Cheltenham Festival liabilities mount for bookies as they hope to get big favourite beaten
It could be a brutal start to the Cheltenham Festival for the bookies
Constitution Hill is the biggest Cheltenham Festival loser in the books for betting firm BetVictor, who will be hoping something can beat Nicky Henderson's star hurdler in March.
The Champion Hurdle favourite returned to action after a year off the track on St Stephen's Day, beating Lossiemouth by two and a half lengths in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. That saw him go odds-on for the day one feature at Cheltenham, the race in which he beat State Man by nine lengths in 2023.
However, punters have the eight-year-old backed at much bigger prices, given that he was as big as 9/2 for the two-mile contest back in November.
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Sam Boswell, spokesperson for BetVictor, said: “As we creep towards the Cheltenham Festival, with a cold snap which has seen limited racing, it seems a good time to assess the ante post markets and our worst five liabilities in the lead up to the Festival.
“The most significant loser in our book is Constitution Hill. We laid Nicky Henderson's stable star at a price as big as 9/2 back in November, following the publicised gallop at Newbury. He’s now odds on at 4/6 having returned to his best in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day. We’ll be hopeful that Brighterdaysahead at 4/1, who was so impressive over Christmas, also opts for the Champion Hurdle and that we can get him beat in March.
“It's another Nicky Henderson horse that has us running for cover in the Arkle. We saw plenty of conflicting ideas about where Sir Gino would end up but those who backed him for the two-mile novice chase at as big as 8/1 are very much on the right side of a good ante-post bet. He’s now 8/11 having blown away a disappointing Ballyburn at Kempton in the Wayward Lad, producing one of the most impressive chase debuts of recent times in the process. It feels like his backers are likely to collect come the Tuesday of the festival. The Seven Barrows pair winning would be a nasty start to the festival for us.
“We are currently offering four places each-way on the Supreme, Turners and Albert Bartlett, and as a result we have seen several each-way liabilities. It's another familiar trainer whose horses are giving our traders sleepless nights, with the worst being Willie Mullins-trained Kaid d’Authie. A faller on stable debut, he improved when going up in trip at Leopardstown over Christmas, impressing many. As a result, he’s 8/1 from 33/1 for the Supreme as it is anticipated he will drop back to two miles.
“Another Closutton inmate that won at Leopardstown and that we are keen to keep onside moving forward is Kopek Des Bordes, who is 12/1 from 25/1 for the Turners. Whilst we didn’t see much of his win in the fog, what the punters did manage to see clearly caught the eye.
“The final horse of a Mullins trio that could prove costly for us is Willy De Houelle in the Triumph market. This horse was the talk of the town long before his debut in December for the top trainer in Ireland, but he’s yet to live up to the hype and seems poised to be one that us bookmakers have ended up the right side of for once!”
BetVictor – Horse Racing
Top 5 Cheltenham Festival liabilities:
Constitution Hill – Champion Hurdle | 4/6 |
Sir Gino – Arkle Chase | 8/11 |
Kaid d’Authie – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle | 8/1 |
Kopek Des Bordes – Turners’ Novices’ Hurdle | 12/1 |
Willy De Houelle – Triumph Hurdle | 20/1 |
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