#Champion Hurdle

Energumene: is entered into the Clarence House at Ascot on Saturday The week kicks off with two seven-race cards at Fontwell and Hereford. At the former, the Chris Gordon-trained Coolvalla is attempting to complete a four-timer in the £20000 3m2f handicap chase (2.30). Three runners go to post in Hereford's feature race, the 3m1f novice handicap…

From Hurricane Fly's fourth consecutive Irish Champion Hurdle victory to The New One brushing aside the opposition in Cheltenham's International Hurdle, it has been an exciting year of racing. As 2014 nears its conclusion racing correspondent Marcus Townend reviews the past 12 months of racing, and picks his best race of each month. JANUARY Paul…

Only once since 2010 has the Cheltenham Festival top trainer title been won by a British handler. Proof, as if needed, that the best horses are in Ireland was there for all to see last year. Willie Mullins heads Cheltenham top trainer odds once again with the bookies with what looks a top Festival team. These are our five best betting sites for…

The Christmas Hurdle at Kempton is one of the leading two-mile contests over timber, with the field looking to add their name to a roll of honour that includes the likes of Harchibald, Faugheen and Buveur D'Air. Epatante, last season's Champion Hurdle winner and the defending champion here, is short odds-on to prevail again. But our tipster has…

After two days of brilliant racing in Liverpool, amid the fancy hats and the tossed bet slips, it all comes down to this: day at Aintree. The flagship race, a four-mile steeplechase, leads the attractions on Saturday, the big one at 5:15. But there's plenty of other racing before that. And after a thrilling Thursday and a fantastic Friday, you can…

7 February 2022 By Roger Kennedy [email protected] Starting on Tuesday, 15 March and continuing till Friday, 18 March, the Cheltenham Festival is almost upon us. If you want to get your ante post bets in, now is likely the best time to start picking your horses for each race. Of course, you will need some information on the favourites to win major…

Colin Tizzard can sign off in style with a win for Eldorado Allen in the Betway Bowl (2.55). The top trainer is soon to hand over the reins to his son Joe and the grey has a fine chance of victory at Aintree. He stayed on determinedly behind star chaser Allaho in Cheltenham's Ryanair Chase last month and is in an upward curve. Earlier, Pied Piper…

Geronimo looks a good shout to win the Coral Scottish Grand National (3.35pm) at Ayr on Saturday afternoon. After last week's historic events with Tiger Roll's second victory in the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree Racecourse, Ayr hosts another of the spring's long-distance handicaps. It looks as competitive as last week's action at Aintree,…

Sheikh Mohammed winning the Champion Hurdle with a horse who'd been first past the post in the Gold Cup at Ascot... Barry Hills and Robert Sangster combining to land the Stayers' Hurdle... Saeed Manana's silks carried to victory in the Sun Alliance Hurdle and a Gold Cup that caused such a rumpus it ended with a Jockey Club Enquiry at Portman Square…

THE biggest week of the racing year is fast approaching - meaning time is running out to get real value on some fancied runners. Already we have seen the likes of Constitution Hill go long odds-on to win the Champion Hurdle. But there is still plenty of money to be made elsewhere from some the bookies may have missed. Here, Sun Racing's top tipster…

By Andrew Asquith, Saturday 14 January 2023 Posted in: Cheltenham Festival Tips Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the 2023 Mares' Hurdle and picks out his best ante-post bet. It is hard to get away from Willie Mullins' record in the Mares' Hurdle, winning it a total of nine times since its inception in 2008, and he has five horses entered in this…

By Andrew Asquith, Saturday 14 January 2023 Posted in: Cheltenham Festival Tips Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the 2023 Champion Hurdle. The Champion Hurdle is the main race on day one of the Cheltenham Festival and this year's renewal revolves around one horse, and one horse only, Constitution Hill, who produced the best performance by a novice…

By Andrew Asquith, Saturday 14 January 2023 Posted in: Cheltenham Festival Tips Andrew Asquith looks ahead to the 2023 Stayers' Hurdle and picks out his best ante-post bet. At this stage the Stayers' Hurdle looks wide open and that is reflected by the betting with most firms going 5/1 the field. The obvious place to start is with one of the…

Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh hold the records for the most wins by a trainer and jockey respectively at the Cheltenham Festival. Walsh, who was leading jockey at the meeting on 11 occasions, retired in 2019 having taken his Festival record to 59 when successful for the final time at Cheltenham on Klassical Dream in the Supreme Novices' earlier…

There are some surprising names still left in the 28 entries for the Stayers' Hurdle, particularly the name of star 2 mile chasing veteran Chacun Pour Soi for Willie Mullins. The master of Closutton is not averse to making multiple entries for the Festival, and has also thrown in last season's Ballymore hero Sir Gerhard. The betting is wide open…

Tommy Lyons ranks the country's greatest horsemen from the past 50 years. A star from the outset, Walsh served notice of what was to come by winning the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham aboard Alexander Banquet, and winning the Aintree Grand National at the first attempt. He showed his outstanding natural ability and adaptability by being able to ride…

Honeysuckle is set to be an odds-on favourite for the Champion Hurdle. We are a week away from the Cheltenham Festival, and as final preparations begin to take place across the UK & Ireland, punters are beginning to finalise their ante-post positions ahead of the imminent entries.

Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore will aim to bounce back from her first defeat at Fairyhouse to win a fourth consecutive Irish Champion Hurdle This year's Dublin Racing Festival looks set to play host to a star-studded line-up after early entries for the two-day Irish calendar highlight at Leopardstown were revealed on Thursday. Eight Grade 1s…

Kilmaley native, Richard O'Brien, came in for lavish praise following the success of Paul Nolan's well-fancied newcomer, Cut The Rope (5/1), in the concluding four-year-old bumper at Naas on Sunday. O'Brien is a very successful trainer based in Ballingarry, County Limerick and it was on his advice that the Nolan camp purchased Cut The Rope, before…

Planet Sport's tipsters and betting experts have been studying the form to give you the best chance of success at the Festival. First up we'll give you a quick list of the horses with the best chances for the main five races that are being shown on ITV this Tuesday afternoon. Then for those of you that like a bigger price we have a handful of juicy…

I MUST admit my heart skipped a beat when I noticed that EPATANTE was entered only for the Champion Hurdle and not the Mares' event at the Cheltenham Festival. Trainer Nicky Henderson quickly admitted it was an oversight but that didn't stop the former winner's odds being cut to as short as 16s when we're on at 50s. Hopefully it's indicative of the…

Nicky Henderson believes Epatante must be treated as "still a possible runner" in the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle - despite her not featuring among the initial entries for the Cheltenham Festival contest. The winner of the Unibet Champion Hurdle in 2020 before placing behind Honeysuckle the following two years, Epatante has been given the option…

Gavin Beech puts the six short-priced, ante-post favourites for the 2023 Cheltenham Festival under the microscope and provides his analysis on their credentials. There are currently six horses chalked up at 6-4 or shorter in the ante-post markets for this year's Cheltenham Festival, with Constitution Hill, who is a best-priced 4-11 for the Unibet…

BET365 are offering non-runner no bet on all races at this year's Cheltenham Festival as the excitement for the jump-racing showpeice gathers pace. This means that the number of NRNB races increases significantly - generally, only the five championship races offer this feature, which are the Gold Cup, Stayers Hurdle, Champion Chase, Champion…

THE latest Cheltenham Festival entries have been revealed - and there are some early shocks. Racing's biggest meeting gets underway nine weeks today and several of the fields are starting to take shape. But there were eyebrows raised on Tuesday when it was revealed JP McManus' Epatante had not been entered in the Mares' Hurdle. The Nicky…

MONSTER hurdler Constitution Hill is already on track to beat a Cheltenham Festival record - nine weeks before it begins. Nicky Henderson's superstar two miler is 1-4 to win the Champion Hurdle on the first day of the Festival. Nothing has got within 12 lengths of Constitution Hill in his five runs under rules. And his 17-length demolition job of…

A town normally in carnival mode is eerily quiet. Where banners and marquees should herald the boisterous crowds to come, there is calm. For four days in March, the Cheltenham Festival usually welcomes thousands of visitors for its annual carnival. This year is different - no spectators or racehorse owners and a sport seeking a boost after negative…

The final preparations are in full swing for the Cheltenham Festival 2020 which runs from March 10th to 13th. Hopes are rising that the coronavirus outbreak will not force a late postponement for the best four days of National Hunt racing anywhere in the world. Trainer Paul Nicholls has not been the leading trainer at the meeting since 2009 and is…

A lot can change in a decade and the growing dominance of the Irish at the Cheltenham Festival is becoming all too potent to ignore. Irish trainers have won more festival races than their counterparts in Britain in three of the last four seasons, drawing on the other occasion last year. Such is the depth of jumping talent in Ireland, it is hard to…

The weekend's action at Leopardstown provided further pointers towards the Cheltenham Festival with plenty of movers in the betting markets ahead of the four-day extravaganza at Prestbury Park in March. Who are the big movers following the sixth renewal of the Dublin Racing Festival? We've taken a look at their impact on the big Grade Ones…

MAJOR DUNDEE (3.35) can charge to victory for Alan King in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. The Lanarkshire-born handler loves to target this race and the seven-year-old fits the bill perfectly. The gelding hammered the useful The Golden Rebel on his fencing bow over 2m 5f at Fakenham. The son of Scorpion then relished tackling three miles when…

Champ Kiely led from pillar-to-post to provide Willie Mullins with a ninth victory in the Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle. The seven-year-old was one of two runners for the champion trainer in the Grade One contest, with the previously unbeaten Grangeclare West the apparent first string as the 15-8 favourite. Champ Kiely won a Limerick bumper, a…

