The feature race on day three of the Cheltenham Festival, the Stayers’ Hurdle may be less ‘fashionable’ than the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase or the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the long-distance hurdling championship remains a prestigious and valuable contest in its own right. Akin to the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the race has not been particularly punter-friendly in recent years, with just three winning favourites in the last decade and winners at 50/1, 33/1, 14/1 and 12/1 (twice) in the same period. It is also worth noting that six of the last ten winners were trained in Ireland.
Defending champion Teahupoo (11/10), trained by Gordon Elliott, proved no match for Champion Hurdle contender Lossiemouth in his traditional preparatory race for the Cheltenham Festival, the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December, but lost no caste in defeat. Barring accidents, there appears no reason why he cannot confirm the form with Home By The Lee (7/1), trained by Joseph O’Brien, whom he beat by six lengths in this race last year and again, by a similar margin, in the Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown last May.
At much longer odds, Langer Dan (20/1), trained by Dan Skelton, is a fascinating contender. The Ocovango gelding has run at the Cheltenham Festival for the last five seasons, winning the Coral Cup two years running, in 2023 and 2024. It would be fair to say that he has hardly set the world on fire in 2024/25 and, in fact, has plenty to find with Lucky Place (9/1), trained by Nicky Henderson, in the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham in January. Nevertheless, he tends to reserve his best form for the Festival and was beaten just a nose and a short head on his only previous foray into Grade 1 company at Aintree last April.
Cheltenham Festival 2025 Bet Offer: https://blog.betway.com/horse-racing/countdown-to-cheltenham-earn-over-pound100-in-free-bets-1/
