13:30 Cheltenham

Triumph Hurdle 2023 Runners

Stu Williams previews the declared runners inside 33/1 for the Triumph Hurdle.

Blood Destiny

Blood Destiny placed second behind Bo Zennith (who is now in the care of Gary Moore) on his solitary start in France before joining Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins, and the exciting son of No Risk At All has won his two subsequent outings in the manner of a very smart horse.

Blood Destiny defeated subsequent dual scorer Sir Allen on his Irish debut at Cork before running out an 18 lengths winner at Fairyhouse. The form of the latter race also looks solid as the third placed Nusret landed the Grade 2 Coral Adonis Hurdle at Kempton three weeks ago.

The second of those victories was achieved in spite of a less than fluent round of jumping and that is probably the biggest concern here. However, there is only one flight of hurdles in the final seven furlongs on the new course and that is clearly a positive for the four-year-old.

Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth has been well fancied for this race ever since her impressive Irish debut at Fairyhouse in December, when she readily dispatched stablemate Zarak The Brave and subsequent dual scorer Comfort Zone in the Grade 3 Bar One Racing Price Boost Juvenile Hurdle.

Rich Ricci’s exciting grey further enhanced her reputation when defeating subsequent Grade 1 winner Gala Marceau and Grade 2 Adonis Hurdle winner Nusret in the Grade 2 Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown on Boxing Day. 

Gala Marceau’s top level victory came at the expense of Lossiemouth at the Dublin Racing Festival last month as she arguably enjoyed the run of the race while Lossiemouth ran into trouble.

The score now sits at one apiece and Cheltenham will play host to the decider.

Gala Marceau

Willie Mullins has an embarrassment of riches in this division, so much so that Grade 1 winner Gala Marceau is considered the Irish champion trainer’s third string on prices.

Gala Marceau won both of her starts over hurdles in France and found only Lossiemouth too good on her Irish debut at Leopardstown. However, she avenged that defeat in the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival last month and she is arguably overpriced on that form.

There were certainly excuses for Lossiemouth on the day and many will expect her to overturn that form. However, Gala Marceau is clearly a talented mare and she boasts an experience advantage over her more fancied stablemates, which could prove incredibly valuable.

Scriptwriter

Scriptwriter is seemingly the best that the British have to offer and, alarmingly, he was put in his place by Comfort Zone at Cheltenham in January.

Milton Harris has enjoyed plenty of success with his juvenile hurdlers in recent years and Scriptwriter looked to be another success story when scoring in Grade 2 company at Cheltenham in November.

However, his January defeat suggested that the Irish are superior in this division and his subsequent sixth placed finish in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton - when sent off the 6/4 - only seemed to confirm that theory.

It’s hard to envisage him matching strides with the the likes of Lossiemouth and Blood Destiny.

Zenta

Zenta won a Listed hurdle race restricted to unraced 3-year-old fillies at Auteuil in September and was snapped up by leading owner JP McManus subsequently. 

She made the perfect start to life in Ireland when scoring in Grade 3 company at Fairyhouse and connections clearly saw enough on that occasion to believe that she can run well in this contest.

The runner-up was hurdling debutant who won three times on the flat in France and the first two pulled 32 lengths clear of the third, who was also in the care of Willie Mullins.

It’s hard to see her troubling her stablemates towards the front of the betting. However, that’s not to say it’s impossible.

Triumph Hurdle 2023 Tips & Prediction

It’s going to be in incredibly difficult for any horse to crack the top three in the betting on all known form and it’s therefore long odds-on that the prize will be heading back to Closutton this year.

Lossiemouth was all the rage following her Irish debut at Fairyhouse and there were reasons for her defeat at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.

That’s not taking anything away from what Gala Marceau achieved on that occasion and she has solid claims too.

However, stablemate BLOOD DESTINY has created a very good impression since arriving from France and he may be the one to beat.

Willie Mullins’ four-year-old made light work of subsequent dual scorer Sir Allen at Cork in December and he readily kicked aside solid yardstick Common Practice and subsequent Grade 2 Adonis Juvenile Hurdle scorer Nusret at Fairyhouse in January.

He won easily in spite of making mistakes at Fairyhouse and, while making mistakes isn’t ideal, he will be well suited to the new course which places an emphasis on stamina rather than jumping at the business end of the race.