Betting
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL PREVIEW: SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE
The Cheltenham Festival kicks off with a mouth-watering lineup in the Supreme
The prestigious Cheltenham Festival is only three weeks away, with a seriously hot renewal of the Supreme kicking off the action at Prestbury Park.
CONSTITUTION HILL (2/1) heads the betting, with Nicky Henderson’s recruit gathering plenty of followers after winning his first two starts under rules.
The five-year-old made light work of a smart rival on his debut at Sandown back in December before thundering clear of the field in the Tolworth, running away to win by 12 lengths.
The son of Blue Bresil looks seriously promising and his latest effort dislodged long-time favourite and stablemate JONBON (9/2) from the top of the market.
The latter shouldn’t be discounted either as Jonbon has lived up to his name after his first three starts over hurdles, claiming success in all three runs.
His pedigree is deeply admired by racing fans and if he does continue to improve, he could well be a serious contender in this race.
DYSART DYNAMO (10/3) has emerged as one of the leading fancies from Willie Mullins’ yard for this contest, after producing two impressive victories over the smaller obstacles.
The six-year-old has thundered home on his handful of starts over hurdles, winning by 19 lengths on his first run back in December before claiming success by the same distance in the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.
The gelding looks a seriously promising recruit for the Closutton trainer and he could well be claiming a Grade 1 success at the first time of asking here – if his connections decide on this contest and not the Ballymore.
Stablemate SIR GERHARD (9/2) also holds entries in both the Supreme and the Ballymore, but the target still remains the same as Willie Mullins’ recruit aims to claim his second straight Festival success following his Champion Bumper victory last season.
The Cheveley Park Stud star has won both his starts over hurdles and he managed to claim his first Graded win over obstacles at the Dublin Racing Festival.
Going off at the odds of 8/13 in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle, the seven-year-old put his supporters into a state of anxiety as he didn’t jump with fluency and he hit the last fence before pulling away to win by six lengths.
It does suggest that he is a talented individual, as he is still claiming victory in Grade 1 company despite putting up a below-par run.
KILCRUIT (15/2) could well represent the Mullins yard here as well, but his form is slightly concerning looking at the level of company heading to Cheltenham.
The seven-year-old has been unable to build on his promising bumper form this season and was even beaten as a 1/14 favourite on his hurdles debut back in December.
The Champion Bumper runner-up will need to produce something almost spectacular here if he is to win, that’s if Mullins decides to run him here at all that is.
STATE MAN (16/1) looks interesting on paper and could well deal with the step up to Graded company with ease here, while EL FABIOLO (14/1) was hugely impressive on his last outing at Tramore back on New Year’s Day.
Gordon Elliott has a few interesting entrants in his locker with MIGHTY POTTER (12/1) holding Grade 1 honours after his success at Leopardstown over the festive period while PIED PIPER (33/1) and THREE STRIPE LIFE (66/1) could feature if their connections decide against the Triumph Hurdle and the Ballymore.
Gavin Cromwell’s MY MATE MOZZIE (50/1) and Nigel Twiston-Davies’ I LIKE TO MOVE IT (40/1) look the best of the rest.
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*Odds courtesy of bet365 and correct at time of writing
