horse racing tipster
Cheltenham Festival News
Tuesday 18th February 2020
   
Supreme Novice Hurdle Contender Chantry House Hoping to Maintain Unbeaten Record in 2020

It may still be early days for Chantry House, however, the six-year-old remains unbeaten in his first three starts under rules. Nicky Henderson's talented hurdler has already enjoyed success at Prestbury Park and is highly likely to return to Gloucestershire in mid-March.

Although the Cheltenham Festival has always been the target for the Seven Barrows' youngster, his performance at Newbury at the beginning of February helped to further enhance his burgeoning reputation. The five-time Champion Trainer has admitted that he is yet to make a final decision on whether his charge will compete in the Ballymore or the Supreme Novices' Hurdle this year, although the latter appears to be the most likely destination for this future star of the National Hunt scene.

Chantry House made it a perfect three from three with a victory in the Set Your Own Odds on Betfair Exchange Novices' Hurdle at Newbury on February 8th. Despite carrying a penalty, the odds-on favourite put in the perfect performance at the Berkshire track under Barry Geraghty and was able to romp home by an impressive four and a half lengths. It was a superb display which caught the attention of ante-post bettors and his price for the Supreme has been cut into 8/1 as a result. Savvy punters will always look to place a bet on the 2020 Cheltenham Festival at least a couple of weeks before the final declarations are made and although Chantry House has already been entered into multiple races, the market movements suggest that the opening race of the four-day festival is his most likely destination.

Although there has been plenty of support for the JP McManus-owned runner, he will face stiff competition from highly rated stable-mate Shishkin. The six-year-old sauntered to an 11-length victory at Huntingdon at the beginning of February to make it back-to-back victories for Nico de Boinville. As a result, he is now deemed as the one to beat by the bookmakers, and with Henderson confirming that his charge will definitely run in the opener, backers have moved quickly to snap up the early value.

Ireland will be represented by Abacadabras, who impressed for trainer Gordon Elliott at Leopardstown last year, whilst Fiddlerontheroof is considered to be one of Colin Tizzard's best hopes at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival. The latter prefers soft ground and is likely to relish the potentially testing conditions at the track.

The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is one of the most popular races on the National Hunt calendar and the famous 'Cheltenham roar' always helps mark the start of the Grade 1 event. Irish trainers have won five of the last seven renewals of the two-miler, and both Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott are likely to send another strong string of contenders to Gloucestershire this year. The annual Prestbury Cup celebrates the rivalry between Great Britain and Ireland and punters will be keeping a keen eye on the horse racing results throughout the four days to check on the progress and see which country will come out on top in 2020. It ended all-square twelve months ago although Ireland did get off to the perfect start with Klassical Dream's victory in the Supreme.

Chantry House is likely to become a household name over the next couple of years and the former pointer has been understandably well-backed in the ante-post markets. Although the Ballymore remains a possibility, it looks as though he will take his chance in the opener and there will undoubtedly be plenty more money coming in for the six-year-old ahead of March 10th.