Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham 2024: Who is the favourite to win?
The Cheltenham Festival in March is the landmark fixture in the National Hunt Racing calendar in the UK each year and scheduled just six weeks after the Dublin Racing Festival, racing fans are blessed with a multitude of high-quality races with the best of the best going head-to-head.
The first obstacle in ante-post betting is correctly selecting a horse to compete in the right race! However, as we edge closer to the festival, we have a far better idea of who is likely to run in each race and, relative to the field, how well they should do.
Below we outline three of the feature races from the festival and the favourites in each.
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The Cheltenham Festival 2024
The festival was extended to the now-familiar four days in 2005. The meeting brings the very best of Irish and British National Hunt horses together to compete, and has seen many of the greats such as Golden Miller, Arkle, Desert Orchid, Istabraq, Best Mate, and Kauto Star grace the Cheltenham turf.
- Start Date: Tuesday 12th March 2024
- End Date: Friday 15th March 2024
- Number of Days: 4 days
- Where? Cheltenham Racecourse
- Race Type: National Hunt (Jumps)
William Hill Cheltenham Racecourse
The Champion Hurdle – Champions Day 3.30pm
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race open to horses aged four years or older and marks the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling, consisting of both the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton which take place prior to the Cheltenham Festival.
Constitution Hill, a horse trained by Jumps trainer Nicky Henderson, won the triple crown last year, winning the Champion Hurdle by 9 lengths from State Man in second place. Constitution Hill is now at 1/5 for the race this year, and should prove tough to beat as he seeks to extend his career record to nine race unbeaten. His main contender will be State Man for the second year running, who has won by a cumulative 10 lengths in his last three runs, one of which being the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown during the Dublin Racing Festival, so he will be the one to keep an eye on at 11/4 should Constitution Hill have an off day.
The Queen Mother Champion Chase – Festival Wednesday 3.30pm
Last year, Energumene got the better of Captain Guinness in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase race open to horses aged five years or older, famous for being the leading minimum-distance chase in the National Hunt calendar.
This year’s contest is set to be between Willie Mullins’ El Fabiolo at 2/5, and Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon at 7/2. The pair have met twice in the past, with both of them taking home a win, which is why this clash in the Champion Chase at this year’s festival is gearing up to be one for the ages. El Fabiolo seems to be the horse in form, having just won the Dublin Chase easily at Leopardstown, whereas Jonbon seemed to struggle in his last run at Cheltenham not so long ago, losing out to 22/1 shot, Elixir De Nutz.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup – Gold Cup Day 3.30pm
Reigning champion Galopin Des Champs won the Gold Cup last year in a convincing fashion against Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame and is favourite at 10/11 to do the same this year having performed extremely well in Leopardstown at the Dublin Racing Festival, shrugging off main contender Fastorslow by almost 5 lengths.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is by far the most prestigious and certainly the most iconic race in the entirety of the Cheltenham March Festival, contested over a distance of 3m2½f, with 22 fences to be jumped around the New Course circuit, it is the ultimate test of a National Hunt horse. Behind Galopin Des Champs in the betting is his main rival Fastorslow at 4/1, while the leading British hope is the Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse (8/1), who missed the race last year due to injury.
