Champion Hurdle 2023: Cheltenham Festival Ante-Post Tips & Preview

The Grade 1 Unibet Champion Hurdle is the feature race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and, unsurprisingly, Nicky Henderson’s Constitution Hill is a clear favourite (4/11) to win it after his effortless victory in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day, which in turn was his fourth Grade 1 in succession and saw his unbeaten record under rules extend to five wins from just five starts.

Although only five went to post, he was expected to win given his 1/7 price tag, and his performance was of the highest class for more reasons than one. Not only did he defeat the likes of Sceau Royal, Jonbon and Blue Lord but he also beat stablemate and former Champion Hurdle winner Epatante for the second time already this season, but this time by 17 lengths.

It appears that was his final run before heading to the Cheltenham Festival in March and on the balance of how impressive he was in last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle, it will take one hell of a performance from anything else in the field to stop him from landing yet another Grade 1 but this race, no doubt, is the biggest test of them all in regards to the senior two-mile hurdle division.

There is seemingly very few chinks in his armour, given his athleticism, pace, gears, slick jumping technique and the way he conducts himself in his races. He looks to have all the ingredients in abundance to become one of the greatest hurdlers of the modern era, especially based on the way he has made very good horses look ordinary, which is quite astonishing indeed. He is no doubt the right favourite but is there any juice left in his odds at 4/11? Definitely not - in my opinion.

Champion Hurdle 2023 Ante-Post Preview

We could sit here and talk about Constitution Hill for hours on end about what he has and can still achieve, predictably in the near future, but I won’t do that as we all know he rates the most likeliest winner of this prestigious prize. Instead, I want to seek value, something that can really serve it up to the favourite, even if they come up short to the supposed superstar plus nothing is a certainty and we cannot disregard the rest of the field, particularly those with recognisable chances.

For an example, I can recollect the 2017 Champion Chase. Douvan, a horse who looked as though he would never be beaten in his career having gone undefeated in his first 12 starts beforehand and was sent off one of the shortest price favourites in the Cheltenham Festival, deemed as the banker of the whole four-day meeting.

He trailed home a distant seventh after jumping poorly and finishing lame, described as one of the biggest shock defeats at Cheltenham. Now I’m not saying this will happen with Constitution Hill and if he turns up at the top of his game, he will most likely win, but he makes limited appeal to me at the odds and this won’t be as easy as most make it out to be for him either.

The complexity of the ante-post market for the Champion Hurdle will be crystal clear in the next month as to who will start second favourite behind Constitution Hill when the Irish Champion Hurdle and Dublin Racing Festival will be staged.

Willie Mullins is expected to rely upon State Man and Vauban in March though, who enhanced their Champion Hurdle credentials when they finished first and second in the Morgiana Hurdle last time and could be set for one more run within the next month before Cheltenham on home soil.

Last season’s County Hurdle winner State Man (7/2) signed off his campaign by winning a Grade 1 at Punchestown and has subsequently added two more Grade 1 events this season, winning both his starts impressively, including the Matheson last time and Paul Townend could hardly contain his excitement as they crossed the line. He has a lot more to come, is rising through the ranks and based on what we have seen over in Ireland so far this season, he is the main Irish hope to potentially beat the favourite.

Whether he has the ammunition to come out on top remains to be seen but is getting better with each start, is undefeated when completing and should finish in the frame at the very least. If he is the choice of Paul Townend, which seems highly likely if he runs one more time and wins beforehand, he could provide the biggest challenge to the favourite.

It isn’t always for juveniles graduating into the big league in their next season as we have seen many fail to fire in the Champion Hurdle a year after contesting the Triumph Hurdle but stablemate to State Man - Vauban (8/1), who conquered the Triumph Hurdle last season, reappeared with an excellent second to the former in the Grade 1 Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown last time.

Although he was beaten four lengths by the winner, there was a lot to like about the way he travelled and stuck to the task to hold off the race-fit and four time winner of that race Sharjah in the closing stages to take an honourable second.

He is sure to strip fitter for that reappearance and whilst he would have ground to make up on State Man at Cheltenham, it’s feasible to think he could bridge that gap given the winner was race-fit last time as well.

