BOOKIES are braced for a £50MILLION hammering on day one of Cheltenham Festival – thanks to a ‘banker’ four-fold thousands of punters will be on.
Annie Power infamously saved the industry that colossal figure ten years ago when the 1-2 favourite fell at the last of the Mares’ Hurdle.
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Legendary jockey Ruby Walsh scuppered a monster four-fold that day so send Cheltenham into a stunned silence – and many punters have NEVER forgiven him.
Now, a decade on bookies are limbering up for the same again.
If even money Kopek Des Bordes and odds-on Majborough win the first two races then it will be seriously squeaky bum time for the layers.
Running in the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Arkle, the Willie Mullins-trained pair form the first part of the must-back multiple.
Mullins’ late decision on where to send Lossiemouth means she is odds-on favourite for the Mares’ Hurdle.
And it could all come down to Constitution Hill to get punters off to the best possible start in the Champion Hurdle.
Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten superstar was forced to miss last year’s Festival.
But after two wins this season he is looking somewhere back to his best – and he will need to be in a true race for the ages at 4pm on Tuesday.
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Constitution Hill will be up against Gordon Elliott’s incredible mare Brighterdaysahead, while Mullins’ defending champ State Man is also in the mix.
But it’s Hendo’s hero the punters want to be with, in the hope he can inflict maximum pain on the bookies.
Coral’s David Stevens said: “As well as Lossimeouth, 8-13 with Coral for the Mares’, Kopek Des Bordes is evens for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Majborough is 4-7 for the Arkle, and Constitution Hill is 8-13 to regain the Champion Hurdle.
[boxout headline=”CHELTENHAM DAY ONE – DO DOs and HOODOOs” featured-image=”33786436″]TEMPLEGATE (Steve Mullen) has rifled through the killer stats for all 28 races at the Festival.
He has come up with a DO DO for each contest — that’s a fact we hope will hopefully pinpoint the winner.
And there is also a HOODOO which is designed to steer you away from a bad bet or two over the next four days.
SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE
DO DO: Back a last-time winner as they have won 24 of the past 28. Trainers Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson dominate.
HOODOO: Four-year-olds have a bad record — and it’s 33 years since a horse won wearing headgear.
ARKLE NOVICES’ CHASE
DO DO: A big chance the favourite will win — 10 of the past 13 have.
HOODOO: Five-year-olds have struggled and you must have won at least a Grade 2 before.
ULTIMA CHASE
DO DO: Look for horses who have run well at Cheltenham already this season.
HOODOO: It’s a negative to be making your Festival debut.
MARES’ HURDLE
DO DO: Most winners have won a race containing colts and geldings.
HOODOO: Your fancy must have been placed in at least a Grade 2.
CHAMPION HURDLE
DO DO: Make sure your fancy is unbeaten this season — the past 10 winners were. Eight of the past 10 favourites have gone in.
HOODOO: Five-year-olds fare poorly — as do horses who have not run at the Cheltenham Festival before. The previous year’s Supreme winner struggles.
BOODLES FRED WINTER HURDLE
DO DO: Irish trainers have won the past seven runnings. Don’t worry about backing an outsider — seven of past 13 winners were 25-1 or bigger.
HOODOO: Favourites have a bad record and British bred horses face a real struggle. No more than two wins on their CV.
“We expect the quartet to feature in many thousands of accumulators on Tuesday, which could see liabilities on a par with this day ten years ago, when Annie Power’s last-hurdle fall spared the layers a £50m hammering.
“At current odds the four-fold pays around 7-1, and if the first three all come home in front, Constitution Hill’s Champion Hurdle run will become even more significant.
“It will be no exaggeration to say that industry liabilities will once again be in the tens of millions, as they were ten years ago.”