Will there be an upset in the Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle?
The Champion Hurdle is one of the most exciting races of the week at Cheltenham Festival and certainly the main draw on day one. Honeysuckle is the favourite for the elite race to win the crown for the second year in a row, but she will be pushed all the way by quality horses such as Appreciate It and Epatante, the latter of whom won the Champion Hurdle in 2020.
With all the attention being focused on the top three horses, it is difficult to remember that there are other competitors in the race that are capable of producing an upset in the contest. Honeysuckle’s Cheltenham Festival betting odds of 4/6 suggest that it will take something special for a challenger to overhaul her on the track, entering the contest with 14-straight wins. However, one of the outsiders Teahupoo does have strong credentials and is backed at 6/1 in the Champion Hurdle betting tips to win the event which is a testament to his performances over the term.
Teahupoo is scheduled to compete at Cheltenham for the first time in 2022 but has built up a strong staple of experience in Ireland under the tutelage of Gordon Elliott. He has taken major strides in the 2021/22 campaign and could be ready to make a decisive impact at the festival.
Teahupoo began his season against 2021 Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle winner Quilixios at Naas. Elliott’s charge was outstanding in the Fishery Lane Hurdle and set down a marker for horses in Ireland with a commanding 12-length victory over his prestigious rival, who was the odds-on favourite for the event.
Teahupoo gets back up to win the Grade 2 Limerick Hurdle. The son of @haras_tuilerie‘s Masked Marvel was bred by Haras Du Hoguenet and is a half-brother to French chase winner Droit De Rever pic.twitter.com/mcweywoFjs
— Racing Post Bloodstock (@rpbloodstock) December 29, 2021
The two horses would collide again in the Limerick Hurdle, although on this occasion Teahupoo was the leading contender for the crown. Elliott’s horse proved that his performance at Naas was no fluke, and even though Quilixios provided stronger resistance, Teahupoo was able to beat out his rival and claim a narrow win by half-a-length with a late surge of speed.
He completed his preparations for Cheltenham Festival with yet another showdown against Quilixios, this time in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park. Robbie Power in the saddle timed his surge to perfection three furlongs from the end of the contest, and his prompt commanded a brilliant response from Teahupoo to race clear of the field to record his third win of the season.
The standard of competition will be raised at the Champion Hurdle with Honeysuckle, Appreciate It and Epatante all boasting formidable records of their own. Elliott has never won the Champion Hurdle, one of the few events at Cheltenham that the Irishman has not claimed in his career.
Therefore, it will take a stellar effort from all involved to allow Teahupoo to compete for the crown. He has conquered expectations before in his career, although not quite to the standard he will have to achieve to upset Honeysuckle et al. Stranger things have happened at Cheltenham and Teahupoo could etch himself in the history of the festival by adding to the lore of great upsets.
