Category: News

Honeysuckle won the Champion Hurdle by a dominant margin at 2021 Cheltenham Festival. Henry de Bromhead’s charge was the leading contender for the crown, but delivered on expectations with a brilliant performance, defeating the 2020 champion Epatante in the process. The thoroughbred has been imperious in her career to date, winning all 11 of her races.

The question now looms will she be able to retain his crown at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival. You can already find horse racing bets that have established De Bromhead’s charge as the favourite for the 2022 Champion Hurdle.

However, Honeysuckle not only has to remain at the peak of her powers over the next year, but the bay mare must also fend off challenges from rising starlets. Appreciate It was marked in the Cheltenham race card as a winner in the first event of the 2021 Festival in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. It was an impressive run by Willie Mullins’ charge and the odds are already in place for Appreciate It to challenge Honeysuckle for the Champion Hurdle in 2022.

It’s clear to see why Honeysuckle has already been earmarked for successive triumphs, although similar musings came about last season when Epatante cruised to victory at Cheltenham. Nicky Henderson’s charge won by three lengths in the event ahead of Sharjah. However, in the three races since, the French thoroughbred has mustered only one triumph. At Newcastle, the seven-year-old was on form to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

However, Epatante took a dramatic step back at the Christmas Hurdle when she was beaten by her old adversary Silver Streak at Kempton Park, finishing behind her rival by six-and-a-half lengths. Therefore, she lacked momentum to take into the Festival and it was evident that Honeysuckle was the superior horse on the day, easing down the stretch to canter over the line.

Epatante had to settle for third place as Sharjah claimed second place for the second year in a row in the Champion Hurdle. The decline of Epatante is a warning for Honeysuckle and highlights the difficulty in securing back-to-back crowns at Cheltenham, Buveur d’Air was the last horse to achieve the feat in the Champion Hurdle in 2017 and 2018.

Appreciate It streaks away to win the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Race and in some style #ITVRacing #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/0uzKLgvLtX

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 16, 2021

What Does the Future hold for Appreciate It?

There’s no guarantee that Appreciate It will take the road into the Champion Hurdle as there are many avenues that he could travel, including the Arkle Chase, Marsh Novices’ Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle. The 2020 winner of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Shishkin made a seamless transition to become a chase horse, winning the 2021 Arkle in the process. Should Appreciate It take that road, it would lead him out of the potential pathway of Honeysuckle. However, there could be other challengers that are more than capable of winning the event.

When the National Hunt season resumes in the autumn it will be curious to see how De Bromhead deploys Honeysuckle during the early stages of the campaign. Honeysuckle herself could be shifted away from hurdling. It would be unlikely and considering her dominance in the Champion Hurdle, De Bromhead will be keen to maintain his hold on the event considering that Honeysuckle’s victory was his first in the prestigious race.

The Cheltenham Festival starts on the 16th of March 2021, and it’s considered one of the most significant annual horse-racing events of the year. The four-day festival attracts millions of punters and spectators across the globe, especially here in Ireland. Having a flutter on horse-racing is one of the nation’s favourite pastimes. Particular attention is always paid to the Champion Hurdle due to past, and hopefully future, Irish success.

Considering how all Irish punters focus on this Grade 1 competition, we’ll show you our predictions for this year’s race. We’ll also have a quick look at last year’s winner. You’re sure to gain the confidence you need to pick a winner from a host of fancied runners from the most popular betting sites in Ireland.

The Unibet Championship Hurdle Past Winners

The Unibet Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham is the championship race for the best 2-mile hurdlers around. Previous winners include Hurricane Fly x2, Faugheen, and Hardy Eustace x2. We can’t forget about Istabraq, who won the race three times and is owned by J.P McManus.

Epatante rode to victory with jockey Barry Geraghty in the Championship Hurdle last year, again owned by McManus. Cruising around on the bridle like a dream with a quick shake-up, but never looked in trouble, winning by three comfortable lengths from the Willie Mullins trained Sharjah.

Irish trainers and owners have enjoyed copious victories in this event in the last ten years. J.P McManus is the proud owner of six winning horses, while trainers Willie Mullins, Jessica Harrington and Gavin Cromwell have enjoyed success at the Championship Hurdle. We’ll now have a look at the odds-on favourites to determine why punters are flocking to place their bets on these possible next champions.

Unibet Championship Hurdle 2021 Top Three Predictions

Honeysuckle: Ireland’s wonder mare is currently unbeaten in 10 starts. She’s a two-time Irish hurdle winner and last year’s Cheltlenham mare’s hurdle winner. Trained by Henry De Bromhead and ridden by Rachel Blackmore, Honeysuckle will get the mares allowance of 7lbs and is one of the current favourites to win the title this year.

