Day one betting – The 2020 Cheltenham Festival at William Hill
Day 2: Ladies' Day | Day 3: St Patrick's Day | Day 4: Gold Cup Day | Cheltenham FestivalThe roar from the crowd is one of the biggest guarantees of every Cheltenham Festival and 2020 is sure to be no exception when the action gets underway in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
That's the first race of the entire Festival at 13:30 on Tuesday 10th March. It has paid to go against the favourite in recent years, with the last three winners all being priced 6/1 or bigger.
Last year’s winner, Klassical Dream, is one of the more fancied runners in the Champion Hurdle at 15:30, while stablemate Benie Des Dieux is another in the Mares' Hurdle at 16:10.
The other races on the opening day are the Arkle Trophy at 14:10, the Ultima Handicap Chase at 14:50, the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase at 16:50 and the National Hunt Novices' Chase at 17:30.
The Champion Hurdle betting favourite is chasing back-to-back wins at the Cheltenham Festival
Klassical Dream is a popular tip to add his name to the illustrious list of winners of the Champion Hurdle. He is trained by Willie Mullins who has won the race four times, with the most recent of those wins coming in 2016 when Annie Power was victorious.
Mullins is also responsible for Morgiana Hurdle winner Saldier, while Nicky Henderson leads the home charge with Fussil Raffles and last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner Pentland Hills.
The results and winners from Champion Hurdle Day 2019
The opening day of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival could not have gone much better for Ireland, with four winners including Gavin Cromwell’s Espoir D’Allen in the Champion Hurdle.
Duc Des Genievres landed the Arkle in authoritative fashion, before Roksana pulled one back for British trainers in the Mares’ Hurdle. A Plus Tard was an impressive winner of the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase which gave his jockey Rachael Blackmore a first Cheltenham Festival win.
These were the winning horses, jockeys and trainers from day one of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival.
Race | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
Supreme Novices' Hurdle | Klassical Dream | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins |
Arkle Trophy | Duc Des Genievres | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
Ultima Handicap Chase | Beware The Bear | Jeremiah McGrath | Nicky Henderson |
Champion Hurdle | Espoir D’Allen | Mark Walsh | Gavin Cromwell |
Mares' Hurdle | Roksana | Harry Skelton | Dan Skelton |
Close Brothers' Chase | A Plus Tard | Rachael Blackmore | Henry De Bromhead |
National Hunt Chase | Le Breuil | Jamie Codd | Ben Pauling |