Oscar Whisky Racehorse Profile
The Champion Hurdle is one of the best races on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. A roaring crowd will be in for a real treat this year with one of the most competitive Champion Hurdle’s in Cheltenham’s history guaranteed for a prize fund of £400,000.
Oscar Whisky is a six-year-old Irish Bay Gelding that has been quietly accumulating some solid form as the favourites for the Champion Hurdle have taken all of the headlines. The horse is trained by Nicky Henderson and was bred from Oscar (Ireland) and Ash Baloo (Ireland).
Track Record of Oscar Whisky
The horse’s debut came as evens favourite over 12 furlongs at Newbury in March 2009. Oscar Whisky was very fortunate to have Barry Geraghty as jockey for a first race and it quickly became clear the horse was destined for greater things.
Geraghty held the horse up until the final two furlongs before Oscar Whisky sprinted through the entire field for an impressive nine length victory. The manner of the win suggested that the horse was meant for longer distance races.
A longer distance race came on the same track in November of the same year. This time Oscar Whisky ran over 16 furlongs on soft ground in a field of 11. The attitude and enthusiasm of the horse was remarkable and Geraghty managed to find the lead from three furlongs.
Oscar Whisky demonstrated a superb staying on ability to win the race by four lengths, which was a superb performance to back up an impressive debut. It was clear that the experience of Geraghty and the natural ability of Oscar Whisky meant a perfect relationship.
Two further wins at the back end of 2009 and early in 2010 set the horse up for a debut at the Cheltenham Festival last year. However, the anticipation could not be fulfilled as Oscar Whisky finished fourth in the Supreme Novice’s Hurdle on the opening day.
Geraghty said after the race that the only reason the horse finished fourth was because of a mistake over a jump roughly five furlongs out. However, the field was very strong and the top four horses in the race all finished within four lengths of each other.
Oscar Whisky has no declared entries before the Cheltenham Festival this year because of an impressive win at the course on New Year’s Day. Geraghty knows how to ride this horse over 16 to 20 furlongs on ground that ranges from good to soft.
Oscar Whisky for 2011
A bad start in the Champion Hurdle will not be the end of this horse’s race because every single performance in Oscar Whisky’s career has seen the horse being held up for a late and powerful finish. The only criticism of the horse is that sometimes the jumps are a little lazy and that causes lost ground and speed.
The current best price for this horse on the betting market is 16/1, which provides the perfect opportunity for an each way bet because Oscar Whisky has a career winning rate of 83 per cent for a reason.