Sports Blog 26/02/2018: Horse Racing Preview – Cheltenham Festival, Tuesday 13th to Friday 16th March 2018

It’s almost time for one of the crown jewels of the horse racing calendar, as mid-March brings the Cheltenham Festival 2018!

Day One
The focus on Tuesday is the Champion Hurdle, with the odds on favourite last year’s victor Buveur Dair at 8/15. Willie Mullins’ Faughheen, which won the Hurdle back in 2015, is then at 5/1, with Yorkhill at 8/1, My Tent or Yours at 9/1 and Min at 10/1. Those looking for a real punt might be interested in Cliffs of Dover, which heads into the Hurdle at 100/1.

Day Two
Moving to Wednesday and the Queen Mother Champion Chase is in the spotlight. After winning the Betfair Exchange Chase at Newbury Nicky Henderson’s Altior leads with a fixed odds price of 4/6.

Min, who won the Coral Dublin Chase at Leopardstown, is at 5/2, while Douvan, who was initially ruled out of the festival due to an injury suffered at 2017’s Champion Chase, at 9/2. Then there’s Politologue and Un De Sceaux at 9/1, with last year’s runner-up Fox Norton and winner Special Tiara at 11/1 and 14/1 respectively.

Day Three
Thursday sees the Stayers’ Hurdle, and unlike the races mentioned above, there is no clear front runner. Supasundae, which won its first race in just shy of a year at the start of February at the Irish Champion Hurdle, is at 3/1, closely followed by Sam Spinner, which at the time of writing is yet to race in 2018, at 9/2.

Apples Jade and Yanworth are both at 5/1, before the field opens out somewhat with Faugheen at 17/2, Penhill and The New One at 10/1, Bacardys at 11/1 and Wholestone and Lami Serge at 12/1.

Day Four
Finally Friday’s the biggie – the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The 2017 victor Sizing John is at 6/1; not bad, but trailing Might Bite’s 7/2 and Native River’s 11/2. Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite is the most recent winner of the King George VI Chase, while Native River came 3rd in 2017 and came back from injury with a 1st place finish at the Denman Chase at Newbury.

Outside that top 3, Our Duke is at 8/1, with Road To Respect at 9/1 and Killutagh Vic at 10/1. There’s then a bit of a jump, with Definitly Red and Total Recall at 16/1, and Minella Rocco and Edwulf at 20/1.