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An impressive £150,000 is up for grabs to the winner of the premier hurdling event on the National Hunt circuit and, if the odds are anything to go by, this one is shaping up to be a two-horse race.
Big Buck’s is a truly impressive specimen and he deserves all the respect that he’s gotten in recent years. The talented Paul Nicholls-trained gelding has the measure of the hurdling circuit and is seeking his third World Hurdle on the bounce. Interestingly, he debuted on the chase scene and then switched to hurdles and has found a huge amount of success. In fact, Big Buck’s only real blemish is when he unseated Sam Thomas in the Hennessy Gold Cup Chase back in November of 2008.
Big Buck’s continues to hit near career-high numbers and has...
A fantastic day for the Irish on Wednesday at Cheltenham as attention now turns to the Thursday card and it’s six races. We’ll be taking a look at each of them here and attempting to gauge how things might shape up.
Jewson Novices’ Chase
Wishfull Thinking headlines an eleven-strong field for this 2m4f novice chase. He’s been in solid form this year and justifies his favourites status while still delivering a somewhat respectable price at around 11/4. If he holds there it’s not a bad wager at the price on the win-only as his last outing was a course and distance score over the talented Calgary Bay. That victory built on a previous second-place effort to Reve De Sivola at Cheltenham back in December. The Walsh/Nicholls pairing gets up on 5/1...
It’s definitely tough to bet against Time For Rupert in this one and I reckon he might very well live up to the hype. So far, he is undefeated over fences and has put in some extremely credible shifts over hurdles in recent years as well. His biggest statement over the short obstacles came last year when he finished second to the legendary Big Buck’s and also put in a second-place finish to the respected Tidal Bay.
His last five races have all comes at Cheltenham with the last two being run over the chase circuit – both of which were victories. The punters were expected to bet him down heavily in this one but the 9/4 price he carried in the ante post market has risen slightly to an 11/4 price tag. If he holds around there he is a relatively sharp bet.
Big Zeb got the better of Master Minded last year in this one and they both return for round three with a Champion Chase apiece under their belts. This fixture is the de facto tie-breaker between the two but you have to wonder whether somebody else pops up to spoil the party?
The going will be a nearly textbook reproduction of what Big Zeb won over last year.
The only genuine blemish on Big Zeb’s race-record this year was when he was just beaten by Golden Silver not far from the line at Punchestown in Grade 2 action. Despite Big Zeb being a bit older he seems to be coming into form at the right time. He is hitting consistently at career-high figues while Binocular lags behind the form he demonstrated a year and a half ago. Still, he is winning relatively...
After Ruby Walsh’s opening day heroics at the 2011 Cheltenham Festival, it’s probably not a massive surprise that So Young is getting bet down extremely hard as punters look to exploit the Walsh/Mullins jockey-trainer combo to full effect. The pair were at 3/1 at the close of the first day and they are now trading at a 5/2 margin.
Both of his efforts this year were winning ones but you have to wonder whether punters will see another overbacked novice come up short again at this festival after a thorough gamble.
Oscars Well is just as good a horse as So Young and might even be better. He has drifted from 11/4 up to 7/2 – if he manages to get up to around 5/1 then that’s a tremendous price.
It was a rollicking day full of exciting races in the opening fixture of the 2011 Cheltenham Festival and it’s time to take a look at Wednesday’s big races in hopes to get a leg-up on the betting public. There looks to be plenty of value out there still and, if Ruby remains in form, it could be a banner day for the Irish.
We’re rolling after Al Ferof and Captain Chris both hit in the early half of the card – each commanding around 9/1. Khyber Kim didn’t show up in the Champion Hurdle while Garde Champetre was beaten by half a length after carrying what seemed like a 100 tonne weight penalty.
National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup
Some respectable contenders line up in this one and there’s all kinds of form if...
With just a few hours before the Cheltenham Roar, we’re taking one last final look at the opening day’s fixtures for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. Stay tuned for the latest tips and analysis and be sure to check out our videos for a rapid-fire rundown of all the day’s races.
Supreme Novices
Cue Card doesn’t look particularly appealing from a payout perspective at 2/1 odds but it’s going to take an awful lot to beat him. You can’t hold the loss against Menorah against him as he really just came up against a horse that looks to be a class apart. Al Ferof will likely try to jump on the lead and he looks an interesting win-only shout at 8/1. The hot play might wind up being Marsh Warbler who was withdrawn from the JCB Triumph hurdle and...
We are extremely close to the kick off of the 2011 Cheltenham Festival and we’re going to be taking another quick look at the betting markets for the opening day’s action. Again, all of Ladbrokes odds are non-runner money back going into the festival. Some bookmakers are restricting the offer to just the Grade 1 races, but with the red bookies you can back everything from the Supreme Novices to the Gold Cup to the Centenary Novices’ Handicap Chase with the utmost confidence.
Supreme Novices Hurdle
Obviously Cue Card is the big one coming into this and his 2/1 price continues to hold, for now, betting novices can be tough and while he looks a step above many of the others here – a number of them continue to progress and with a field this deep you...
Obviously the biggest news at the moment heading into Cheltenham week is the withdrawal of leading Champion Hurdle fancy Binocular. This is another great example of why it pays to bet with Ladbrokes as they’ve been offering up non-runner no bet for quite some time now. This development comes on the heels of a recommendation from the BHA to conditioner Nicky Henderson. Apparently Binocular has been unable to shake an allergic reaction from two weeks back and medication used to help him overcome the illness would not have cleared his system by race time. Nice that they did the right thing by withdrawing him.
Menorah and Hurricane Fly are now the 7/2 joint favourites and, with Binocular out, they both look a bit more appealing from an odds perspective. Menorah will likely go...
Oscar Whisky is an interesting contender but I think this one comes just a bit too quick for him and he might have been better off tackling the Supreme Novices. 10/1 is far too short though a high-percentage win-ratio may convince some punters to opt for him. This is a big step up in quality though he has flourished over the surface in the past.
Khyber Kim strikes a decent balance between solid form against contenders at this level and a quality price to match. The Nigel Twiston-Davies charge was only sent out once this year, a disappointing fourth to Binocular back in January. He really didn’t look up to it on the day but he really does enjoy the Cheltenham surface so he’ll be a contender if he moves cleanly. He finished second last year, but it was a weaker race....
