2024 Champion Bumper Tips
There are plenty of viable winners when it comes to the Champion Bumper and there will be a fair amount of betting interest in Jalon D’oudairies, with Gordon Elliott no stranger to success in the Bumper or at the Cheltenham meeting. At the time of writing, the five-year-old has secured three straight wins including a recent triumph at Leopardstown.
Previously to this, there was a victory at Fairyhouse and there’s every chance that we will see the horse feature in the frame here, although stablemate Romeo Coolio is also worth a second glance. It’s been some time since the five-year-old made an outing although there was a victory at Belclare which suggests there is more to come.
Aurora Vega has strung together three consecutive wins and represents a good each-way bet, especially when you consider Willie Mullins is the trainer. The six-year-old has achieved wins at Sligo, Killarney and Gowran Park, with the latest of these coming in September by a margin of three lengths.
Emmet Mullins will have high hopes for Jeroboam Machin who was successful last time and the five-year-old could be an attractive each-way proposition, while Mywayofthinkin runs for Gavin Cromwell and impressed on his first ever outing. Finishing second out of twelve runners at Leopardstown, the horse put in a good showing over two miles on yielding ground.
2023 Champion Bumper Betting Tips
It’s For Me heads the Champion Bumper betting odds as Willie Mullins bids for a fifth win in six years when it comes to this Cheltenham Festival encounter. The horse has claimed successive victories and came through with flying colours at Navan in a flat race towards the end of January. However, as with everything else in the race, the runner is unproven.
A Dream To Share has been respected by the Cheltenham festival betting sites and the John E Kiely-trained charge was able to oblige at betting odds of 12/1 when winning a Grade 2 Flat race at Leopardstown on 4 February, with favourite Fact to File beaten by nearly three lengths and there have been two previous victories which means his form needs to be respected.
Fun Fun Fun is a five-year-old that gives Willie Mullins another viable chance to land a victory, with the horse scoring a victory by nearly ten lengths last time out. This was by nine and a half lengths at the Dublin Racing Festival when beating Lily Du Berlais and there is plenty of merit in looking at an each-way bet on this runner.
Chapeau De Soleil is another five-year-old running for Mullins although the horse was beaten into second at Fairyhouse in early December, with Better Days Ahead beating this runner. The Gordon Elliott-trained charge lines up here and perhaps he’s capable of outrunning his odds, with the bookies offering a double figure price.
2022 Champion Bumper Tips
The 2022 Champion Bumper could be all about one horse. Facile Vega has looked mightily impressive during his short career to date and connections are already considering this horse to be a competitor when it comes to next season’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle or potentially the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.
Facile Vega was highly impressive when triumphing at Leopardstown on Boxing Day when winning a Flat Race, while this was followed up by there was an improved showing when the five-year-old scored over two miles in early February and this led to the Cheltenham Festival betting sites shortening the horse to odds-on for the Bumper.
However, Gordon Elliott will have plenty of faith that American Mike will run a big race on Day Two of the 2022 Champion Bumper. This is another horse that is boasting an unbeaten record coming into the Cheltenham Festival, with a seventeen length victory being achieved in a listed race at Navan.
Previously to this, there was a triumph at Down Royal in the Lisburn Bowl at the end of October, with Mercurey a lightly-raced four-year-old who will also line up at Gowran Park. It was a thirteen-length win last time out and everything suggests that this horse could represent a decent each-way wager.
Redemption Day is another Mullins runner who could spring from the pack, while Noel Meade has a horse available in the Champion Bumper betting odds at a bigger price. Model Kingdom will turn up at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival feeling confident of a big run and has two victories under his belt already.
On 21 November at Navan, there was a 2/1 success in the Coolmore N.H. Sires In Swoop Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race and that was preceded by a 7/1 victory in a fillies race for four-year-olds.
Bet on the 2021 Champion Bumper
Indeed, the current head of the 2021 Champion Bumper betting market has a string of Elliott and Mullins horses, with these trainers set to battle it out for a race which is the only event on the Cheltenham Festival racecard which doesn’t see the horses go over obstacles and it’s therefore effectively a flat race.
Sir Gerhard Unbeaten For the 2021 Champion Bumper
Sir Gerhard hasn’t put a hoof wrong on a racecourse so far, with the six-year-old having claimed three victories so far in his career. The two meaningful wins came fairly recently, with the horse winning over two miles at Down Royal when being sent off as a strong favourite, while it was a similar story at Navan when the horse won on soft to heavy ground.
However, some might feel that the horse is trading too short to win the Bumper considering that there are so many other lively contenders and if you’re backing this runner win-only at a short price, you only need to have one horse proving too strong in order to do your dough.
Kilcruit Could Be Dangerous for Mullins
Willie Mullins has a very strong track record when it comes to the Cheltenham Festival and one horse sticks out on the Champion Bumper race card, with Kilcruit trading at around the 8/1 mark and it might be that this horse represents excellent each-way value, especially with those bookies who are offering four or even five places.
There was a second-placed finish at Clonmel back in March, while his performance at Navan at the beginning of December hints at a bright future and we could see the horse become one of the best hurdlers in the land.
The Champion Bumper will have a field packed with promising talent, with Gordon Elliott having Chemical Energy and Hollow Games net in the betting. The former has scored at Roscommon and Down Royal in his career to date, while there have been wins at Punchestown and Leopardstown for the latter.
There is only one horse race at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival which isn’t run over obstacles and that’s the Champion Bumper which is traditionally the final race that takes place on Day 2 of the meeting.
The Bumper tends to feature fairly young horses around the age of 5 who sometimes blossom after this race and tend to go over hurdles before potentially tackling the bigger obstacles.
Envoi Allen was an impressive winner at the 2019 Festival with Gordon Elliott saddling his second winner in three renewals, with Fayonagh also winning in 2017 and the winning combination involved jockey Jamie Codd on both occasions.
Indeed, it’s often a tell-tale sign which horse is chosen by Codd who is considered to be the best amateur jockey in the business, with Relegate winning under Katie Walsh in 2018.
The Champion Bumper picture tends to be somewhat blurry until we get closer to the actual race, with the bookmakers offering 14/1 or bigger about any horse in the betting market.
Ferny Hollow sits at the top of the betting market without any great confidence and this is largely down to the four-year-old being part of the Willie Mullins stable, with the horse recently seen finishing second in a two-mile flat race at Fairyhouse.
Soaring Glory is also hovering around the 16/1 mark and the young horse was able to claim the spoils when winning at Ascot in late November, with trainer Jonjo O’Neill seeing his son deliver the goods on that occasion.
Wide Receiver is as short as 10/1 in places to win the Champion Bumper and this is another Irish raider that comes from the Gordon Elliott stable, with the horse having enjoyed a facile win in early December when turning out at Navan.
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