Cheltenham Betting 2009

Our congratulations to Kauto Star, winner of the Gold Cup for Cheltenham 2009.

The Cheltenham Festival is here and the March, 2009 event promises to be the biggest and best yet. Already the highlight of the jumps calendar, the festival is generally and affectionately seen as a chance for the rivalry between top Irish and English trainers to be celebrated to the full in a meet that has the cream of racehorses competing in legendary races in the fantastic atmosphere of this historic Cheltenham Festival.

The horses have been put through their paces at various prestigious meets in Ireland and at home and the Horse Racing Betting fraternity are already beginning to mark out their favourites in the many festival races.

Top of their list will be Kauto Star after his resounding victory in the King George VI Chase at Kempton to match Desert Orchid’s record of three consecutive wins of this Christmas classic. This brings the mouth-watering prospect of another head-to-head between Kauto Star at 4/1 and Denman at 11/8 in the Cheltenham Gold Cup which takes place on the final day of the festival. Also in contention in this race, the highlight of the jumps season, will be Exotic Dancer, cut to 16/1, and a hot pick after his 20-length win at Leopardstown on Sunday. Neptune Collonges, a late faller at the same event will also be a significant challenger at 6/1.

Preview for Cheltenham Betting 2009

Online betting sites offer all the betting opportunities you could want as well as a range of free bets for new customers. It’s a good idea to shop around and there are sites you can consult to find the best offers of the day. You’ll also find you can bet on top jockey and top trainer. These are keenly contested events and Irish riders, Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty will be looking to unseat home-grown Robert Thornton, last year’s winner, from his throne. Trainers are not exempt from the odd flutter and Henrietta Knight and Paul Nicholls will be jealously guarding their status against the new wave of trainers all wanting to be this year’s top trainer.

And the racing is not just about the Gold Cup. There’s also the Queen Mother Chase, the Champion Hurdle and the Ladbrokes World Hurdle as feature races and another six Grade One races plus fifteen other races to get your teeth into. Twist Magic is getting a lot of support for the Queen Mother Chase with Master Minded the favourite. You can also get good odds on trainer Paul Nicholls getting 1-2-3 in this race. Katchit, last year’s winner of the Champion Hurdle is looking for a repeat of this success while Binocular presents his top challenge. The Irish bring Sizing Europe to the table and at 7/1 offers top value if he’s completely recovered from the injury sustained earlier this year. Osana and Punjabi are also worth a look. Ladbrokes World Hurdle features Punchestown as 2/1 favourite with Kasbah Bliss next at 11/4. It’s worth remembering that winners in this race have always been between 6 and 9 years old.

And, in the unlikely event you get a bit bored with all things to do with horses, there’s always the number of pints of Guinness drunk at the festival to wager on. This year it’ll probably be knocking on 250,000. That and other fun bets, make the Cheltenham Festival a fantastic race-meet with all the excitement and fun possible from a horse-racing event. Just about every race is televised and, for those horse racing betting fans that can’t be there, it’s a great occasion to gather a few friends together for a few bevies and an all round excellent time.