Irish punters have prompted for a French seven year-old for their pick of the Festival.
A certain former Irish point-to-point horse has captured the attention of the Irish public, despite not making an appearance in the country since early 2015.
Ballyhill raced to victory at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, beating Shantou Flyer by just under two lengths. However, on his latest outing, he finished someway behind Frodon at the same course.
Despite putting in a very disappointing run, support has still being coming for the Nigel Twiston-Davies horse.
Seven-year-old Ballyhill can be backed at 20/1 with a handful of bookies on Oddschecker, but is as short as 14/1 in places for the Close Brothers Handicap Chase on the first day of the Festival.
What makes this gamble even more surprising is that Oddschecker users from the UK appear to be avoiding the Twiston-Davies hopeful.
In this month alone, only 1% of bets in the last race on day one have been on Ballyhill, suggesting that the Irish may have an inclination that UK punters don’t.
Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek: “The reason Ballyhill is proving so popular in Ireland is anyone's guess.
“However, given the testing ground that we are set to see at the Festival, one should maybe punt on the 'luck of the Irish' paying off on the first day.”
