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cheltenham festival / 2010 news /

Elegant Concorde Heads Bumper Betting – Irish 1-3 To Score Again In The Race – 28 Confirmed 11/03/10

Irish trained runners have won 14 of the 17 previous running’s of the Weatherby’s Champion Bumper, and the bookies think the Bumper prize will once again be heading back across the Irish sea. Irish trained horses dominate the betting for this year’s renewal, and Hills are offering odds of 1-3 for an Irish trained winner of the Champion Bumper.

Dermot Weld, who trained last year’s third – Rite Of Passage, has left both Elegant Concorde and Hidden Universe in the race, while Willie Mullins, a six time winner of the race, has left Bishopsfurze, Day Of A Lifetime, Lios A Choill and Up Ou That in the 2 miler.

The Jimmy Lambe-trained Drumbaloo has been the big mover over the last few days. Hills have seen so much support for the son of Flemensfirth that they’ve halved his odds from 20-1 to 10-1 for the Weatherby’s promotion.

The best of the British looks like being the Paul Nicholls trained Al Ferof – who will be bidding to become the first British trained horse since Liberman (2003) to win the Festival Bumper.

Tony Kenny from William Hill commented “The Weld pair - Elegant Concorde and Hidden Universe have been very well backed for the Bumper. However, we have seen very strong support for Drumbaloo this week, and as a result we were forced to halve his odds from 20-1 to 10-1 for what is traditionally an Irish benefit race.” He continued “Al Ferof looks like the only real British hope in the race, but it would be a sad day for the Irish if they couldn’t win the Bumper on St. Patrick’s Day.”

Weatherby’s Champion Bumper: (William Hill bet): 6-1 Elegant Concorde, 8-1 Hidden Universe, 9-1 Day Of A Lifetime, Shot From The Hip, 10-1 Al Ferof, Drumbaloo, 12-1 Tavern Times, 14-1 Bishopsfurze, Up Ou That, 20-1 Old Mcdonald, 25-1 Dare Me, Dunraven Storm, Frawley, Lios A Choill, Made In Time, Megastar, Shannon Spirit, 33-1 Cue Card, On His Own, 40-1 Bubbly Bruce, 50-1 Carpincho, 100-1 Bashford Bob, De Forgotten Man, Hatta Stream, Sheer Genius, Super Villan, 150-1 Back From The Ranch, Islamouth (EW ¼ 1,2,3,)