Cheltenham Festival Odds and Sods
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest events on the National Hunt racing calendar, attracting a large contingent of entries, betters and spectators on an annual basis. Held in March each year at the Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire, the festival sees millions of pounds being bet across the 24 races, with the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup drawing the most interest.
Champion Hurdle Facts
The Champion Hurdle event has been run since 1927, missing four years to date due to persistent inclement weather (1931), World War II (1943, 1944) and foot-and-mouth disease (2001). The most successful participants in the race have been as follows:
- Horses: Hatton’s Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then, Istabraq (three wins each)
- Jockey: Tim Molony (four wins: 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)
- Trainer: Peter Easterby (five wins: 1967, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981)
- Owner: Dorothy Paget (four wins: 1932, 1933, 1940, 1946)
The fastest ever winning time at the Champion Hurdle was set by Istabraq in 2000, who reached the finish in 3m48.1s. The horse was jockeyed by Charley Swan and trained by Aiden O’Brien. Significantly, the same horse, jockey and trainer combination won the even in 1998 and 1999 as well, reinforcing the long-held recognition that history has a way of repeating itself at the Cheltenham Festival, which makes for some very interesting horse racing betting.
The smallest field to ever run the Champion Hurdle was three in 1932, while 1964 and 1991 saw the biggest fields to date – 24 horses.
The most recent (2007) winner, Sublimity, had a winning starting price of 16/1 even though he had been bet at Cheltenham Festival odds of 600/1 prior to the race. Sublimity was jockeyed by Philip Carberry and trained by John Carr.
In 1963 the race was won by a one-eyed horse - Winning Fair - who had been trained in
For Cheltenham Festival odds and betting we recommend you try William Hill, one of the most renowned horse racing betting companies in the United Kingdom.
