2023 Mares’ Hurdle Betting Tips

The Close Brothers’ Mares Hurdle looks set to be one of the most intriguing races on Tuesday 14 March, with five horses currently trading at single figure betting odds for this encounter. Honeysuckle will be a popular selection considering she has won back to back Champion Hurdles, although trainer Henry de Bromhead won’t be sure that she has what it takes.

Since winning the 2022 Champion Hurdle twelve months ago, Honeysuckle secured a victory in the Paddy Power Champion Hurdle, although she was beaten when sent off odds-on in the Bar One Racing Hatton's Grace Hurdle before being easily beaten by State Man at the Dublin Racing Festival and there seems no chance she would beat Constitution Hill.

Marie’s Rock could be the horse to back and Nicky Henderson saw his charge secure a victory in the Relkeel Hurdle, with the horse claiming a six-length victory over two miles and four-and-a-half furlongs. She hasn’t looked back since securing a win in the Mares Hurdle last year and she was sent off at 18/1 on that occasion before beating the likes of Queens Brook and Stormy Ireland.

Love Envoi has secured back to back victories and trainer Harry Fry saw his charge win the Mares’ Novices Hurdle last year at the Cheltenham Festival, with the mare now making the step up after back to back wins at Sandown Park. She didn’t have a lot to beat in early January when scoring as strong favourite but could be a good each-way shout here.

2022 Mares Hurdle Tips

The 2022 Close Brothers’ Mares Hurdle indicates that this could be a close betting heat and it’s Concertista who is currently the Cheltenham betting favourite to win over two miles and four furlongs. Willie Mullins has trained several horses to victory in this relatively modern Cheltenham Festival race and the eight-year-old has the credentials to go close in this encounter.

Concertista will be aiming to go one better than the 2021 Mares’ Hurdle when she was sent off as the 10/11 favourite only to be beaten by 11/1 shot Black Tears on the run-in. It was a narrow defeat by a head, so there’s scope to suggest that the horse can produce the goods although there are lots of other lively contenders in the race.

What Are the Best Cheltenham Bets for this Race?

Telmesomethinggirl has not won in any of her three outings during the 2021-22 National Hunt season. Nevertheless, the Henry de Bromhead-trained charge is among the betting favourites to win at the Festival. The seven-year-old won the Parnell Properties Mares' Novices' Hurdle at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival before a fifth-placed finish in the Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

Rachael Blackmore then rode the mare in a Mares Hurdle at Punchestown in November and the horse was unable to oblige as betting favourite, with question marks over whether the horse has the staying ability to land the spoils in this race. She was also beaten into third in the Advent Surety Irish EBF Mares Hurdle at the end of 2021.

The winner that day was Royal Kahala and this strikes us as a much better Cheltenham Festival bet for this race. The Peter Fahey-trained runner is now bidding for a third consecutive victory and it might depend on whether connections keep her in this race or decide to have a tilt at the Stayers’ Hurdle on Day Three of the Festival instead.

Bet on 2021 Mares’ Hurdle

We should therefore look at some alternative betting options and Honeysuckle is likely to go off favourite providing that she makes it to the 2021 Cheltenham Festival in one piece, with the Henry de Bromhead-trained charge having barely put a hoof wrong during her career.

Will Honeysuckle Be the Punters’ Friend at the Festival?

We’ve seen some talented horses win the Mares’ Hurdle over the years including the legendary Quevega who landed a victory every year between 2008 and 2014, although there has been a succession of winners since the horse was retired and there have been six different victors since then.

In 2020 Honeysuckle was an impressive winner and it might be that the seven-year-old is able to retain her crown in March 2021, with the horse landing the spoils at very short odds in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle on 29 November 2020, which was a Grade 1 encounter and there were some decent horses beaten on that run.

Honeysuckle has not tasted defeat during her career and narrowly beat race favourite Benie Des Dieux in the 2020 renewal, with punters likely to come for the former should she line up again although there’s always the possibility of a defection to the Champion Hurdle.

Can Benie Des Dieux Bounce Back and Win Her Second Mares Hurdle?

In 2018, Benie Des Dieux claimed the Mares Hurdle as a seven-year-old and she could potentially make an appearance as a ten-year-old when it comes to March 2021, with Willie Mullins likely to retain the faith in a horse that was only narrowly touched off in the previous renewal of the race.

Let’s not forget that Benie was all the rage to win the 2020 Mares’ Hurdle and perhaps we’ll see her return to the winners’ enclosure, although there could also be a few new kids on the block and that includes Concertista who is another Willie Mullins runner who appears to be in good nick at the moment.

The horse won the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the previous Cheltenham Festival and is already trading among the shorter-priced favourites and there was a nice recent victory in the EBF Mares’ Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

The David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle is a Group 1 encounter that takes place on Day One of the Cheltenham Festival. It was first inaugurated in 2008 and has been dominated by a handful of horses, including the amazing Quevega.

Indeed, after Whiteoak won the very first Mares’ Hurdle race, the Willie Mullins-trained mare was able to record six successive victories, with Ruby Walsh riding her to all of these triumphs and she was continually the punters’ pal on Day One of the meeting.

Since then, Mullins has had further successes with Glens Melody, Vroum Vroum Mag and Benie Des Dieux and it’s the latter who is likely to line up in 2019 and bid to repeat her 2017 triumph.

It should be noted that the eight-year-old fell in the Mares’ Hurdle last year and caused punters to cry into their beer given that the horse was the well backed 10/11 favourite for this encounter.

However, there was everything to like about a win at Punchestown the following month when the horse showed no ill-effects from that fall to record nearly ten lengths in victory, while there was a triumph a fortnight later at Auteuil.

The horse is already trading at 2/1 to win the Mares’ Hurdle and we can expect that price to shorten as we get closer to the start of the race providing that the runner stays fit and healthy.

However, strange things can happen in horse racing and Roksana was last year’s winner who could return to the Cheltenham Festival bidding to land a second successive win in the race.

Perhaps Roksana would have beaten Benie even if the latter had stood up, with the horse having run well for trainer Dan Skelton at a recent meeting at Aintree, even if Top Notch ended up winning the encounter.

Honeysuckle is currently trading at 5/1 and perhaps she’s the one to watch over the winter considering that the Henry de Bromhead charge has been serving up some impressive performances in Ireland.

There is the element of the unknown regarding this five-year-old considering that we haven’t seen the mare race outside of Ireland, although she had no problems winning on heavy ground at Fairyhouse recently, with the horse having passed all tests with flying colours so far.

It’s not out of the question that we could see the likes of Apples Jade dropped into female company further down the line and she won a brilliant encounter in 2017 when beating two of Willie Mullins’ horses in what is regarded as the best renewal of all.

Similarly, Laurina is trading as short as 5/1 with some firms regarding a maiden victory in this race and Mullins is no stranger to pitching his mares into battle, with Rich Ricci often keen to land Group 1 success irrespective of which race this is achieved.