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This article looks at the latest Champion Hurdle odds. The race is one of the biggest horse racing events of the season and there is ante post. We look at the prospects for the first and second favourites which are popular Champion Hurdle tips. The Champion Hurdle Cheltenham race is the highlight of the first day of the four-day meeting in March and many bookmakers reveal odds at the time.
Champion Hurdle Odds Winner – Favourites 2022
Please refer to the following Champion Hurdle odds comparison table which displays the leading contenders and the Champion Hurdle favourites 2022. The best Champion Hurdle odds for each horse appear in bold under the name of the best Champion Hurdle odds bookmaker.
Champion Hurdle Tips
The current Champion Hurdle favourites 2022 in the Champion Hurdle odds are Epatante and Sharjah.
The Champion Hurdle Cheltenham race is not a handicap so each way bets are settled at one fifth the win odds for three places. Here is a form guide for Epatante and Sharjah for an event which takes place on the Tuesday of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.
Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle won the race in 2021 and is the favourite for this year’s race. The mare gets a seven pounds sex allowance which is often the difference between winning and not winning the Champion Hurdle. An exciting novice good graduate but it is difficult to see any horse beating Honeysuckle.
She has won 12 races from 12 starts so is unbeatable with the mares allowance. That record likely to continue in the major hurdle races in the UK and Ireland. The mare could have a string of wins in the Champion Hurdle beginning in 2022.
The horse has an Official Rating (155) and off that mark with an allowance, it is difficult to see how the horse cannot win the Champion Hurdle.
Bob Olinger
Bob Olinger is an exciting prospect who could Honeysuckle a run for her money but the gelding carries seven pounds more than her nearest rival. The horse has won three from four hurdle races , including the longer novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
An Official Rating of 159 suggests the horse can compete at the same level as Honeysuckle. Any improvement with age can result in a competitive race for the 2022 Champion Hurdle. Bob Olinger is a leading contender but on balance, the mares allowance should prove to be the most important factor.
Champion Hurdle Cheltenham Festival
This section provides some background about race.
Racing History
The Champion Hurdle was first run in 1927. It takes place on the Old Course on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival. The race distance is just over two miles and there are eight hurdles. The Champion Hurdle is the most prestigious hurdle race of the season.
The race has a history of producing multiple winners because the champion can often replicate the form in another year. Buveur D’Air is the last multiple champions winning the race in 2017 and 2018. The horse appears in the current odds but is not one of the Champion Hurdle tips.
Prize Money
The prize money for the 2021 Champion Hurdle has not been confirmed but here is the prize money for the race in 2020:
- 1st: £189,911.25
- 2nd: £71,550.00
- 3rd: £35,808.75
- 4th: £17,887.50
- 5th: £8,977.50
- 6th: £4,488.75
- 7th: £2,227.50
- 8th: £1,147.50
The Champion Hurdle is the richest race of the season in the discipline and the championships race for hurdlers over the minimum distance of two miles.
Famous Winner
In recent years, the most famous winner of the Champion Hurdle is Istabraq who won the race in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The horse was the ante post favourite in 2001 but the race did not take place because there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK.
The horse lost the opportunity to be the only four-time winner of the Champion Hurdle. The gelding was trained by Aidan O’Brien who is now a leading trainer of Flat horses and the regular jockey was Charlie Swan.
Since Istabraq, there have been several two-time winners of the Champion Hurdle at the festival. Hardy Eustace – ridden by Conor O’Dwyer – won in 2004 and 2005, Hurricane Fly claimed victory in 2011 and 2013, and Buveur d’Air won it in 2017 and 2018.
Records
Four other horses have won the Champion Hurdle three times. The leading jockeys are Tim Molony, Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty with four wins. The leading trainer is Nicky Henderson with eight wins. The leading owner is JP McManus with nine wins. Epatante is trained by Henderson and owned by McManus.
Champion Hurdle – FAQs
Here are the answers to some of the common questions related to the race:
What Time is the Champion Hurdle Cheltenham 2022?
The 2022 Unibet Champion Hurdle is scheduled to take place at 15.05 on the first day of the Festival, but race rimes could be subject to change.
Who Won the Champion Hurdle Last Year?
Honeysuckle, ridden by Rachael Blackmore and trained by Henry de Bromhead, won the race in 2021. The second was Sharjah, and the 2020 winner, Epatante, came third.
Which Horse is the Favourite to Win in 2022?
Honeysuckle is blowing the opposition out of the water, according to the latest Champion Hurdle odds.