Appreciate It cemented his Cheltenham Festival claims with a routine victory on his second start over fences at Naas. A 24-length winner of the 2021 Supreme Novices' Hurdle at P rest bury Park, the Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old was due to pursue a novice chase campaign last season before injury intervened. He ultimately only made it to the…

The Cheltenham Festival doesn't exactly have a rich musical heritage. True, the Irish folk duo who played the nearby Prince Of Wales pub every evening for seemingly 30 years did perform a wonderful rendition of The Ballad Of Dawn Run twice-a-night. And twice-a-night ratings experts took exception to the line "And Wayward Lad, he knew he'd met the…

Full replay: Wishing And Hoping triumphs in £100000 prize The most valuable race at Sandown Park today was the £100000 Unibet Veterans' Handicap Chase Final, which saw a 50-1 shock result courtesy of Wishing And Hoping. One of four 13 year olds in the 18-runner field, Wishing And Hoping was always at the head of affairs under regular partner Alex…

A winner at Kempton first time out this season, he finished runner-up in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton before coming home fourth of five to runaway winner Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day. The evergreen 11-year-old, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, will build towards the Cheltenham Festival with a possible…

Well, we've finally arrived at my final blog of 2022. Have you had enough of racing yet this festive period? Of course not! Let's kick off 2023 as we ended 2022, with more superb sport headlined by Cheltenham's New Year's Day fixture. The first horse I'm pinning my hopes on to get the new year off to a flyer is SECRET REPRIEVE in the AIS Handicap…

13:15 Sandown - CERTAINLY RED 13:30 Wincanton - MESSIRE DES OBEAUX 13:50 Sandown - FRERO BANBOU 14:05 Wincanton - ANOTHER CRICK 14:25 Sandown - AUTHORISED SPEED 15:00 Sandown - SAINT XAVIER 15:15 Wincanton - CHIANTI CLASSICO 15:35 Sandown - LIGHTLY SQUEEZE *All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at…

The treats are going to come thick and fast for racing fans over the Christmas week. They include Leopardstown's four-day Christmas Festival, which begins on St Stephen's Day (December 26). This is a superb meeting with a wide array of Graded contests, competitive handicaps and informative bumpers for punters to enjoy. Danny Archer looks ahead to…

2023-01-06Saturday Sandown racing tips: Trends analysis points to three-way race for Tolworth Novices' Hurdle The Tolworth is a Grade 1 Novices' Hurdle run at Sandown at 2.25 on Saturday afternoon, a competitive race that has produced the winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival three times in the last eighteen years. This…

It's been a good couple of days for me on the track and it was great to win aboard Willie Mullins' James Du Berlais at Fairyhouse after 20 months off in the McInerney Beginners Chase. He jumped well, travelled great, was very fresh and keen, he was keen for the first two miles of that race. I think it was just the excitement of getting out and…

PUNTERS all over could be holding onto extremely valuable betting slips - after bookies revealed which Cheltenham Festival fancies have slashed in price. The blockbuster Christmas racing period saw a surge of activity in the ante-post markets. And with 11 weeks to go until the biggest four days in the racing calendar, punters were quick to hoover…

Now, we have hit 2023 the focus of the National Hunt world will be counting down to the Cheltenham Festival between March 14-17 and some bookmakers are already dangling the carrot of Non Runner No Bet, and here at HorseRacing.net we pick out some of the bookies that are NRNB on some of the festival races... William Hill went Non Runner No Bet on…

The gelded son of Authorized will face seven rivals when bidding to extend his unbeaten run over hurdles on his return to Grade One company in the two-mile prize, which was claimed 12 months ago by current Unibet Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill. While victory for Moore would be a first in the race, he feels it would be extra fitting for…

The lightly-raced eight-year-old has won three of his nine starts over fences and triumphed in six of 17 races under rules, with three runner-up efforts to his name. The consistent Yeats gelding won at Cheltenham in October, before chasing home previous King George VI Chase winner Frodon in the Badger Beer Handicap Chase at Wincanton. His last run…

Clan Des Obeaux will face eight rivals as he goes for back-to-back victories in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup, the highlight on day two of the Festival meeting. Paul Nicholls' charge kept on strongly to outgun Al Boum Photo in the hands of Sam Twiston-Davies 12 months ago, but it is Harry Cobden who rides the 10-year-old time around. Having…

As of 3pm on Tuesday 3 January, bet365 have gone live with their Non Runner No Bet market for the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. For the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Ryanair Chase, the Stayers' Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup, customers now have the option of taking a slightly shorter price from the NRNB market with the security…

A NEW kid on the block has emerged as the main danger to Constitution Hill at Cheltenham. Nicky Henderson's wonder horse is as short as 2-7 for the Champion Hurdle and notched his fourth straight Grade 1 win at Kempton on Boxing Day. Opposition towards him at the Festival in March was looking very thin on the ground, especially with Honeysuckle…