Can Epatante become Champion again at this year’s Champions hurdle?

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Alongside the Gold Cup, the Champions Hurdle is amongst the most popular events throughout the four-day event that is the Cheltenham festival.

 

Betting fans will be sure to place any major wagers ahead of the Champions Hurdle which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday 18th of March at 3:30pm, with one contender in particular drawing major interest from a range of viable punters ahead of the event.

The Champions Hurdle race is without question the most pivotal and distinguished hurdle event across the entire racing calendar and remains as a hotly contested track throughout the Cheltenham festival.

A two miles and 87 yards racecourse with eight flight jumps scattered across the track, leaving this as one of the most challenging races at almost any event.

Since the inaugural race back in 1927, this event has since become a staple of Cheltenham and has gained a mass following, as well as intrigue, thanks to its fascinating history.

The first ever rendition of the event was won by Blaris which saw earnings of £365 claimed during the events’ earliest established years.

During the events post-war years, the events ever triple winner was crown in the form of Hatton Grace and the legendary trainer Vincent O’Brien from 1949 to 1951.

One year later, Willie Stephenson would step into the spotlight and claimed a hat-trick of winnings from 1952 to 1954, as well as claiming the record of the shortest priced winner which still stands today at odds of 2/5 during the 1953 event.

Other major winners included Persian War who won three events from 1968 to 1970, consecutive winner Bula in 1971/72, Dawn Run 1984 who remains the only horse to have won both the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle and the most recent ‘three-peat’ winner Istabaq from 1998 to 2000.

After almost a century since the races’ establishment, punters are already eager to place their wagers into fruition, with one major contender likely to grab all the headlines heading into Cheltenham. 

Major contenders heading into the 2022 event

There will be a total of 14 runners competing at this years’ event with the latest Champions Hurdle tips being listed on Gambling.com for any punters who maybe looking for a greater breakdown of the competitors chances before the festival commences.

The current racer with the highest odds and the outlasting favourite remains last year’s winner Honeysuckle at 4/6.

The closet competitors to the 2021 winner is sighted to be Appreciate It at 6/1 and Sharjah (8/1), which may leave many to this year’s event has the potential to a one-sided contest in favour of Honeysuckle.

However, the Mare’s closest challenger and long-time rival Epatane remains hotly in the race with odds as high as 9/1.

Other racing odds include Zanahiyr (12/1), Quilixios (18/1), Teahupoo (18/1), Saint Roi (22/1), Adagio (25/1), Saint Felicien (25/1), Tommys Oscar (25/1), Abacadabras (33/1), Monmiral (33/1) and Echoes in Rain (33/1).

The Epatante and Honeysuckle rivalry

While Honeysuckle has been sighted as the clear favourite heading into the event, eager punters will be keeping a close eye on stallions Honeysuckle and competitive rival Epatante.

Both mare horses are prior winners of the competition with Epatante claiming the win in 2020 with a time of 4:07.03 and odds upwards of 2/1.

Honeysuckle was able to lay claim to the title the following year after clocking in at 3:54.63 and finishing ahead of runner-up Sharjah and the aforementioned Epatante who placed third despite odds as high as 4/1 in the mare’s favour.

If Epatante is to return back to the title picture this year, she will likely be raring for a close showdown with Honeysuckle in the final stages of the event, which could have all parties in sheer ecstasy heading into the closing stretch.

Is Epatante back to her physical peak heading into Cheltenham

There was a great number of worries raised that the mare would not be in the perennial shape to return to a contending picture for the Champion Hurdle after a damaging loss at the Cheltenham festival crown back in November.

However, Epatante’s trainer Nicky Henderson, has since stated that they have taken a different approach in the months before Cheltenham and believes that his star-studded horse is once again capable of returning back into her prior self from the 2020 event.

The trainer has been very pleased with the horse’s performance during training over the last couple of weeks and has confirmed that Eptante is in good shape.

It’s clear that Henderson believes that Epatante is still well within the window of returning back to contention with the horse now being amongst the events most elite and standout names ahead of the race itself.

This is clearly not just for the stature that Epatante has been able to garner in recent years, but also the prospect of the fabled mare returning back to her prior form in 2020 and being a major adversary in Honeysuckle’s efforts to become one of the few names to win back-to-back titles at the events history.

Whatever the outcome maybe, this year’s event is shaping up to be an unmissable race that will have all eager punters left on the edge of their seats heading into the final stretch.

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