Ones to watch at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival
The most glamorous festival on the British horse racing calendar will arrive this March, with some of the greatest racehorses in the world set to descend onto the green of Cheltenham.
Following tradition, fans have been making predictions long in advance for the potential winners of the championship races this year. However, here we will look at horses who are by no means favorites but who have the potential to spring a surprise.
Horses like Galopin Des Champs and Constitution Hill will be expected to dominate the headlines. However, their victories are not secured by reputation alone, and the overall competition is remarkable.
Here is one horse for each day of Cheltenham who is capable of causing an upset this year.
Lossiemouth
Lossiemouth sits behind Constitution Hill in the odds for the Champion Hurdle. The French horse won in the Triumph Hurdle last year and could build on that in the Grade I race this time around. The Cheltenham Festival odds offer Lossiemouth at 6/1 to shock the world on day one.
The opening day’s race will gather the interest of millions, and there are many Cheltenham betting offers to reflect that and allow fans to get directly involved.
Lossiemouth has already won at Cheltenham this year, having won the International Hurdle in January. That performance will provide a sum of sharpness and momentum that could make up the difference against Constitution Hill, who will end a three-month race absence in March.
Jonbon
Jonbon is in a similar position to Lossiemouth, in the sense that it’s expected to be among the frontrunners but not quite be able to challenge the favorite – in this case El Fabiolo.
👀 Jonbon is 10/11 to win the Champion Chase without El Fabiolo in the betting:
🏇 Would you take a slice of that action ? pic.twitter.com/YtJOT4yvsg
— Stephen R Power (@racingblogger) February 18, 2024
The horse won at Aintree, Warwick, and Sandown last year after losing out to El Fabiolo in the Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham. There will be no greater time for revenge against the French horse than in the Champion Chase on Ladies’ Day.
Jonbon failed to win at Cheltenham in January by the narrowest of margins due to mistakes over the jumps. However, this will have helped the horse gain sharpness ahead of March and might have served as a much-needed learning curve ahead of facing the El Fabiolo again.
Irish Point
Out of the four championship races, the Stayers’ Hurdle is the only one without a clear outstanding favorite. Teahupoo is the slight early frontrunner in the betting markets at 3/1.
Irish Point could offer a small shock in winning the headline event on the third day this year as it is offered at 7/2 to claim victory in its first-ever appearance at Cheltenham.
The horse won the Grade One Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown by a remarkable 11 lengths in December. With four wins in a row, and Irish Point will certainly take some stopping – even by the favorite Teahupoo in the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Fastorslow
The biggest shock this year would be Galopin Des Champs not managing to retain its Gold Cup winner title. However, as invincible as the horse has looked, anything is possible in jump racing.
Fastorslow trained by M Brassil is a winner @punchestownrace 26/11/23 pic.twitter.com/uJuB8Yx1rB
— PCequinephotography (@PCequinephoto) November 26, 2023
Fastorslow may seem like the ideal candidate to challenge the 2023 champion. But a marker was already set between the pair in the February Irish Gold Cup, where Galopin Des Champs achieved a victory by more than four lengths.
Nobody truly has the speed and stamina to compete head-to-head with Galopin Des Champs. But if the horse does face any issues, Fastorslow will surely be the one to secure a surprise triumph.
Cheltenham has played host to many upset victories in the past, and there will surely be a few scattered across the four-day festival in 2024, perhaps some could arrive in the landmark championship events.
