Champion Hurdle Betting Preview – Yanworth to be King at 3/1

Updated: 3rd February 2023

Yanworth heads the Champion Hurdle betting market in what is one of the most prestigious Cheltenham horse races. Not only in the UK, but also worldwide with a longstanding tradition. The first Champion Hurdle race was held in 1927. It is a Grade 1 race and horses age four or older are allowed to participate. The race is held on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.

The 87th Champion Hurdle is ahead of us, it will be held on the 14th of March 2017. Last year was the first year when the purse exceeded £400,000 and the winner received almost £250,000. The Champion Hurdle always attracts a lot of viewers and a lot of punters, and this year will be no different.

Previous Winners of the Champion Hurdle

Last year’s Champion Hurdle was won by Annie Power, ridden by Ruby Walsh. Willie Mullins is the trainer of the 8 year old mare which was considered a favourite to win the race at odds 5/2. In 2015 only 8 horses participated in the race. The winner was the seven year old Faugheen, also trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh. Faugheen also was the favourite at odds 5/4.

The 2014 Champion Hurdle was not won by the favourite. This time, the six year old horse Jezki won the race, despite the 9/1 odds. Barry Geraghty was the jockey and Jessica Harrington trained the horse. The favourite won in 2013 and the jockey/trainer duo was again Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh. The name of the horse was Hurricane Fly and the odds were 13/8. The six years old Rock On Ruby, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Noel Fehily won in 2012, at odds 11/1, clearly not the favourite.

2017 Champion Hurdle Betting Preview

The favourites won three of the last five races. Yanworth, a 7-year old gelding is this year’s favourite. The best odds that you can get on Yanworth to win are 3/1. Yanworth is trained by Alan King and it has been confirmed that the horse will be ridden by Mark Walsh.

It is interesting to note that Mark Walsh didn’t manage to win in any of his previous 19 attempts at Cheltenham Festival races. Many believe that he’ll break the spell this year.

Buveur Dair is right behind at odds 9/2, this 6-year old horse trained by Henderson has a fair chance of winning. Behind this duo we have Petit Mouchoir, another 6-year old horse trained by Henry de Bromhead and the odds for this gelding to win are 6/1.

The Brain Power is behind at odds 15/2, and then is the Vroum Vroum Mag. There are more significant variations in terms of the odds for horses that are not likely to win. If you plan on placing a wager on the Vroum Vroum Mag, you better shop for odds, as some bookmakers offer odds as low as 7/1, but others may offer odds as high as 12/1. The odds for the Moon Racer to win are pretty similar.

This will be a very exciting year. The odds for the favourite to win are higher than for most of the previous years and that is one of the indicators that it will be a tight race. Shop around, as there are fluctuations between the odds offered by different bookmakers. Most offer special Cheltenham Festival bonuses that apply to this race as well.

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