Bet on the World Hurdle with totesport

First run in 1972 and for many years staged under the banner of the Stayers’ Hurdle, the World Hurdle is the centrepiece of the third day of the Cheltenham Festival and is a popular race among totesport punters,

The gruelling distance of three-miles-one-furlong places stamina at an absolute premium (especially if the ground turns soft) and only horses who genuinely relish an extended trip can fight their way home to glory up the daunting Cheltenham hill.

Over the history of the event there have only been three horses who have managed to achieve the feat of winning the race twice, the sheer demanding nature of the event meaning few horses have the resources to triumph on more than one occasion.

Galmoy, trained by John Mulhern, took the race in 1987 & 1988, whilst in recent years the great French stayer Baracouda won in 2002 & 2003 and rewarded totesport place backers by putting up sterling performances to finish runner-up the following two years.

Inglis Drever, the current champion, is the only horse in the history of the race to regain the title, having won in 2005 and then silenced his doubters by storming home to beat Mighty Man in a memorable finish to the 2007 renewal. Howard Johnson’s stable star will attempt to make history and win the race for a third time later this season and will doubtless prove a popular choice with punters both on the day and in our ante-post betting list.

The World Hurdle has enjoyed its fare share of controversy over the years with the memorable barging match between Rose Ravine and Crimson Embers (both trained by Fulke Walwyn) in 1985, and then the dramatic disqualification of Avro Anson in 1995. Maurice Camacho’s gelding passed the post a short-head in front of Balasani only for the stewards to decide to reverse the placings and deny Camacho his biggest career success.

In recent years Irish challengers have enjoyed tremendous success at the Cheltenham Festival and carried all before them, but the World Hurdle has proved somewhat elusive for raiders from the ‘Emerald Isle’ Not since the Michael Hourigan-trained Doran’s Pride in 1995, have the Irish tasted success in this race and the statistics suggest that they may well have to wait a while longer unless an outstanding candidate emerges.

At totesport we offer a market leading range of betting opportunities on the World Hurdle and all the other races at the Cheltenham Festival, including ante-post prices, early prices on the day of the races, traditional and Tote odds betting.