The Cheltenham Festival is now less than a week away, but the ante-post markets are continuing to fluctuate as the meeting draws ever closer. Whether it be an injury concern, a video on social media of a horse working well, money coming in for a runner, or a quote from a trainer, there has been movement at the fore of some of the Festival’s biggest races.
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That said, read on as we take a look at some of the most notable market movers in the build-up to the Festival getting underway on Tuesday.
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Jonbon
Jonbon and El Fabiolo have toed and froed for favoritism at the top of the Cheltenham betting for the Arkle Challenge Trophy. The former was the long-time favorite for the two-mile novices’ contest on day one and retained the market leader status despite El Fabiolo’s impressive 10-length win in the Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
It was a drift after the Grade 2 Kingmaker that cost Jonbon the top spot. The Nicky Henderson-trained horse survived a scare to win by five-and-a-half lengths from Calcio in a two-horse race at Warwick, but the less-than-convincing nature pushed him out in the market and allowed El Fabiolo to swoop in.
However, his challenger Calcio won a Handicap Chase at Doncaster last weekend and that resulted in Jonbon shortening back to 6/4. That’s good for joint-favorite alongside the Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiola.
Impair Et Passe
From the same yard and owners as El Fabiolo, Impaire Et Passe is another Mullins-trained, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned horse vying for favoritism at the fore of one of the 14 Grade 1 contests.
Hermes Allen had been favored to win the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle for most of the season, and still holds a solid claim having gone three for three over obstacles for Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden this season — including a course and distance win in the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle in November and a Grade 1 triumph last time out.
However, in the last couple of days, Impaire Et Passe had leapfrogged Hermes Allen as the favorite for the Ballymore — shortening to 5/2 from 7/2, while his British-trained rival has remained an 11/4 shot.
Blazing Khal
Arguably the most wide-open of the four Championship races — or if not, certainly the market that has chopped and changed the most — it’s hard to keep up with the Stayers’ Hurdle as the ante-post odds are constantly fluctuating.
The three-mile feature has had multiple favourites since the start of the season, with Flooring Porter initially tipped for a third-straight success.
But his poor form, finishing fourth in both of his outings this season, resulted in him dropping back in the betting.
Teahupoo then led the market for a while after winning back-to-back races in Ireland, including the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Fairyhouse from 20/1. But it’s Blazing Khal who has held the favorite tag since returning from a 428-day absence to win the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle at Navan last month.
The seven-year-old has course and distance form after winning the Bristol Novices’ Hurdle in December 2021 and is on a four-race win streak, but his trainer Charles Byrnes revealed that he suffered a bad cut last time out and his participation now stems on a key piece of work this Friday. Blazing Khal has drifted from a general 5/2 to around 11/4 as a result.