Triumph Hurdle Set Up Nicely For Walkon

The Triumph Hurdle is a grade 1 listed race and takes place on the last day of the Cheltenham Festival. Zaynar is the current favourite for this very competitive race as he has shown fine form by winning his last two races and he is priced at around 7/2 currently. His most recent success was in the Execution Ltd Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle at Ascot in January. Zaynar showed his natural ability in winning that race although his jumping was shaky at times and the promising grey will need to sharpen that up if he is to succeed at Cheltenham.

Another potential contender in the Triumph Hurdle is Walkon who came in behind Zaynar in the Collingwood Team Services Juvenile Novices´ Hurdle at Newbury in December. However, since that defeat Walkon has bounced back with two consecutive victories including in the Wragge & Co Juvenile Novices´ Hurdle last time out. He seems to be improving with every run and is expected to go close and that is reflected in current odds of 9/2.

Starluck is another horse with designs on winning the Triumph Hurdle and he is being backed by punters after he was excellent in winning the stanjamesuk.com Juvenile Novices´ Hurdle at Kempton in December. He jumped with ease and won with something to spare to win his third consecutive race and is clear threat in this race and is at 6/1 with most bookmakers. Master of Arts is an interesting horse in this race after he won on his hurdling debut at Doncaster in the williamhill.com - Play Poker Online Novices´ Hurdle. He has had some good results on the flat and also jumped well at Doncaster and his price has shortened considerably after that outing and is now around 8/1 with most bookmakers. It is worth noting that Master of Arts is also entered in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham and a decision on which race he will go in will be made closer to the time.

All things considered we feel that Walkon has the edge in the Triumph Hurdle, he has shown excellent form in winning five of his last six starts and he seems to have improved greatly since being defeated by Zaynar in December. He is a good value at around 9/2.

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