It's that time of the week again already isn't it?
I've sat down over the last seven days with my usual supply of chocolate hobnobs and a cup of tea or coffee, and gone through another race at the Cheltenham Festival.
You'll notice from the title if your a racing fan that this one is going to be about the smaller obstacles, and focus on the Champion Hurdle which takes place on the Tuesday of the week.
There's an obvious certainty in this race, again it can be guessed from the title, but I'm not here to just look at them, I'm here to go through all the entries and give you my views on what could cause the dangers and what could also run a race at a bigger price.
Yes the favourite will once again be hard to beat, but as I mentioned in Part 13 of my blog, which you should check out after this one if you haven't already, there's no such thing as a certainty, so we need more options here.
Another strong Irish dominance sweeps the field, but we have a couple of contenders who are still in with a chance, and I'll be discussing them in the blog at some point as well.
But let's not keep you any longer, and get into another preview...
I'll start with the reigning champ who's been flawless in her career so far, with 13 wins from 13 starts and a point-to-point win to add alongside that as well.
She's got nine Grade 1 wins to her name and earnt over £800,000 for owner Kenneth Alexander, and to add to all this she's only eight.
Versatile ground wise, and can win either over 2 mile or over 2 and a half, Honeysuckle really does look unbeatable in this renewal.
A trip to the Irish Champion Hurdle on February 6 will reveal more, where she'll clash with some of her rivals such as Appreciate It and Zanahiyr, but you would think it's going to be another win for Henry De Bromhead's mare unless one of the others can produce something special.
Rachel Blackmore was the jockey of the season last year by a mile, and her sheer brilliance in the saddle helps make Honeysuckle that much better, a good pilot needs a good plane to fly for instance and vice versa.
She'll go to post odds on if she turns up in March, and there's no negatives to her what so ever so, I do believe over the entire festival she is the hardest horse to beat.
Appreciate It heads the field of challengers, and made the perfect start over hurdles last season.
A slight setback means he hasn't been seen yet this season, and plans to go over fences went out the window so Mullins kept his star over hurdles for the campaign.
He's an eight-year-old like Honeysuckle, but won't receive the seven pound mares' allowance like she does, but there's plenty to like about this horse.
He won three Grade 1's last season, including thrashing Ballyadam in the Supreme, and February 6 will be a big date for him, because it's the first time he'll meet Honeysuckle and they'll be lots to take from that clash win or lose.
I don't think the ground will be a problem for him and the trip will suit, so there isn't any standout negatives about him either, the simple question is whether he's good enough to beat Honeysuckle yet.
On paper, he'll go close on the day, but Mullins has another horse down in the race who could also be dangerous.
Sharjah knows a thing or two about facing off against Honeysuckle, albeit he's faced the champ four times in his life, three of them coming last season, and lost every single one.
In total, he was beaten 27 lengths in all three clashes with the mare last campaign, an average of nine a race, meaning he does have something to find from somewhere if he wants to cause an upset.
However, he has won five Grade 1's, two coming this season back in November and December over Zanahiyr, the issue with him comes with the trip of 2 and a half mile.
His best form has been over the shorter trip of 2 mile, and when he has stepped up to the slightly longer trip he hasn't won, but he won't mind what the ground is like on the day, which is a positive of course.
The questions that stand against him though are considerably more than the ones against Appreciate It.
He's a year older at nine, which doesn't matter of course, but the form shows he hasn't beaten Honeysuckle when he's met her so far, again no one has but, there's been nothing to suggest he'll turn the tables come March.
You could argue he has experience against the champ, and Appreciate It is still unexposed as regards to the fact he hasn't faced her yet.
I think the key here as to which one has the better chance, if they both turn up of course, is who Paul Townend chooses, and also how Appreciate It fairs against Honeysuckle on February 6.
For now though, Appreciate It does edge it for me between the two.
Onto a few English challengers now, and Nicky Henderson's Epatante is the horse flying the flag here.
She didn't have the greatest of preparations for this race last year when she was beaten by Silver Streak, who was such a brave horse may I add and will be deeply missed, but she then came up against Honeysuckle at Cheltenham and Punchestown respectively, and couldn't get near her.
The mares' allowance is obviously also for her as well, and with five Grade 1's to her name and a success in this race back in 2020 when she beat Sharjah still means she still holds some sort of claims.
On her reappearance, the conditions up at Newcastle clearly didn't suit, and she was made to settle for a dead heat for 1st that day with Not So Sleepy, who to his credit didn't deserve to get beat that day.
A trip to Kempton followed for her usual Boxing Day outing in the Christmas Hurdle, and she travelled the best through out and when asked to win her race she did so in a certain swagger which made you wonder whether she was ready to hit top form again.
There's no doubt about it that this meeting with Honeysuckle will be tough once more, in total last season she met her twice and could only finish third on both starts, beaten by 22 lengths over the two races, but that does mean she holds an each way shout at the same time so, she's definitely one for the shortlist.
Two runners I would love to see run in this race are Tommy's Oscar and Buveur D'Air, even though the latter running in this race could end up being a surprise.
He's been off the track for a long time but I would love to see the 11-year-old just make it to Cheltenham, and for Tommy's Oscar, I just think he's been such a credit to connections this season, and really matured with every run he's had under his belt, and gone from strength to strength.
Winning his last four races, three of them being class two's and the last win coming in a Grade 2, I think it would be great to see how this unexposed type fairs against the higher class horses.
To summarise then, Honeysuckle is the horse to beat, no doubt about that.
I think Appreciate It is a massive danger to her though, mainly because he's still very much unexposed, well, he will be until he faces her this Sunday.
The third place though could well be up for grabs, and you can't rule out Epatante who's capable of producing a good enough run based on her last performance at Kempton.
I'd love to see Tommy's Oscar run, and the old boy Buveur D'Air just even make it to the Festival, or even back onto a racecourse again.
But for now, that's the Champion Hurdle previewed, make sure you watch the action over in Ireland on February 6 and stay tuned for more pieces on my blog page about Cheltenham and whatever else I want to talk about!
Top pick: Honeysuckle.
Dangerous: Appreciate It.
Run for your money: Epatante, Sharjah.
Horses I'd love to see run: Tommy's Oscar, Buveur D'Air.
Comments