I thought he was a lot more impressive in the Triumph than State Man who won the County, given he quickened up the hill twice and his strong-travelling style of racing will really suit the pace of a Champion Hurdle. At his current odds of 8/1, he still looks good each-way value and, if the pair were to clash next month in Ireland, whoever is victorious is sure to shorten in the market behind Nicky Henderson’s charge. I think they are both massive dangers to Constitution Hill.

Honeysuckle (8/1) suffered her first defeat in 17 races when bidding for a record fourth Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse last time and her connections have said that it will either be the Champion Hurdle or retirement and her participation hinges on how she performs in the Irish Champion Hurdle next month.

If she wins, there is no doubt she will go for the Champion Hurdle in March, a race that she has won for the last two years. She is a three-time Cheltenham Festival winner and one defeat doesn’t demoralise her credentials to equal Istabraq’s three wins in the Champion Hurdle nor tarnish what she has accomplished in her career.

I think she has plenty of fight left in her, as her reappearance third was actually quite good, given she travelled as well as she does, jumped well throughout and took a blow before keeping on in the closing stages to finish third.

She will have come on a lot for that return plus she is undefeated at Cheltenham, so if she can win again next month, a race she has won in each of the past three seasons, I cannot see why she won’t shorten in the betting for the big one in March. Currently 8/1 for the Unibet Champion Hurdle, surely she is a reasonable price to at least finish in the first four. Who knows, she might even win!

Teahupoo, who’s (20/1) for the Champion Hurdle, beat the former and Klassical Dream in the Hatton’s Grace last time but he was favoured by conditions and although he would appeal to some, I keep reflecting on his disappointment at Cheltenham last season, where he was well beaten when last of 10 behind Honeysuckle.

It would be a remarkable turnaround were he to finish in the frame let alone win the race. He has comfortably been held by Honeysuckle in the past and if the two did meet at Cheltenham again, I expect Henry de Bromhead’s mare to confirm her superiority. I just can’t have him for this year’s renewal, which looks even deeper than last year.

Marie’s Rock (14/1) has won her last four starts and won the Relkeel last-time-out but I don’t think the drop in trip would see her to best effect and I can see her struggling if she does go here. Instead, the Mares’ Hurdle seems a sensible option. Sir Gerhard (25/1) doesn’t look like lining up at Cheltenham this season sadly.

Pied Piper, Knappers Hill, Zanahiyr and I Like To Move It all ran below form last time and have plenty to prove. Bob Olinger is on a revival mission plus Echoes In Rain took a heavy fall last time, so maybe Epatante (33/1), a dual winner of this race and Sharjah (50/1), a dual runner-up in the race, could outrun their huge odds, especially the former who’s form in the Champion Hurdle reads 132 from three attempts. She could easily make the frame again here but I suspect a new personal best would be required.

Champion Hurdle 2023 Ante-Post Tips

With Constitution Hill a long odds-on favourite, it is hard to knock his credentials but his price is skinny and he might not have it all his own way despite his odds suggesting otherwise. Instead, I am going to take him on with two candidates, who could give him a lot to think about.

It is possible STATE MAN (best price 4/1) will line-up in the Irish Champion Hurdle next month and, if he does provide Willie Mullins a seventh win in the race, his odds from an each-way perspective for the Champion Hurdle in March will surely evaporate.

In any normal year, he would undoubtedly be favourite for the Champion Hurdle but because of Constitution Hill, that isn’t the case and therefore there is some juice in his odds still.

However, the fact that State Man has beaten Sharjah comfortably twice already, who’s been runner-up in this race twice and has pushed Honeysuckle close on several occasions, suggests Willie Mullins’ six-year-old is a seriously good horse in his own right with more to come and at 4/1, each-way, he is the main bet for me at this stage.

At a slightly bigger price, I’ll also be having an each-way bet on his stablemate and last season’s Triumph Hurdle winner VAUBAN (best price 8/1). He could meet State Man in the Irish Champion Hurdle next month and it will be interesting to see if he can bridge the gap or even reverse the form with that eye-catching second in the Morgiana under his belt.

For his first run in championship company against older horses who were race-fit, his performance in defeat was really good. He will be suited to the pace of the race in March and he is held in the highest regard by his connections.

Besides four or five horses in this year’s possible field in the betting, the rest have plenty to prove and, with his best days ahead of him like his stablemate, he makes a lot of sense, each-way, for this race.