The 2016 Champion Hurdle

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OddDog

OddDog

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Jun 2, 2011
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The Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy
Tuesday 15th March 2016 15:30

Run over 2 miles on the old course and with 8 hurdles to be jumped, the Champion Hurdle is the show-piece race of day 1 and the most prestigious hurdle race in the world. The role of honour reads like a who's who of National Hunt racing with 5 triple-winners (Hatton's Grace, Sir Ken, Persian War, See You Then and Istabraq) and multiple dual winners such as Bula, Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon, Comedy Of Errors, Hardy Eustace and Hurricane Fly. Other notable winners include the enigmatic Binocular, trained by the forum's favourite trainer and ridden by THAT MAN (there you go Sir Barney).

The early build-up to this season's race centered around who would fill the places behind the unbeaten reigning champ, Faugheen, up until that one's defeat in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown where he looked lethargic and reluctant to pass his stablemate Nicholls Canyon. With the first chinks starting to appear in the champ's armour, the betting as of November 17th looks like this (Bet365 prices):

Faugheen 13/8
Nicholls Canyon 9/2
Peace and Co 7/1
Acrtic Fire, Douvan 10/1
My Tent Or Yours, Windsor Park, The New One, Shaneshill 20/1
33/1 Bar

Current Odds (Special odds without Faugheen also available)


The 2016 Cheltenham Festival Megathread
 
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Faugheen has lost his unbeaten record! <yikes> But surely he'll be back in top form for the Champion on better going!
 
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Jumping cost Faugheen there, which is his only chink in the armour. Have to say I thought he looked a bit undercooked despite what Mullins said in the build up.

Time will tell!
 
TopClass said:
Jumping cost Faugheen there, which is his only chink in the armour. Have to say I thought he looked a bit undercooked despite what Mullins said in the build up.

Time will tell!
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Nichols Canyon's jump at the last was horrible. Gave Faugheen ample opportunity to go past but NC was far too gritty. I absolutely loved that performance from the youngster. Someone on here did mention him at the start of the thread as well.
 
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Did anyone else think he looked like he had a lot of condition on today? Looked more of a chaser
 
The last 10 minutes sum up exactly what I love about jump racing.

The return of a legend and the first time a potential great has seen the backside of another horse.

I don't think there can be any excuses regarding Faugheen but he should improve on that. It's a little worrying though that the first time he has had to truly battle in his career, he has come up short.
 
I wish they'd give us 7/2!

At least it will allow a debate around the Champion Hurdle until March and make the other trials interesting!
 
I didnt actually think TNO would win last year, was with him only through loyalty.

I knew the CH was a farse though, worth nothing in terms of Championship form because it was run at a crawl, the previous years horses ran well below that form. Arctic Fire told you everything about the form.
 
Der Kaiser said:
I didnt actually think TNO would win last year, was with him only through loyalty.

I knew the CH was a farse though, worth nothing in terms of Championship form because it was run at a crawl, the previous years horses ran well below that form. Arctic Fire told you everything about the form.
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Poor race reading on the previous year in that case.
 
Faugheen ran to his lowest mark since he fell in over 3miles at Limerick in heavy ground. He's twice the horse on good spring ground at Cheltenham as we know. He still wins it easily. Mullins has the race by the absolute bollocks! ;)
 
beeforsalmon said:
Faugheen ran to his lowest mark since he fell in over 3miles at Limerick in heavy ground. He's twice the horse on good spring ground at Cheltenham as we know. He still wins it easily. Mullins has the race by the absolute bollocks! ;)
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Lol Beefy your love affair for Willie Mullins never fails to make me chuckle on here. Class.

Even when the unbeatable machine throws a wobbly you are still there flying the Willie flag. Top support.

If we assume Faugheen ran below par today, the interesting comparisons should be where Nichols Canyon fits in against Peace&Co, MTOY, Arctic Fire (and if he is over his problems, TNO)? Where do you think they rank?
 
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I think Kaiser is right about the pace in last years race. If you're ignoring the fact Ruby had his own way up front i think you're missing a pretty important element. I think Faugheen's a monster but today's run will possibly get connections of last years Neptune crop thinking about a stab at the Champion Hurdle. If it does that, then we will almost certainly get a truly run race. NC will never be run at the back of the pack again as today proved what we all knew last year - that he's top class from the front. What do they do with Windsor Park now? I would 100% run him in the Champion Hurdle.

I don't know what wins the Champion Hurdle this season, probably Faugheen, but if betting is about prices, then you would most likely look to take him on now because there's a hell of a lot of different factors to take into account that we didn't have to last year.
 
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