Ante-post interest 'well up to par' with bookmakers hopeful Cheltenham Festival will be back to its competitive best

Bookmakers are hopeful the Cheltenham Festival will be back to its competitive best in March after a fascinating festive spell that has produced intriguingly poised markets for most of the big races.

Constitution Hill and Sir Gino are the only odds-on ante-post favourites among the 13 Grade 1s at the meeting following the festive action.

Six of the top-level races have two horses vying for favouritism rather than a clear outright market leader, with Coral’s David Stevens reporting ante-post turnover to be “well up to par”.

Stevens said: “There’s a lot of water to flow under the bridge before the big four days in March, and the markets are sure to change accordingly in that time, but at this early stage there are reasons to believe we could see plenty of open, competitive racing at this year’s festival, due in part to the changes made, and also to the emergence of horses over the season so far, and this would clearly boost betting interest.

“The dominant performances of Constitution Hill and Sir Gino could actually render their respective races as betting non-events come March, but we shouldn’t fret too much about that as star performers bring their own benefits.

“As always, it is worth reiterating that ante-post turnover is a fraction of what we take during the festival itself, but nevertheless it does provide an important shop window to both betting and the sport. Turnover has been well up to par this year, with horses like Sir Gino, The New Lion and Galopin Des Champs shortening further from the initial price changes made after their respective victories.”

Cheltenham Festival: ante-post interest is expected to build in early JanuaryCredit: Michael Steele (Getty Images)

William Hill begin their non-runner money back promotion on all 28 races at the Cheltenham Festival on New Year’s Day and expect ante-post interest to build in early January.

The firm’s spokesperson Lee Phelps said: “Whether it’s a more even split of favourites from both sides of the Irish Sea or just generally a more competitive set of races, it’s shaping up to be an intriguing Cheltenham from a betting perspective.

“There are not as many hotpots at this stage as we’ve seen in previous years, but that is maybe because Willie Mullins is yet to fire on all cylinders and things will fall into place a little later than usual.

“Ante-post trade has been very steady since the autumn but some outstanding performances over Christmas sparked plenty of interest in the markets, and we anticipate things to get quite busy – it’s always very popular with punters in early January.”

Paddy Power’s Paul Binfield believes an open look to several Grade 1 markets has led to increased interest but feels punters are still waiting on more clues for the novice races.

Binfield said: “The championship races have been really popular this year which can be attributed to the competitiveness of the markets, while some of the novice hurdles have been a bit quieter as punters seem to be waiting for a standout candidate to really get behind.

“The home team look to have a much stronger bunch of novices, bringing different form lines into the festival and giving punters more of a dilemma.”

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