all of his subsequent runs. As he has now remained unbeaten for five runs, and has won these five by a staggering combined 77 lengths, the question is not ‘will he be favourite?’, rather it is ‘will he ever not be favourite’?
Few punters doubt that Constitution Hill will fail to win the Champion Hurdle. Currently priced at 4/11, he has already won over course and distance (storming home to finish victorious in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by 22 lengths) and, although this will be a much harder test in classier company, his wins have been so impressive that he shouldn’t need to improve to win here.
Rain is expected before the Cheltenham Festival, which is good news for the gelding. If the official going was ‘Good’ on the first day of the meeting, it is likely that Henderson may choose not to run him. As Constitution Hill has won easily on ‘Soft’, ‘Heavy’ and ‘Good to Soft’, it seems no amount of rain would be able to stop him.
The only horse to throw the favourite a question is Willie Mullins’ State Man. Similarly to Constitution Hill, State Man is unbeaten under Rules and has always won decisively. While he hasn’t beaten his rivals by quite as much (a combined 33¼ lengths), there’s little evidence yet to suggest that he doesn’t have the ability to throw down a real challenge to Constitution Hill at Cheltenham. These two excellent racehorses, both with a win at last year’s Cheltenham Festival under their belts, will make for a spectacular race.
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The Champion Chase
15th March, 3.30pm
This two-mile contest over fences is the ultimate test of both speed and agility and has been discussed by the racing community, pundits and punters alike no less than the Champion Hurdle. Currently the joint favourites at 15/8 are Alan King’s Tingle Creek winner Edwardstone and Willie Mullins’ Energumene, who won this race last year in great style by 8½ lengths. Both nine-year-olds and with 9 and 10 wins to their names respectively, this looks to be a tight contest.
Energumene was last seen in the rescheduled Clarence House Chase which, instead of taking place at the frozen-off Ascot meeting as planned, was run around Cheltenham. He set off favourite that day but, due to an uncharacteristic mistake over a fence, ran disappointingly behind Edwardstone and 14/1 shot Editeur Du Gite, who are both set to reoppose in the Champion Chase. Punters can probably write this result off as an anomaly, and a trainer with the expertise and reputation of Willie Mullins will not be bringing him to the Cheltenham Festival underprepared. We can certainly expect a powerful performance from Energumene.
Edwardstone will be equally well-prepared by Alan King and his performances this season have displayed his brilliance. His seasonal reappearance saw him win the Tingle Creek Chase by 9 lengths, after which he ran in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton. An exuberant jump here unseated rider Tom Cannon, but the gelding continued to gallop and jump flawlessly round the track all the way to the finish line, showing off his love for and enjoyment of racing. This attitude is essential for a successful racehorse so we can expect a dual between the two favourites.
They must both, however, look out for Gary Moore’s Editeur Du Gite, the unexpected winner of the Clarence House Chase in January. Currently 6/1, he is very generously priced considering he did beat the two favourites over this course and distance. There’s little to suggest at the moment that he couldn’t do the same again.
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The Stayers’ Hurdle
16th March, 3.30pm
Run over three miles, there’s no better test of endurance and efficient hurdling than the Stayers’ Hurdle. The horses topping this year’s market are predominantly Irish-trained, with Charles Byrnes’ Blazing Khal the current favourite at 11/4. This seven-year-old will go to Cheltenham on a winning streak of five races by a combined 13¼ lengths, having won the Grade 2 William Hill Boyne Hurdle at Navan in February after a break of 428 days. His holiday clearly did him no harm, and this horse is the definition of versatility having won over a variety of trips and going. Since 2020, Blazing Khal has been victorious over two miles, two and half miles and three miles, on good ground, soft ground and heavy ground. He’s been lightly raced through his career, which suggests that his trainer is careful with him, only running him when he knows he will go well.
The market has Gordon Elliott’s Teahupoo as the main danger at 4/1. Unbeaten this season, Teahupoo stepped up in trip to three miles for the first time in January and revelled in every extra furlong, winning by 15 lengths from the very capable Summerville Boy. Based on that form, he also has a very real chance of winning here. Although his record at Cheltenham – one run in last year’s Champion Hurdle, finishing ninth of ten – doesn’t inspire confidence, we can argue that that was not at his optimum trip and the Stayers’ Hurdle should suit him much better.
Third favourite Marie’s Rock – who goes to Cheltenham on a winning streak of four races – does not go unnoticed in the entries for this race, having won the Relkeel Hurdle with so much pace and vivacity in January, but she is untried over this trip. By no means without a chance, she sits at 9/2.
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The Cheltenham Gold Cup
17th March, 3.30pm
The feature race of the whole Festival, the Gold Cup is a gruelling test of stamina and jumping ability, won by only the very best staying chasers. Willie Mullins has another favourite in the form of Galopin Des Champs, this year’s winner of the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase and the Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup. Having won these two races by a combined 21 lengths, Galopin Des Champs will arrive at Cheltenham in outstanding form. Not accustomed to losing, this gelding has won eight of his twelve starts, a remarkable success rate that has been proven over a wide variety of trips and going. A horse as consistent as this, coming from a stable like Willie Mullins’, will be very hard to beat, especially at 7/4. The Gold Cup being such a test, though, can bring some surprises.
Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame, this season’s winner of the Charlie Hall Chase and the King George VI Chase – both over three miles – is deemed by the market to be the most likely to beat the Irish Raider at 13/2. Also a winner over varying ground, Bravemansgame’s bid is a strong one, but he is lacking a win at Cheltenham, unlike the favourite. Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins do, however, have comparable success rates at Cheltenham, so the Gold Cup may well end in a dual between the top two.
A Plus Tard, Henry de Bromhead’s winner of this race at last year’s Festival, makes a bid for a second Gold Cup victory at 8/1, but punters have lost a little confidence in him since an out-of-sorts run in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November, which saw him struggle and pull-up. Hopefully no worse off, he remains a serious contender based on his usual winning form.
