Bet on Irish Christmas Hurdle 2020

This Leopardstown race is a massive pointer when it comes to the Stayers’ Hurdle at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival, with this being a Grade 1 racing encounter in its own right, with no more than sixteen runners lining up for this extravaganza.

Can Sire Du Berlais Claim Christmas Victory?

Sire Du Berlais is going to line up for Gordon Elliott and the trainer has won the past three Christmas Hurdles at Leopardstown Racecourse, with Apple’s Jade having smashed home a hat-trick of consecutive titles, with the mare achieving legendary status although there will be her stablemates running for Gigginstown this year.

Sire Du Berlais will actually run in the JP McManus colours and the eight-year-old recently won the Lismullen Hurdle over two miles four furlongs on soft to heavy ground, with this horse triumphing in early November and that should give him plenty of prep time for this run.

However, Elliott also has the Gigginstown challenger in the form of Fury Road and the six-year-old enjoyed a facile victory in a Grade 2 race at Punchestown when being sent off as the odds-on favourite, with potentially more to come from the horse.

Ronald Pump and The World’s End Also Among Christmas Hurdle Favourites

Ronald Pump surprised everyone when nearly claiming victory in the Stayers’ Hurdle at a big price and the horse is now considered among the leading Irish contenders when it comes to this division, with Matthew J Smith having a horse with bags of stamina and some recent performances have been eye-catching.

Indeed, Ronald Pump has excellent form when you consider that the horse only finished half a length behind Honeysuckle last time out and the champion mare is clearly a runner to be respected.

The World’s End has struggled to make an impact in his last two races, with the nine-year-old having won the Marsh Hurdle in Ascot in December 2019 although the horse has been pulled up on his past two renewals and there continues to be doubts over his fitness.