*Odds quoted on the widget are Future Racing / Antepost prices which means that if your selection does not run in the race for whatever reason – you will lose your stake under traditional Antepost rules
Paddy Power Media’s ‘From The Horse’s Mouth’ podcast ‘Cheltenham Countdown’ is back as host Tom Nugent picks the brains of the Cheltenham Festival’s winning-most jockey turned TV pundit Ruby Walsh and well-known journalist and broadcaster Rory Delargy.
On the first of this year’s series, the gang have looked at the Champion Hurdle ahead of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
Lossiemouth hasn’t done a whole pile since the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton (when beaten by Constitution Hill) and neither has State Man since he was beaten by Brighterdaysahead at Leopardstown.
We’re only about two weeks after those events. They’re both back riding out, both seem fine and there’s not a bother on them.
Lossiemouth just got an education – that’s what it looked like to me. They jumped and went off quickly in the Christmas Hurdle. She’s been sauntering up to the first hurdle in a couple of races in Ireland over a longer trip but at Kempton, they just got her on the backfoot from the word go.
I thought she jumped the first very high which is unlike her and Paul Townend was really having to roust her along away from the stands to jump the third and fourth hurdle. She got on their tails at the third last purely because Burdett Road in front slowed down and Constitution Hill was sat in behind him.
They left her again off the bend but she did keep plugging away behind them. She has to improve. That run has to have sharpened her up and improve her. However, I don’t necessarily know if it will?
Add in King Of Kingsfield going along up front like he did at Leopardstown and you’ll have Burdett Road piling it on from the front in the Champion Hurdle too. It could be a really strongly-run race.
Lossiemouth will have to have learnt a lot from her Kempton run to make her competitive in the Champion Hurdle.
Constitution Hill
I thought he was very good when winning at Kempton. I don’t necessarily agree with the percentage figures that are trotted out that he was 80 per cent or 85 per cent fit as in this day and age, horses are much closer to a 100 per cent fit when they run. But they’re still not 100 per cent ‘match fit’ as without match practice you can’t be.
Constitution Hill will have improved for that first outing in a while, but what he showed you through the first 14 furlongs was all the old Constitution Hill remains. The way he travelled, the way he jumped, the swagger he had. Now, he didn’t open up then and go and win 12 lengths like he used to – but he was entitled to need the run a little bit.
Burdett Road was hard fit from running on the Flat and after a good win in the Greatwood Hurdle. Lossiemouth won the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle but he still got away from them and still beat them.
I loved what I saw.
I just loved the way he travelled, there was a good, even, tempo. I don’t for one minute think that it was a break-neck gallop, I thought it was a good solid even gallop and I loved what you saw about him. He had the right vibe, hadn’t he?
State Man
You can take the positives out of Lossiemouth’s run at Kempton in that she did keep trying to hold on to the back of them – but it took State Man forever to get by King Of Kingsfield. And he still couldn’t repel Winter Fog.
I know State Man did try to follow or go after the two front runners mid-race down the back straight and Paul Townend was trying to press to close the gap – but he was a lot closer to the front two going to the second last hurdle, than he was going to the last.
State Man fell in a hole but it was a very disappointing performance. Every horse is entitled to one off day but that was really off.
Brighterdaysahead
Is Cheltenham is far enough away for Gordon Elliott’s mare to recover from her exertions – it definitely is and she definitely could. To do it again at the Dublin Racing Festival (DRF) will be hard though.
It was a huge performance, huge, to win the way she did at Leopardstown. Galopin Des Champs put in a huge performance at Christmas 2023 but wasn’t as good at the DRF last year. Now, he still won and he went and won the Gold Cup but those ‘blow your mind’ performances, horses only have one of those of them a season.
So Brighterdaysahead will have to have her runs spaced out to put in a repeat performance.
My 1-2-3 for the Champion Hurdle:
Constitution Hill, Lossiemouth & Brighterdaysahead
*Odds quoted on the widget are Future Racing / Antepost prices which means that if your selection does not run in the race for whatever reason – you will lose your stake under traditional Antepost rules
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