Bet on The Champion Hurdle with totesport

The highlight of the opening day of the four-day Cheltenham Festival and the pinnacle of hurdling excellence, the Champion Hurdle always provides plenty betting excitement with totesport.

The race, run at speed over two miles of the testing Prestbury Park circuit, attracts the very best hurdlers from both sides of the Irish Sea and beyond.

In recent years Irish invaders have dominated the event and runners from the ‘Emerald Isle’ are prominent again in our betting as this season’s renewal draws closer.

Sublimity, trained by John Carr and ridden by Philip Carberry, looked capable of running up a sequence of successes in the race when storming to an impressive victory in the 2007 renewal, and barring injury, should prove popular with totesport punters looking to take the value odds on offer in our ante-post market.

Previous winners do have a good track record in the race and if Sublimity does manage to follow up his victory, he will be adding his name to a roll call of great champions who have reached the zenith of their powers in this famous race. Triple winners such as Hattons Grace (1949-51), Sir Ken (1952-54), Persian War (1968-70), See You Then (1985-87) and most recently Istabraq (1998-2000) have all gone into racing legend, not to mention other outstanding champions such as Bula, Comedy of Errors, Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon and latterly Hardy Eustace who all won the title twice.

The ability to travel at a high cruising speed, jump fast and accurately around the undulating Cheltenham circuit, and then stay on up the formidable incline to the finish, proves the supreme test of a two mile hurdler.

The Champion Hurdle picture develops throughout the season with significant trial races including Kempton’s Christmas Hurdle, the Bula Hurdle at Cheltenham, as well as a series of Grade 1 events in Ireland. It will be worth checking out totesport’s ante-post markets before and after these races which help to make up the mind of punters looking to unravel the clues as to the next winner of this great race.

On the day of the race itself the going always plays a significant part in determining the destiny of the winner’s cheque and trophy. Really soft or heavy ground can sometimes result in the form book being literally thrown out of the window!

On Champion Hurdle day, totesport offer a range of bets that cover all possible interests in the event (win, each-way, forecasts, etc) and of course, in the weeks and months preceding the big race, totesport ante-post prices offer the best value in the market.