Cheltenham Festival 2015: Champion Day

Cheltenham Festival 2015 kicks off in just a few days on the 10^th of March.  Champion Day starts at 10:30 in the morning and runs until 6:00 in the evening.  Like all the other festival days, Champion Day will feature 7 thrilling races.  The big event of the day however is indubitably the Champion Hurdle.  Last year thousands cheered on as Jezki, trained by Jessica Harrington in Ireland, won by a neck over JP McManus’ My Tent Or Yours. 

This year, Jezki is coming back for a chance to win the Champion Hurdle for a second season in a row, but he’s not without some strong contenders!  Bettors will want to keep an eye on The New One, who had an unlucky go last season, and Faugheen, trained by Willie Mullins. 

The New One is a gelding trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies.  Because of the fall of Our Conor, he lost some serious ground.  Many who had a chance to watch the event believe that he would have triumphed if not for that incident.  His record since then is untarnished; he’s won five out of five races.

Faugheen may very well be the horse to triumph at the Champion Hurdle; as of right now, the seven-year-old is unbeaten, and enjoyed a very successful run on Boxing Day at Kempton.  Faugheen also went up against Sign of A Victory and Irving at The Christmas Hurdle and came out on top, but neither of those horses were performing at their best that day.  For that reason, some still are not convinced that Faugheen can pull it through at this year’s Champion Hurdle.

Faugheen isn’t Mullins’ only horse racing in the Champion Hurdle this year either.  Mullins will also be racing Hurricane Fly, an eleven-year-old pursuing a third victory in the Champion Hurdle.  Should Hurricane Fly win the race, he will become one of the three oldest winners in the history of the race.  Notably, he has already won against Jezki three times this season.  One of those times was during the Irish Champion Hurdle, of which he is now a five-time winner.

This will be a very exciting kickoff to the UK’s favourite horse racing festival.  With such stiff competition, it is tough to predict who will come out on top, making this event even more exciting for punters who want to get in on the betting action! 

There’s nothing like betting on horse racing in person.  If you have a chance to head to Cheltenham on the 10^th of March, tickets are still available at the Club, Tattersalls and Best Mate levels.  Make sure you order fast, though, before seats sell out, as they already have in large part for Day 4 of the festival.  If you don’t have a chance to attend Champion Day in person, the most UK betting sites will be streaming the races live, or you can listen on BBC Radio 5 Live for coverage.  Have fun, and good luck winning your Champion Day bets!