International Hurdle Cheltenham
International Hurdle Cheltenham
The Champion Hurdle is one of the most open ante-post markets for the 2010 Cheltenham Festival, but that could all change after the International Hurdle Cheltenham this Saturday (3.05 Cheltenham).Formerly known as the Bula, this important trial race looks certain to influence the betting for next year's Championship race as the winner and runner-up in the 2009 running look set to meet again.
On 10th March, the ultra tough Punjabi sprang a 22/1 surprise by a neck from the game Celestial Halo in the 2009 Champion Hurdle.
The
Celestial Halo made an imperious start to his season at Wincanton last month, when giving 20lbs and a ten lengths beating to the classy stayer Mamlook in the Elite Hurdle.
Thought by his trainer Paul Nicholls to have been in need of that outing, Celestial Halo proved beyond doubt that he is a hurdler of the highest class.
A top notch stayer in the last from Barry Hills (rated 110), Celestial Halo quickly proved himself at the top of his generation over hurdles in 2008 with a season that included a win in the Triumph Hurdle.
Punjabi looks to be the main rival to Celestial Halo. Trained brilliantly by Nicky Henderson last season, the six year-old won the Fighting Fifth and the Champion Hurdle as well as finishing a short-head behind Solwhit at Punchestown and was an unlucky faller in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
However, Henderson has made no secret of the fact he has had problems getting Punjabi fit this winter and has gone on the record to say that he believe his Champion will need the run on Saturday.
Bearing this in mind, punters will be looking for an each-way angle for their Saturday value bet.
The most obvious candidate without the 'big two' is Medermit.
Alan King's five year old showed himself to be a top class timber topper at the Festival in March when he ran second to Go Native in the Supreme.
Medermit started this season with an eye-catching third in the Greatwood at the last Cheltenham meeting, when he had to lump top-weight around in testing conditions.
As the majority of the runners from Barbury Castle have improved from their initial outing, Medermit should come into the mix on Saturday.
If Medermit has a chance, then the Greatwood winner, Khyber Kim, must also enter calculations.
The Nigel Twiston-Davies trained seven year old showed an impressive turn of foot to settle the Greatwood after the final flight and could be even more effective given a stronger early gallop.
However, any Khyber Kim supporters need to be aware that he is not the most consistent of performers. In an 18 race career on the flat and over hurdles, Khyber Kim has never posted back-to-back wins.
![[Valid RSS]](http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/chix_pix/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}