Honeysuckle remains unbeaten for Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead after a stirring Champions Hurdle triumph at Cheltenham. Here's how Day 1 at the ...
It's Mullins' first win of the festival and nice way for him and jockey Patrick Mullins to ease their way into things. The punters are in front of the bookmakers. Stormy Ireland 7-2 is set to go off as the favourite. Telmesomethinggirl and Rachael Blackmore sit towards the back. Two races in the book and we've had two winning favourites. The winner came from a long way back to pick off two rivals who were prominent for some way. Jonbon and Constitution Hill were upsides when he departed, but the manner in which Constitution Hill drew clear marks him down as a superstar. Shallwehaveonemore has gone off track in a horse ambulance after the last. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. The highlight is the Champion Hurdle at 3.30pm, where defending champion Honeysuckle bids to remain unbeaten for Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead. A thronged Cheltenham is something none of the horses in the opener have ever experienced before. Dysart Dynamo is attempting to make all, with Jonbon and Constitution Hill in pursuit.
Cheltenham started on good to soft on Tuesday but many felt conditions may have been a shade quicker and stunning Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner Constitution Hill lowered the Old course track record for 2m½f. After racing, which included a second Champion ...
Sign up to William Hill here and get 30-1 on Shishkin to win the Champion Chase on Wednesday of the festival. He could be one to follow the footsteps of Tiger Roll though." Elliott seems sweet enough on his stable stalwart, who is 2-1, and told ITV's The Opening Show: "He's in good form and it's his last hurrah, so all we want is him home in one piece, but I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know how much of that will get into the ground and affect it, but it definitely isn't a positive for Tiger Roll." Tiger Roll, set for retirement afterwards, lines up in the Glenfarclas Chase ( 4.10), which he has already won three times. "The rain is not heavy, yet still enough for racegoers to flood through the gates with umbrellas positioned before taking shelter inside. Returns paid as 2 x £15 free bets (30-day expiry). Player, currency restrictions and terms apply. New customers using EPS30. Applies to bets placed from 12:00 9th March 2022 until 15:30 16th March 2022. His team have plumped for the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual ( 4.50) and the smart gelding seems to have caught the imagination of punters. He had been 14-1 on Tuesday with a few firms but those odds were nowhere to be seen on Wednesday morning and the 10-1 BoyleSports offer is the standout price. Gary Moore and the Preston family have been here before in a 2m chase on the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival and a market move for Editeur Du Gite could signal another memorable day for connections. Lisa O'Neill, a key part of Gordon Elliott's team, who do not want testing ground for Tiger Roll's retirement race in the Glenfarclas Chase ( 4.10), was a guest on Racing TV and said: "It's a shame there's a bit of rain falling now.
Shishin is the favourite here after also triumphing at Cheltenham in the 2020 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the 2021 Arkle Challenge Trophy. Can Energumene ...
Ireland internationals Devin Toner and Lindsay Peat were our guests for The Front Row’s special live event, in partnership with Guinness, this week. What of Chacun Pour Soi, third-placed last year and a multiple Grade 1 winner? The focus is on Shishkin and Energumene after the brilliant contest that unfolded when that pair raced in January at Ascot for the Clarence House Chase. On that occasion Nicky Henderson saw Shishkin just prevail against the Willie Mullins challenger Energumene.
Day one of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival will see Rachael Blackmore pilot Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle.
To suddenly go out there and go at that gallop, that’s the extraordinary thing. Henderson said: “That was awesome. Zanahiyr (28-1) was a length away in third place. — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022 — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022 Corach Rambler only had one horse, Belargus, behind him in the early stages of the three-mile-one-furlong stamina test. — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022 Mrs Milner was the same distance away despite being hampered by the melee at the penultimate hurdle. — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022 — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022 The first two were 22 lengths clear of Vanillier in third. — CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces)March 15, 2022
Perhaps it's just as well Shishkin isn't aware of what's riding on him in Wednesday's Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
In a dozen career starts the only one to beat him has been himself when falling in his first hurdle race. For one thing he has a shot at winning at the festival for a third year in a row. For another, victory will see his trainer eclipse both Paul Nicholls and the legendary Tom Dreaper with a record seventh success in the two-mile championship. Energumene did pretty much everything right and still got beat. Even the most green-eyed can acknowledge that the English star is a rare talent and very much the one to beat in a Cheltenham highlight that for once has Irish hopes battling the odds. English star a rare talent and very much the one to beat in the day two feature
The first mare to win a second Champion Hurdle, horse and jockey got the job done with such regal authority, it made you almost wonder how the rest of the field ...
Then when it was time to go, she easily muscled her way between Appreciate It and Zanahiyr, that move duly ending the pretence of contest. “Didn’t get a great jump at the second. Look it’s easy to ride her with so much confidence because she always finds a way to do it. Maybe not ever again actually, given the now daily news bulletin reminding us of the fulminating world we live in. Colman (Comerford) and Chloe (McNamara) were walking in with her as well and the three of us were absolutely buzzing. “The support we get with her is mental and I just hoped she’d get the welcome she deserved. “If goodwill and ‘good lucks’ could win you a race, she’d have won by a furlong. The whole way down the chute, the reception we got. With everyone back, I just hoped she’d get that roar.” Rachael Blackmore made that journey six times but, denied the conventional energies of the Festival, none of them carried this kind of shuddering tumult. “I wish I had the English vocabulary to explain what that felt like. A pencilled landscape.