Menorah cut for Champion Hurdle - Cheltenham Festival 2011

Following his victory in this afternoon's Greatwood Hurdle,Coral has cut Menorah to 7-1 (from 14-1) for the Champion Hurdle.Solwhit underlined his own Champion Hurdle claims with a Grade One win at Punchestown, and is 10-1 (from 12-1).

From the sources it has also been confirmed that Ghizao went to the head of Coral's Arkle betting at 8-1, Novices' Chase at Cheltenham with his win in the Grade Two,while Gauvain was introduced into Coral's Champion Chase betting at 14-1, following a surprise success over Forpadydeplasterer, who remains 10-1 for the King George, in the Sinbad Testimonial Chase.

"Ghizao and Menorah confirmed their liking for Prestbury Park with their respective victories, and both are likely to remain prominent in the ante post lists as the season unfol.

Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup 2011 - Kauto Star 4/1 favourite

Long Run leads the odds for this weekends Paddy Power Gold Cup. This weekends big race looks to be a 2 horse battle with Great Endeavour v Long Run the short odd favourites.

This weeks biggest horse racing news tho is champion jockey Ruby Walsh bracking his leg in a fall on Corrick Bridge last weekend. Early that day he rode Kauto Star with a four-length success in Down Royal's JNWine Champion Chase. Ruby Walsh steered the 4-7 favourite home but will not ride him on boxing days King George VI Chase. AP McCoy is the likely replacement jockey.

Long Run is also tipped to run in the Cheltenham Festival gold cup against Kauto Star, who is the 4/1 favourite. Denman is likely to face his rival again and is a 10/1 outsider to win the 2011 race.

Matalan Introductory Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree.

Conditional jockey Shane Byrne had the grey jumping well throughout the two-mile test and always looked in command as the six-year-old galloped on relentlessly to score by 22 lengths from top-weight Awesome George.

"I don't think the handicapper can be too hard on her and maybe she can go for the mares final at Newbury (in March) - that had been the plan last season, but she went lame beforehand."

McLintock has 14 horses in her stable at present, the most since she took out a licence, and her assistant Don Eddy said: "The win is not a surprise, he has been schooling very well at home. Brian and Graham Lee have been up to ride him."

The Karen McLintock-trained three-year-old was making his jumping debut but certainly knew his job and edged ahead of Pena Dorada between the last two flights before maintaining his advantage under Brian Harding to score by half a length.

Only four runners went to post for the Matalan And NSPCC Novices' Chase and two of those had departed by the fifth fence as Cool Friend went on to gain a well-deserved success under Tom O'Brien.

Sue Smith's Stagecoach Pearl (100-30) put up a splendid front-running performance in the Weatherbys Bank Handicap Chase.

Mason Hindmarsh dealt punters a blow when running out the 50-1 winner of the Halloween At Matalan Introductory Juvenile Hurdle at Aintree.

Cheltenham Festival betting - 2011 Queen Mother Champion Chase

Yet the 2010 flat season hasn't even finished, but Sporting Bet odds compilers are already getting excited about the 2011 Cheltenham Festival.

On the 2011 Cheltenham Festival Sign up with Sporting Bet through Cheltenhampro and get a free £25 bet.

Are the 5/1 co-favourites Big Zeb and Master Minded for the Queen Mother Champion Chase and there will be a few people keen to back Master Minded at a price that would look enormous judged on some of his best efforts at Cheltenham.

Each way Terms: 1/4 Odds Places 1-3 Odds

Big Zeb 5/1
Master Minded 5/1
Sizing Europe 7/1
Tataniano 8/1
Forpadydeplasterer 10/1
Captain Cee Bee 12/1
Golden Silver 12/1
Somersby 14/1
Kalahari King 16/1
French Opera 25/1
Mad Max 25/1
Osana 25/1
Riverside Theatre 25/1
Twist Magic 40/1

On Request others. A pply Ante Post Rules. All in Run or Not. Please note that if the Race is re-scheduled to another day or venue all bets will be void.

Cheltenham Festival : Binocular the star of Day

The 2010 Cheltenham Festival has started with a bang with a day of surprises leaving the bookmakers well ahead after an eventful day at Prestbury Park.
The star of the day was no doubt Binocular who claimed the Champion Hurdle in stunning style to compete a remarkable couple of weeks for the horse.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Binocular was all but ruled out of the Festival with an injury but having recovered quickly claimed the win, with AP McCoy on board looked every inch the class horse of an open field.
Those injury doubts had caused Binocular to drift in the Champion Hurdle betting with the Nicky Henderson horse going off at a good looking 9/1 as they went to post.
All the talk before the Champion Hurdle was surrounding Go Native who went off as the favourite but he never got in the race, only Khyber Kim managed to challenge Binocular with Zaynar back in third.
The first race of the Festival was of course the Supreme Novices' Hurdle when Dunguib took his place as an odds-on favourite following a huge gamble from punters on both sides of the Irish Sea.
He never looked in great shape as he was outclassed by 12/1 shot Menorah who took a surprise win to leave the bookmakers delighted. A Dunguib win would have been a disaster for the bookies and they duly got their wish with Dunguib stuttering to third place.
The Arkle Challenge Trophy was collected by Sizing Europe for Henry De Bromhead who stayed on well despite being closed down by the good looking Somersby. It was an exciting race as usual with yet another favourite in Captain Cee Bee never in the frame as punters continued to have a bad day at the office on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham may put a brake on moving Festival's final day to Saturday

