Cheltenham Festival winner returns from 927-day break in today’s 4.25 at Haydock

Better late than never...

Cheltenham Festival winner Pentland Hills returns from a lengthy lay-off at Haydock this afternoon.

The 2019 Triumph Hurdle hero has not been seen on track since flopping in the following year’s Champion Hurdle, with injury problems plaguing his career.

But 927 days after his last appearance, Pentland Hills has been declared for the Class 5 Lee Thomas Christy Handicap at Haydock at 16:25.

WELCOME TO PADDY POWER NEWS!

It also represents a return to the Flat for the 150-rated hurdler. He runs here off a mark of 69, the same rating he had when scoring over 1m3½f in a Class 5 handicap at Windsor in September 2018.

Trainer Nicky Henderson has booked Sean Levey to ride Pentland Hills, who faces 13 rivals on his comeback.

We’re paying four places instead of three on this race, and the latest horse racing odds can be found on the Paddy Power website.

Racing Post Verdict: The glory days for PENTLAND HILLS were in 2019 over hurdles and physical problems have hugely restricted his appearances since, but the standard he reached as a hurdler must nevertheless make him seriously interesting off today’s Flat mark of 69. His strength in the betting needs a check. Tralee Hills (if the ground is softer than good) might be the one to take advantage if Pentland Hills fails to fire, but with the likes of Tendentious, Ghadbbaan and Sulochana also in the each-way calculations.

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

Read More

The latest racing odds are on PaddyPower.com now

The Paddy Power Guide To Safer Gambling – Everything You Need To Know