She’s a slick jumper who stays well, with a tactical genius on board, as she showed when beating Bernie Des Dieux at last year’s festival. Honeysuckle is the favourite selection to Henry De Bromhead in what could be a memorable festival for him.

Epatante: She was last year’s Championship Hurdle winner. This exciting mare thrilled spectators with a steady run, never faltering. Epatante has the 7lb mare allowance, which she will most likely need as she faces much stiffer opposition this year.

The mare is currently the second favourite on bookie sites. She’s predicted to pull off a memorable win if she maintains the same performance as last year. Will trainer Nicky Henderson taste success for the second year in a row?

Goshen: He looked like he had the win in the bag last year, but he clipped his heels after jumping the final hurdle and falling. Goshen came back earlier this season and failed to fire by never settling and missing his trademark bursts of speed that we observed last March.

He came back at Wincanton this February by beating Song For Someone by a staggering 22 lengths, proving that his power and speed are now back. Goshen is now returning to Cheltenham with favourable odds for his biggest ever task.

With the prestigious Cheltenham Festival fast approaching, here on RacingQuestions.co.uk we’ve decided to have a bit of fun and take a jovial approach to proceedings. What better way to do so than to get the likes of Darren Randolph, Jesse Lingard and other West Ham teammates to take part in a Cheltenham Festival themed quiz. Can they accurately draw a horse? Is Betway ambassador Katie Walsh telling porkies? Can the players, representing Ireland and Great Britain – in their very own Prestbury Cup – pick a winner from a recent exciting Cheltenham Festival race. Tune in and find out.

The strength of the Cheltenham Festival has always been showcased by the depth of quality in its racecards. By that, we mean the focus of the festival is not on an individual race, but 28 of them, including 14 Grade 1 events. That has helped make Cheltenham the undisputed highlight of the jumps racing season, arguably surpassing the Grand National as the top event in British racing.

Nevertheless, there are four races that catch the eye more than others – the so-called feature races. The Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and, of course, the Cheltenham Gold Cup are the main courses of the festival banquet, so to speak. Horses who have won these races have their names etched in racing history – Golden Miller, Arkle, Best Mate, Sprinter Sacre, and Faugheen. But who are the the horses clamouring to make history this year? Below we look at the market leaders in the Cheltenham Festival betting odds for the four feature races in 2021:

*All odds supplied by 888sport and correct at the time of writing

Who is the leading contender for the Champion Hurdle 2021?

Epatante, who won the 2020 Champion Hurdle, is favourite to win again in 2021. The JP McManus-owned 7-year-old has been the horse to beat over hurdles over the last couple of years, but some punters will have been given pause for thought after Epatante was beaten last time out at Kempton. Still, he remains a worth favourite at 2/1. But Silver Streak, who defeated Epatante over Christmas, and Sharjah, last year’s Champion Hurdle runner up, both have strong claims.

Who is the leading contender for the Champion Chase 2021?

The clearest favourite on this list, Chacun Pour Soi is 5/4 to win the Champion Chase. The record books will show that Chacun Pour Soi has yet to appear at Cheltenham, but he did in fact make it to the festival year only to be pulled from the event due to an abscess found on race day. Nonetheless, Willie Mullins, his trainer, will fancy that Chacun Pour Soi has the capacity to land a maiden Champion Chase for the Irishman at Cheltenham. The Champion Chase is one of the few events Mullins has never won, but Chacun Pour Soi might be his best chance in years.

Who is the leading contender for the Stayers Hurdle 2021

The first race without a clear favourite. Paisley Park (11/4) get the marginal nod from most bookmakers, but Thyme Hill (7/2) is in close pursuit in the betting markets. This is an intriguing clash between two horses that have traded blows over the winter period. Thyme Hill beat Paisley Park by just over a length at Newbury in November. But Paisley Park got his win back at Kempton in late December, yet only be a neck. It’s a toss-up between two fantastic long-distance hurdlers.

Who is the leading contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2021?

Al Boum Photo (10/3) is the market leader, with the Willie Mullins-trained horse gunning for this third-successive Gold Cup victory. Those who fancy Al Boum Photo’s chances will be buoyed by the patchy form of the other leading contenders in the race, including Santini, Minella Indo and A Plus Tard. Indeed, it’s not that Al Boum Photo has set to the world alight – he has had one routine victory in his only outing since last year – it’s that he hasn’t done anything wrong. Al Boum Photo is a worthy favourite, but there are several horses who could beat him if the stars align. It’s worth remembering that the just a couple of lengths separated the first four home in the Gold Cup last year. This will be no procession for Al Boum Photo.