It is a rare thing in racing when Saturday comes as something of a rest day for most of those in the industry. For the horses, jockeys and trainers, not to mention the record crowd at Uttoxeter's Midlands Grand National fixture, there was little time for reflection upon the highs and lows of the Cheltenham Festival that finished less than 24 hours earlier.
But it was not just bookmakers who spent the day counting cash – Cheltenham's managing director, Edward Gillespie, had considerable grounds for satisfaction on that score. Indeed, politicians trying to convince the public that Britain is out of recession need look no further than the track's cash tills.
An astonishing and unexpected growth in on-course Tote betting turnover, up 22 per cent year-on-year on Gold Cup day, took the four-day total past £10m for the first time, a cause for celebration for racing itself, as both the Tote and Cheltenham's owners, Jockey Club Racecourses, are committed to re-investing their profits into the sport rather than filling the pockets of shareholders.
Cheltenham have already submitted a planning document which proposes the construction of new buildings to replace the portable structures in the Guinness Village area, currently used by 8,000 Tattersalls racegoers and as many more hospitality guests.
While corporate sales have been hit hard, the changing face of the Cheltenham racegoer has produced unexpected rewards in other areas.
"The catering spend was up 14 per cent, which is remarkable against a five per cent crowd increase, and increased profits means that we can invest in better facilities and in the prize money, to make sure that we maintain the quality of the racing," said Gillespie.

Cheltenham Festival Betting: The Irish challenge in 2010

Following the January trials, Wayne Bailey takes a look at how well or otherwise horses from the Emerald Isle are likely to perform in March...

“It's not very original, but it will take a good horse to beat Dunguib in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and already, he’s become the Irish banker of the festival.”

In just over a month, waves of bodies both equine and human will cross the Irish Sea for the annual assault on the Cheltenham Hill and of course, the Guinness Tent. I'd guess that the numbers making the trip will be slightly down this year - and some festival regulars I've spoken to are now out of work because of the economic downturn, especially those who were employed in the building trade.

But whether the action is watched live from Prestbury Park or down the local pub, certain Irish horses are going to be backed heavily and hopefully cheered home. Following the January trials in both Ireland and the UK, here's a revised look at the Irish challenge for 2010.
Pre Book your Cheltenham Tickets online from GigSport.

Greatwood Hurdle Potential high-class field

CAPE TRIBULATION, fifth in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle last season at the Cheltenham Festival, could make his hurdling reappearance in the Grade 3 Greatwood Hurdle next month. The five year old Malcom Jefferson trained was among 56 entrants for the extended 2m race, won last season by Numide, and Jefferson could be doulby represented, with Issaquah also entered. Jefferson said: "Is being aimed Issaquah at the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle because two miles is her trip, she ran a wonder race around there in the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at The Festival but did not get home (finished ninth), so I know she acts around there. "She's in good nick, so if everything went right and the ground was on the soft side, she would go there with a opportunity."I put Cape Tribulation in but he ran a bit of stinker on Saturday. We scoped him and he is on antibiotics but if it came up soft I wouldn't mind running him, as long as he is right. In a race like the Greatwood, I would not mind running them both because the prize money is so good and we are limited as to when we can run these horses."Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle runner up Celestial Halo, and Starluck, an impressive winner on his first start of the season at Cheltenham earlier in the month, are also entered, along with the highly rated Ashkazar and Blue Bajan from the Andrew Turnell stable. There is no shortage of potential Irish entrants, with Clopf, Donna's Palm, and Raise Your Heart, who scored on the Flat at Leopardstown earlier this week, among 16 possibles.

Venalmar to go novice chasing on return

VENALMAR, runner up in the Ballymore Properties Novices Hurdle at the 2008 Cheltenham Festival, is back in training having missed all of final season and is to go novice chasing.The seven year old's trainer Mouse Morris said on Monday: "Venalmar had to have a chipremoved from a leg, but he's all rigth now and the plan is to start him off over hedge in October or November."Winner of the Grade 2 Woodlands Park 100 Slaney Novice Hurdle over 2m4f at Naas in January 2008, Venalmar lost out by a neck to Fiveforthree at Cheltenham two months later.He has not run since finishing down the field at the Punchestown festival in April 2008.

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CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL PROFITS PLUNGE AS PUNTERS BEAT THE BOOKIES

The betting shops or sobbing on the racetrack this news will not have punters weeping: the UK's largest bookmaker is William Hill. The bookmarker, said today it had tired "a run of abominable results" that had sent profits from its sports betting division tumbling.
A string of favourites romping home at Cheltenham, including the heavily backed Kauto Star in the Gold Cup, the dominance of the big four in the Premier League and a run of other predictable results had, it claimed, resulted in a reversal of the old adage about the bookmaker always winning.
Warning that profits for the full year were likely to be lower than expected – despite increased income from in-store betting terminals helping to make up for the decline in revenues from its traditional sports betting business it revealed that it had ended up out of pocket on football bets for the first time ever in May.
William Hill also admitted it was vulnerable to the effects of the economic slump and rising unemployment, contradicting rash statements from some in the industry earlier in the year that it might prove to be largely recession-proof.Ralph Topping, the chief executive, said the company had delivered "a solid trading performance in the first half, in spite of the tough economic environment and a mixed set of sporting results". He said that even a victory for a 100-1 outsider in the Grand National was not enough to raise a lasting smile.

Kauto Star's reclaimes Cheltenham Gold Cup crown

but the highlight of the week was undoubtedly Kauto Star's demolition of the opposition to make history and reclaim his totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup crown.Master Minded defended his title in the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, Big Buck's was a gritty winner of the Ladbrokes World Hurdle

Cheltenham Festival - Memorable Moments