What’s Next for Four Fabulous Cheltenham Festival Winners?
Author:
Roy Brindley
Cheltenham 2023 now resides in the history books. As the betting favorites took the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, and Gold Cup, many punters would have finished the Festival in clover. However, defeat for Shishkin in the Ryanair Chase, and Sire Du Berlais’s shock 33/1 success in the Stayers Hurdle, meant the battle between bookies and backers was declared a “score draw”.
Such was the nature of his success Galopin Des Champs is just 13/8 to retain his Gold Cup title in 2024. ?GettyImages
During the four-day Festival, horses such as Lossiemouth, Envoi Allen, Sire Du Berlais, Impaire Et Passe, Honeysuckle, and The Real Whacker were meritorious and noteworthy winners. But amongst the 21 other scorers, four stood out. Here we reflect on that quartet’s performances and assess the chances of these new champions enjoying further success at the 2024 Festival.
Supreme Credentials Can Take Marine Nationale Anywhere
The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle is not only the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival, but it is also one of the most anticipated. Recent winners include the outstanding chasers, Douvan, Altior, and Shishkin. Last year the race fell to Constitution Hill who was the brilliant winner of the Champion Hurdle.
All the rage in this year’s contest was Willie Mullins’ Facile Vega. But owner-trainer Barry Connell oozed confidence in his four-time winner Marine Nationale and his sentiment was not misplaced. Traveling strongly before forging clear up the Cheltenham hill, the six-year-old scored impressively by over three lengths.
Where will this imposing Irish-bred horse be aimed in 2024? Douvan, Altior, and Shishkin all returned to Prestbury Park to land the Arkle Novices’ Chase. That race seems the obvious choice of target, and the best horse racing betting sites have Marine Nationale priced at 5/1 for the contest.
However, should connections announce their star will stay over hurdles, Unibet’s 10/1 odds on Marine Nationale emulating Constitution Hill by taking the Champion Hurdle after success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle will quickly disappear.
No Mountain Is Too High for Constitution Hill
Declared by more than one pundit as “the horse of a generation”, Constitution Hill trounced State Man by nine lengths in the Champion Hurdle. Seasoned observers were in awe and quickly declared his imperious performance “the finest seen in decades”.
111-111
The mighty Constitution Hill, simply majestic in the Unibet Champion Hurdle! #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/RiIeP3kSgj
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 14, 2023
What lay ahead for Constitution Hill is unclear. Online betting sites have the six-time winner quoted for six different races at the 2024 Festival. He is 4/6 to take a second Champion Hurdle, 7/2 to land the Arkle Novices’ Chase, 5/1 to claim the Turners’ Novices Chase, and 8/1 to land the Brown Advisory Novices Chase.
The same 8/1 odds are on offer for Constitution Hill to win the Champion Chase, and he is just 12/1 to win the 2024 Gold Cup. Novices rarely contest this pair of championship races, but his odds underline the respect punters and bookmakers have for this exciting six-year-old racehorse.
Delta Work Hero Not a Villain
Delta Work denied dual Grand National and five-time Cheltenham Festival winner, Tiger Roll, a dream end to his career by beating him by less than a length in last season’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase.
Twelve months later, the Michael O’Leary-owned horse won at the Festival for a third time and took the cross-country marathon for a second successive year. The overall result of the race was one for the public – the 11/10 favorite beat the 11/4 second favorite – and it was a joyous contest to watch.
Horses were falling by the wayside and being pulled up in the order the betting suggested they would. The market principles ultimately came together to fight out the finish. Only in the last 100 yards did Keith Donoghue’s mount forge ahead to beat the 2022 Gold Cup fourth, Galvin, by two-and-a-half lengths.
The leading horse racing betting sites currently quote Delta Work on 12/1 for next month’s Grand National. Galvin, set to carry seven pounds more than his rival in the Aintree showpiece, is available on 20/1.
Galopin Des Champs Galloping for Second Gold
A cool-and-confident ride by Paul Townend saw Galopin Des Champs defeat King George winner, Bravemansgame, by seven lengths in the biggest jumps race of them all. Grand National winner, Noble Yeats, finished fourth, 14 lengths adrift of the winning favorite.
?? Galopin Des Champs wins the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup! ??
?? @CheltenhamRaces redemption!#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival | @WillieMullinsNH | @PTownend pic.twitter.com/89qqOTJjhE
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 17, 2023
Despite mind-blowing success during the past decade, trainer Willie Mullins took a long time to win his first Gold Cup, but he has clearly got the hang of things. Al Boum Photo won the contest in 2019 as a seven-year-old and returned to take the contest for a second time in 2020.
Galopin Des Champs – winner of all six of his completed chase starts – is 13/8 (industry top-priced by William Hill) to retain his Gold Cup title in 2024. Bravemansgame is 12/1 to better this year’s second-placed effort. A better proposition could be the 2/1 offered about the Paul Nicholls-trained horse retaining his King George crown in December.
Noble Yeats, who produced an eye-catching fast finish, is disputing favoritism in the 2023 Grand National betting. He is 8/1 to win a second National despite being allocated an additional 15 pounds in weight.
