Cheltenham Betting
David Nicholson Mares Hurdle
The grade two David Nicholson Hurdle gives centre stage to the girls on the Tuesday of the festival. The inaugural running took place in 2008 and went to the classy mare Whiteoak. Unfortunately, Donald McCain’s flag bearer has recently been retired and will see out the rest of her days at paddock. The 2009 race was won in emphatic style by the Willie Mullin’s trained Quevega. She is bidding to win back to back races but has had a nightmare preparation. She has yet to see the track this season after she picked up an injury in France and looks very short at 5-4.
There is no doubting Quevega’s ability but her preparation has been less then ideal. She first incurred a serious hock injury, then an infection and on top of all this, not seeing a racecourse since the 24th of May 2009. A fully fit and on form Quevega would dismantle this field. The daughter of Robin Des Champs romped to a fourteen length victory in this race last year before finishing a very creditable third behind Solwhit. She was only beaten three lengths, finishing in front of horses like Sizing Europe, Muirhead and Won In The Dark over an inadequate trip. This is top class form and if her season went according to plan, she could have been a genuine contender for the Champion Hurdle. A top class race mare but too short at 5-4.
Second favourite is the Paul Nolan trained Voler La Vedette. The six year old daughter of King’s Theatre is unbeaten this season, racking up three in a row. Her first victory came at the expense of Give It Time, who was easily beaten by four and a half lengths. She really cemented herself as a Cheltenham contender when she dished out a thirteen length beat down to Champion Hurdle favourite, Go Native. Yes it was Go Native’s first run of the year on bad ground but he was comprehensively beaten. She has now won seven of her nine starts and has an official rating of 152. At 9-4 I don’t think she is great value either but looks the likeliest to turn over the Mullins hotpot.
Of the rest it’s very hard to weigh up the opposition. Many have multiple entries and might be put off by the presence of Quevega and Voler Le Vedette. However, one horse that won’t lack a touch of class is the Jonjo O’Neil trained Sway. The four year old was a prolific winner in the French provinces before being bought by J.P McManus. It will be very tough for such a young horse to win but she will be the recipient of eight pounds from the top two in the market. Her jumping will also have to brush up but at 16-1, I feel she is over priced for such a classy individual.
One at a huge price that could feature prominently is the Warren Kittow trained Arctic Magic. This mare has run some creditable races at Cheltenham and with very little strength and depth in the line up, she could go well at around 50-1.
Not a race I have a big opinion on. The two market leaders are some way ahead of the rest of the field. Realistically I could only see myself backing Quevega, Voler La Vedette or Sway. Sway is quite a big price considering her connections and her French form so I advise backing her each-way at 16-1. Of the other two, I couldn’t back Quevega with such a poor preparation behind her. So I’d advise a bet on Paul Nolan’s mare at around 5-2. Keep stakes small though, as I wouldn’t be surprised to see Quevega win by half the track.
David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle Betting
