Once again, the Cheltenham Festival has rolled round and excitement starts to build for one of the busiest weeks of the year in horse racing. Perhaps the highlight of the St Patricks Day races, those checking the Stayers Hurdle betting odds will be hoping the race lives up to expectations.
The Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival is one of the most prestigious and eagerly anticipated races in the horse racing calendar. As a Grade 1 National Hunt race run over three miles of hurdles, it is a true test of endurance and jumping ability, requiring a combination of speed, stamina, and sheer grit from both horse and jockey.
In recent years, the race has produced some truly outstanding performances from the best hurdlers in the business, leaving racing fans breathless with excitement and anticipation. This year proves to be no exception, with several horses capable of winning a fiercely competitive race at Prestbury Park come March 16th. While there are plenty of trainers that will want to throw their name in the hat as a favourite, read on as we discuss who we think can go all the way in this year’s Stayers Hurdle. Read on to find out more.
Klassical Dream
Willie Mullins is no stranger to a Cheltenham victory, with the Irish trainer picking up 10 winners last year including the Champion Chase and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, and now he’ll have his eyes set on the Stayers’ Hurdle with Klassical Dream. The nine-year-old last raced in December when he came second in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle but he’ll want to improve on his last performance on English soil when he came fifth in last year’s race. Paul Townend was the leading jockey at last year’s Festival and his experience could be the deciding factor if Klassical Dream is to get the job done.
Flooring Porter
It’s hard to look past the winner from the last two years, Flooring Porter, as one of the favourites for this year’s race. It will be interesting to see if the Gavin Cromwell-trained eight-year-old can win in three successive years, especially when you consider the poor form in recent races at Navan and Leopardstown that mark him down as 6/1 heading into this year’s Cheltenham. Cromwell believes he is still on track for a record-breaking hat-trick, and has been singing his horse’s praises pre-race.
“We’re happy now and we’re on target to run,” he said. “Obviously he missed a bit of work and that isn’t ideal, but we’re happy with him nonetheless. He’s in good form and hopefully now we can get him over there in one piece.
“With such an unideal prep, hopefully he doesn’t have as big a target on his back and we can be slightly under the radar. But we’re delighted to be getting him there – a month ago we were very unsure whether we would, so it’s great to be thinking he’s certainly going to run.”
Teahupoo
If anyone can stop Flooring Porter’s recent defiance, it’s Gordon Elliott-trained Teahupoo. The horse has been in great form as of late, winning 8 of the last 11 races over hurdles including a victory against Honeysuckle at Fairyhouse at the end of last year. Perhaps what was most impressive though was January’s victory in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park, which means he heads to Cheltenham at odds of 9/2 to go and win the Stayers Hurdle.
