Category: Horses

According to Timeform, Honeysuckle (165) put up the best performance of the season in the two-mile hurdling division when winning the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, impressively, by 6½ lengths from Sharjah (164). Abacadabras (159) fell at the third flight in the Champion Hurdle, but proved no match for Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle or the Punchestown Champion Hurdle on either side of that mishap.

In receipt of a 7lb mares’ allowance – controversially so, in the eyes of more than one learned observer – Honeysuckle carried all before her, winning four times at Grade 1 level to extend her unbeaten sequence to twelve races under Rules. The closest she came to being beaten was in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, over 2 miles 4 furlongs, at Fairyhouse in November on her reappearance; she won, for the second year running, but only just did enough to beat Ronald Pump and Beacon Edge by half a length and a neck.

Sharjah is, without doubt, a very smart hurdler and comfortably won the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas, for the third year running, before tackling Honeysuckle at the major festivals on both sides of the Irish Sea in the spring. Henry de Bromhead’s mare took his measure on all three occasions, by 19 lengths at Leopardstown in February, 6½ lengths at Cheltenham in March and 2¼ lengths at Punchestown in April, but Sharjah lost little or nothing in defeat.

Like Sharjah, Abacadabras, who went down by just a head to Shishkin in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, is clearly no slouch. In 2020/21, he managed to avoid Honeysuckle and/or Sharjah on just three of his seven starts, but won two of them, both at Grade 1 level. After a less-than-stellar start to the campaign, when turned over at odds-on at Down Royal on his reappearance in late October, he edged out Saint Roi and Jason The Militant in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown two weeks later for his first Grade 1 win of the season. The following April, he once again demonstrated very smart form when always doing enough to win the Aintree Hurdle with more in hand than the 1¼-length winning margin might suggest.

Juvenile hurdlers are those that are three years of age at the start of the National Hunt season but, obviously, turn four years of age on New Year’s Day. Thus, juvenile hurdle races are restricted to three-year-olds before January 1 and, thereafter, to four-year-olds. According to Timeform, the top three juvenile hurdlers in 2020/21 were Monmiral (151p), Quilixios (146) and, jointly, Jeff Kidder (143) amd Zanahiyr (143).

Owned, in partnership, by Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason and John and Lisa Hales and trained by Paul Nicholls, Monmiral was unbeaten in four starts in 2020/21. Already a winner over hurdles at Auteuil in March, 2020 for previous trainer Francois Nicolle, the Saint des Saints gelding started favourite on all four starts and odds-on on twice. However, he put up his best performance when beating Adagio by 7½ lengths in the Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree in April.

Unlike Monmiral, Quilixios ran at the Cheltenham Festival, where he readily beat Adagio by 3¼ lengths in the Trumph Hurdle to maintain his hitherto unbeaten record. Another former Francois Nicolle inmate, he has previously won his first three starts for new trainer Henry de Bromhead, including the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown, without being seriously challenged. However, he ended the season on a low note when only seventh of eight finishers, beaten 30 lengths, behind Jeff Kidder in the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown.

Jeff Kidder, trained by Noel Meade, rose to prominence when winning the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival at odds of 80/1. However, he proved that performance was no fluke by comprehensively outpointing the hitherto unbeaten Teahuppo in a Grade 2 event at Fairyhouse and narrowly beating Zanahiyr in the aforementioned Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.

A winner of his first three starts for Gordon Elliott, Zanahiyr was transferred to Denise Foster when Elliott began his well-publicised ban a week before the start of the Cheltenham Festival. Nevertheless, the son of Nathaniel was sent off 11/8 favourite for the Triumph Hurdle, but was outpaced approaching the final flight and, although rallying on the run-in, eventually finished fourth, beaten 4¾ lengths, behind Quilixios. He went down fighting, once again, when failing by three-quarters of a length to overhaul Jeff Kidder at Punchestown on his final start.

According to Timeform, the top three two-year-olds in 2021 were Native Trail (122p), Luxembourg (118p) and Coroebus (116p). Native Trail falls into the ‘very smart’ category, while Luxembourg and Coroebus are considered ‘smart’ at this stage of their careers, but Timeform analysts believe that all three are likely to improve on these ratings in due course.

Owned by Godolphin and trained by Charlie Appleby, Native Trail was unbeaten in four starts in 2021, all over 7 furlongs. He made short work of the hitherto unbeaten Point Lonsdale in the National Stakes at the Curragh in September, winning impressively by 3½ lengths, and capped his perfect juvenile season with a comfortable 2-length win in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket the following month. A notably strong finisher over 7 furlongs, Native Trail promises to be better yet when stepped up to a mile but, being by July Cup winner Oasis Dream, is not short on speed. He looks an ideal candidate for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, for which he is currently ante-post favourite.

Owned in partnership by Westerberg, the racing operation of Swiss billionaire George von Opel, John Magnier and his Coolmore associates and trained by Aidan O’Brien, Luxembourg was similarly unbeaten in 2021. The son of Derby winner raced exclusively at a mile and put himself firmly in the Classic picture when justifying huge market support with a clear-cut victory in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster in October on his third and final start. Luxembourg had been clear favourite for the Derby since shortly after crusing to a 4¾-length victory in the Beresford Stakes at the Curragh in September, strengthened his position at the head of the market after passing a sterner test at Doncaster.

A stable companion of Native Trail, Coroebus was described by Charlie Appleby as ‘a 2,000 Guineas horse for sure’ after he had comfortably beaten subsequent Futurity Stakes fifth Imperial Fighter by 2 lengths in the Autumn Stakes on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket in October. The son of Dubawi had previously looked an unlucky loser – in fact, he was matched in-running at the minimum price of 1.01 on Betfair – when headed in the final strides of the Royal Lodge Stakes, over the same course and distance, having gone clear two furlongs out. He is currently joint second favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, alongside Luxembourg, and gives Godolphin a very strong hand in the first colts’ Classic.

The types of bet available on horse racing are numerous, too numerous to describe here, but suffice to say that they range from basic to complex, sometimes fiendishly so. The stock-in-trade of most punters, though, are the win bet and the win and place, or each-way, bet. The win bet involves placing a single stake on a horse to finish first in a race. The each-way bet, on the other hand, is effectively two bets in one; the first bet is on the horse to finish first and the second is on the horse to finish placed. The win bet is paid out at full odds, while the place bet is paid out at a fraction of the win odds. The number of places on which bookmakers pay out, and the fraction of the win odds they pay, varies according to the number of runners in the race and the type of race.

Rather than betting on just one selection in one race, it is also possible to combine two, three, four or more selections in doubles, trebles and accumulators which, like single bets, can be win or each-way. These so-called ‘multiple bets’ require more than one selection to win or finished placed to guarantee a return, but are nonetheless popular with small-stakes punters seeking a large payout. The fact that they are inherently riskier than single bets also makes them popular with bookmakers.