Cheltenham Festival 2012Cheltenham Free BetsCheltenham OddsCheltenham TipsCheltenham RacesCheltenham FormCheltenham Results

Celestial Halo to put Champion Hurdle Credentials on the line

Celestial Halo kicked off the current campaign with an impressive 10-length verdict over Mamlook in the Grade Two Elite Hurdle at Wincanton on November 7. With all the various trials for the Champion Hurdle since then Celestial Halo's odds for the March feature on the opening day of the 2010 Cheltenham Festival have remained steady and is very much at the top end of the betting action.

Owner Andy Stewart is hoping that Celestial Halo can enhance his claims for more Festival glory with victory in the £150,000 Grade Two Boylesports.com International at Cheltenham on Saturday, December 12. The valuable contest is one of the leading trials for the showpiece two-mile hurdle at The Festival in March and the feature of the second day of the prestigious Boylesports International.

Stewart revealed today: “Celestial Halo is on course for the Boylesports.com International. We have been very pleased with him since Wincanton and I was surprised that he managed to clock such a fast time off top-weight there. The runner-up may have been out of the handicap but he looked well-treated based on his second on the Flat in the Cesarewitch.

“We just hope that there will be a bit of pace at Cheltenham and it is not falsely run like the Fighting Fifth Hurdle was on Saturday. Go Native is no slouch - he won the williamhill.com Supreme Novices Hurdle at The Festival - but I was very surprised that Binocular didn’t find anything on a track that should have been ideal for him. It was a bit of an upset but let’s hope that there isn’t another at Cheltenham.

“Punjabi beat us in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle and he sets the standard for this season. It’s always a very big ask for some of the previous season’s novices to take on the big boys, as we found out with Celestial Halo at The Festival. We only went down by a neck but we were still beaten and Punjabi is still the champion.”

Other Cheltenham Festival News

29 Nov 2009Denman and Kauto Star Joint Favourites For 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup
26 Nov 2009Denman 14/1 to win Hennessy and 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup Double
25 Nov 2009Paddy Power Chase Winner Tranquil Sea Entered For Boylesports
24 Nov 2009Early Seaon Market Movers for the 2010 Cheltenham Festival
20 Nov 2009Paddy Power Third Looks Set for Boylesports Gold Cup
20 Nov 2009Champion Hurdle Big Guns To Fight It Out
16 Nov 2009Trial Race Shocks See Cheltenham Odds Change
16 Nov 2009Cheltenham Festival St Patrick's Day Cashback Offer
12 Nov 2009Paddy Power Gold Cup Betting Preview - Tranquil Sky New Favourite
11 Nov 2009Nigel Twiston-Davies In Top Form For Cheltenham Open Meeting

Cheltenham Festival - Betting Tips

Tom LeeFollowing on from last year, we are delighted to announce that we are featuring horse racing tips from Channel Four Racing presenter, Tom Lee.

Tom appears on Channel 4's Morning Line & covers live Racing in the afternoon as well fronting RTE's Racing coverage in Ireland, his Cheltenham Festival Tips and previews of each day's Racing will be available during the Festival and supported with opinions and views from our Racing writers.

View Tom's Racing Tips