Can an Odds-On Cheltenham Festival Treble Be Landed at 10/3?
Author:
Roy Brindley
The 2022 Cheltenham Festival is now just days away. Bookmakers are bracing themselves for the potential impact of an avalanche of trebles placed on Honeysuckle, Shishkin and Allaho. All three are odds-on to score at the Mecca of jumps racing.
Honeysuckle is unbeaten in 14 starts and has already won twice at the Cheltenham Festival. ©GettyImages
Honeysuckle will meet the starer first. The Irish-trained mare goes in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle. The defending champion, she can face no more than nine rivals in the two-mile championship decider.
Sweet on the Unbeaten Honeysuckle
As a 14-time unbeaten star, it is difficult to see Honeysuckle beaten – as reflected in her current odds, 4/7. However, despite being off the course for an entire year, Appreciate It is only 7/2 in the latest Champion Hurdle betting.
The eight-year-old was second in the 2020 Champion Bumper and won the 2021 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by over 20-lengths.
Trainer Willie Mullins will not bring this horse to the Festival anything other than 100 percent fit. But one suspects Appreciate It’s odds are unduly short due to the shape of the betting market. So-called ‘each-way thieves’ could view Appreciate It as a proverbial ‘bet to nothing’.
Shishkin’s Short on Rivals
Shishkin goes to the tapes on Wednesday. Unibet is offering the industry top-price 4/6 about the eight-year-old winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase. The English-trained horse is unbeaten in all seven career starts over fences.
His market rivals are Energumene and Chancun Pour Soi. The former was beaten by the favorite at Ascot in January and had an injury scare a week ago. He has reportedly fully recovered from the stone bruise that had caused a slight setback.
Chancun Pour Soi disappointed as an odds-on favorite in this contest last year. He did return to winning ways when landing a Grade-1 contest at Leopardstown a month ago. But, aged 10, his best days may now be behind him.
Allaho Can Double-Up
Allaho is currently 4/6 to win Thursday’s Ryanair Chase. Should Honeysuckle and Shishkin both win beforehand, he is almost certainly going to start much shorter. That is a consequence of those short-priced trebles being ‘live’.
The impressive winner of this race 12 months ago, this Willie Mullins’ trained horse has scored twice this campaign and looks bomb-proof on all known form. Resultantly many of his potential rivals may be re-routed to other races – notably A Plus Tard who is likely to contest the Gold Cup.
Odds-On Shots Poor Past Performances
Using the top odds found at the best betting sites, this short-priced treble pays 10/3. It is a very tempting investment. But in 2021 Chancun Pour Soi was beaten at 4/6 in the Champion Chase and Envoi Allen bit the dust at 4/9.
Twelve months beforehand, Paisley Park let down short-priced players when overturned at odds of 4/6 in the Stayers Hurdle. In 2019 there was only one odds-on favorite running at the Festival. Benie Des Dieux was a final flight faller in the Mares Hurdle!
