66 Still in for Supreme Novices

Odds on favourite Dunguib is still going to meet some very strong opposition in the Spinal Research Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which is due to take place at 1.30 on Tuesday 16th February at the Cheltenham Festival. At the latest scratching stage not one of his main rivals has been withdrawn despite the fact that he is being touted as a shoe-in for the race.

As of today, Wednesday 24th February, Get Me Out Of Here, Menorah, Oscar Whisky and Blackstairmountain are still confident that this race may not be as clear cut as anticipated and the ante-post odds on them are pretty good. In fact, Paddy Power Bookmakers is offering odds as high as 14/1 on some of them making them very good each-way bets, should they remain in contention on the day.

There are still 66 horses registered for the race which clearly means that the vast majority of them will not be able to compete and some are engaged in more than one race in the festival such as Get Me Out Of Here, the Totesport Trophy winner, who is also down for the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle for which there are still 69 acceptors. That particular race is headed by the ante-post favourite Rite Of Passage, who finished third to Dunguib in last year’s Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

Despite many of the Cheltenham races having very good ante-post odds, remember that a huge amount of the horses have been entered into multiple races as their trainers and owners decide which of them offers the best prospects for a win so once the final declarations have been made you may find that the odds have been shortened considerably.