2008 Champion Hurdle Betting
The Champion Hurdle is the climax of Britain’s national hunt hurdling season and the first major race of the Cheltenham Festival. The third race of day one of the Cheltenham Festival is renowned for producing exciting tight finishes between the top hurdlers in the world.
Open to five year old and above horses, the Champion Hurdle is run over a distance of 2 miles 110 yards on the Cheltenham Old Course. Competitors in the Champion Hurdle are required to take on eight hurdles at full speed, making for a fast-paced race. The top three competitors share a £360,000 prize fund.
Champion Hurdle History and Winners
The Champion Hurdle dates back to 1927 when Bill Payne’s Blaris became the first Champion Hurdle winner. Initially run over a distance of 2 miles 220 yards, the Champion Hurdle quickly developed into the unofficial annual hurdling championship and has been claimed by the finest hurdlers in the history of national hunt racing.
Amongst the outstanding Champion Hurdle winners is Istabraq. Although Istabraq shares his record of three consecutive Champion Hurdle winners titles with four other great racehorses, his fine pedigree (his damsire was the legendary Secretariat) and his scorching Champion Hurdle record time of 3m 48.1s mark him as the greatest racehorse in the event’s history.
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2008 Champion Hurdle Betting Tips
The Champion Hurdle is the betting highlight of day one of the Cheltenham Festival. Champion Hurdle betting is popular amongst punters as they have the entire hurdle season to work with when predicting a winner. A few of the popular Champion Hurdle betting strategies are:
1. Check for form in the race prior to the Champion Hurdle. Champion Hurdle winners have a long history of winning the race immediately prior to the event.
2. Bet on young horses. The pace of the Champion Hurdle seems to favour younger horses with 6, 7 and 8 year olds winning the majority of races over the past two decades. Only two horses aged 10 or above have ever won the Champion Hurdle. You may also want to scratch any 5 year olds on the card, as a 5 year old last won the Champion Hurdle in 1985.
3. In the past decade the favourite has won the Champion Hurdle on five occasions, so this is one race to back the favourite.
With 2008 Champion Hurdle betting odds available months before the Cheltenham Festival gets underway it is often a good strategy to make an ante-post bet whilst the odds are still high.