Although
the National Hunt season proper has only really got under way with
the arrival of the autumn rain, there are already plenty of punters
taking more than a second glance at the ante-post markets for the
principal championship races for the 2015 Cheltenham Festival, writes
Elliot Slater.
Many
of the market principals hail from the most powerful yards in the
sport with the likes of Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls, Nicky
Henderson, David Pipe, Jonjo O’Neill, and Alan King all fielding
representatives with a prominent position in the Cheltenham Festival
betting next yaer.
Mullins’
tremendous prospect Faugheen,
winner of the Neptune Investment Management Novices Hurdle at the
Cheltenham Festival in March, is generally sharing favouritism at
around 5/1 for this term’s Champion Hurdle alongside the Nigel
Twiston-Davies-trained star The New One, a horse who many observers
felt was unlucky not to win last term’s blue riband contest in
which he finished a close third to Jessica Harrington’s Jezki
after recovering well from being badly hampered by a faller at an
early stage of the contest. Jezki is expected to try and defend his
title, while last season’s runner-up, the Nicky Henderson-trained
My Tent Or Yours, is another
potential candidate proving popular with punters in the ante-post
Cheltenham Festival betting.
The
Queen Mother Champion Chase is already being priced up as something
of a two-horse race – but what a fantastic pair they are. The 2013
champion, Sprinter Sacre, is generally quoted the 3/1 ante-post
favourite, just ahead of last year’s impressive winner Sire de
Grugy (4/1), the Gary Moore-trained star who took full advantage of
Sprinter Sacre’s absence after the top-class Henderson-trained
chaser pulled up on his only start of last season suffering from an
irregular heartbeat.
With
his ailments reportedly behind him now, the return to the fray of
Sprinter
Sacre
is going to be one of the most exciting events of the first half of
the season, and the prospective series of battles between him and
Sire de Grugy throughout the campaign is likely to draw in tremendous
crowds wherever they compete.
The
World Hurdle, the highlight on day three of the meeting, will once
again be the main target for the Jonjo O’Neill-trained More Of
That, who maintained his perfect record when inflicting a first ever
defeat on the high-class Willie Mullins-trained mare Annie Power in a
memorable renewal of the three-mile contest last March. At current
best odds in the ante-post betting with odds of just 3/1, More of
That is likely to be one of the hottest favourites of the week if he
maintains his form this season. Annie Power may take him on again,
(although connections appear more likely to target the Mares’
Hurdle), so it remains to be seen if any new dangers, such as the
Punchestown winner Jetson, will emerge as serious challengers to
O’Neill’s star turn.
The
most open of the four major championship races is the Cheltenham Gold
Cup itself with no outstanding candidate at this early stage of the
season. The latest ante-post odds reflect this, with betting firms
offering 10/1 the field, former champion Bobs Worth and the Grade 1
Aintree winner Holywell, (a winner of a handicap at the Cheltenham
Festival a few weeks earlier), heading a wide-open field. Bobs Worth
didn’t appear quite as good last year as the previous campaign when
the Henderson-trained gelding won the Gold Cup in great style, but he
wasn’t beaten far in March behind Jim Culloty’s surprise winner
Lord Windermere, who is currently a general 14/1 shot to retain his
crown.