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Attention turns to the Champion Hurdle in today’s edition and this is easily the marquee race of the festival’s opening day. Virtually all racing observers agree that this is a much tougher race this year and we’ve seen some bookmakers clip Binocular yet again – he now trades as low as 5/2. We’ll be examining the leading pack and the assorted outsiders who might be ready to make a statement in this one.
Binocular looks short at 5/2 and, with even Tony McCoy sounding a bit wary about his chances, I don’t expect him to be a supremely popular selection if the price continues to trend downwards. He was able to conquer last year’s race without much of an effort but expect a more talented cadre of challengers this time around. Credit where...
Welcome to day one of the four-day guide to the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. This guide was written to give you the basic information for all four days of the festival, and more in-depth information on the days’ major races.
Opening day at Cheltenham packs in three Grade 1 races, including the infamously energetic opening race: the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. To top it off, the fourth race of the day is none other than the 84-year old Champion Hurdle Challenge. To sum it up: the first day at Cheltenham sets the bar for the festival impressively high, a day not to be missed by the horse-racing fan.
Welcome to day two of the four-day guide to the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. This guide was written to give you the basic information for all four days of the festival, and more in-depth information on the days’ major races.
Despite day one setting the bar impressively high, day two at Cheltenham will do everything but disappoint. Three popular Grade 1 races take place here, including the legendary Queen Mother Champion Chase acting as the day’s anchor.
You can find links to days one, three and four at the bottom of the article....
Welcome to day three of the four-day guide to the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. This guide was written to give you the basic information for all four days of the festival, and more in-depth information on the days’ major races.
Day three at Cheltenham brings three Grade 1 races, including the Kim Muir Challenge Cup, where amateur riders take to the track for the only flat race of the four-day festival. Be sure to pay close attention to the fourth race of the day, the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. This prestigious 3m race is one of the most watched and bet on races of the festival, surely not to be missed.
Welcome to day four of the four-day guide to the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. This guide was written to give you the basic information for all four days of the festival, and more in-depth information on the days’ major races.
The final day of the Cheltenham festival sports another seven races, but it would be foolish to pretend the entire day isn’t centred around the Cheltenham Gold Cup: the most prestigious steeplechasing race on the planet.
You can find links to days one, two and three at the bottom of the article.
One of the most notable occurrences in the build-up to the Cheltenham Gold Cup has been punters retreating heavily off of Sir Alex Ferguson’s What A Friend. The Paul Nicholls-trained eight year-old has plenty of Cheltenham experience but was winless in his two efforts this year. His fifth to Imperial Commander in the Betfair Chase isn’t really a stroke against him while he probably should have won his next effort – the Grade 2 Aon Chase at Newbury, failing on the line to Noland. His price has jumped dramatically, doubling from 20/1 to 40/1. You never know, nobody expected Mon Mome to hit the board last year so he looks a decent option in the TBP market.
Neptune Collonges has always been a likeable horse that just hasn’t gotten much respect lately. It...
While the top four contenders in this race obviously attract plenty of headlines, there are a number of talented jumpers who float around the 10/1-20/1 corridor who could be poised to make a major statement this year.
The most notable outside selection looks to be Kempes. He enters the race fresh off a Grade 1 score at Leopardstown in mid-February and his three-race campaign looks to set him up nicely for the festival showpiece. Prior to that, he scored in a Grade 1 novice chase at the Punchestown Festival in 2010 with McCoy up, but could only manage a third-place finish to Golden Silver in his seasonal debut at Fairyhouse. He was right up there in contention in his Leopardstown effort around Christmas, but blundered badly and unseated AP when they were two out and had every...
With another withdrawal coming on Wednesday, and the likelihood that Planet of Sound will be removed thanks to a leg infection, the Cheltenham Gold Cup field is becoming more limited by the day. The contenders seem to be emerging into three distinct groups as we’re just over a week out from this prestigious race. We’ll be examining each of these groups today and trying to discern just how things might shape up.
Imperial Commander has stood as the firm favourite for this race ever since he managed to score last year. Currently, his price is listed as low as 3/1 with some bookmakers and his exchange price appears firm at around 4.5-5.0. You wonder whether the solitary run will be enough for him though.
The talented-looking Long Run sits as the second favourite...
We're back with another look at two other major match-ups in this year's Cheltenham Festival.
Master Minded vs Big Zeb
Two genuine chasing sensations are set to square off in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Master Minded, the younger of the two contenders, will be looking to simultaneously avenge his loss to Big Zeb last year and retain an undefeated record for this particular campaign. Master Minded took the Grade 1 Tingle Creek with Noel Fehily up back in mid-December and, with last year’s loss being the solitary blemish on his festival record, he’ll be nearly unbeatable if he can rediscover the chasing form he showed back in 2009. You can generally tell what type of mood he’s in once he jumps the first fence – a big, bold...
While some of the big races at this year’s Cheltenham Festival look to be extremely wide-open affairs, there’s a few other races (mostly the higher-profile ones) that involve a few very accomplished contenders that are expected to take the bulk of the money. We’ll be examining some of the big face-offs here today and trying to see if we can find any clues that might give one big name the edge over another.
Big Buck’s vs Grands Crus
Big Buck’s the easily the best short-distance hurdler we’ve had on the National Hunt scene for quite some time. You can’t argue with a record like his – unbeaten since a UR back in November of 2008. The multiple Grade 1 winner is has been consistently hitting career-high figures for...
